Based on lectures by a renowned educator, this book focuses on continuous groups, particularly in terms of applications in geometry and analysis. The author's unique perspectives are illustrated by numerous inventive geometric examples, many of which were inspired by footnotes among the work of Sophus Lie. 1971 edition.
This modern translation of Sophus Lie's and Friedrich Engel's “Theorie der Transformationsgruppen I” will allow readers to discover the striking conceptual clarity and remarkably systematic organizational thought of the original German text. Volume I presents a comprehensive introduction to the theory and is mainly directed towards the generalization of ideas drawn from the study of examples. The major part of the present volume offers an extremely clear translation of the lucid original. The first four chapters provide not only a translation, but also a contemporary approach, which will help present day readers to familiarize themselves with the concepts at the heart of the subject. The editor's main objective was to encourage a renewed interest in the detailed classification of Lie algebras in dimensions 1, 2 and 3, and to offer access to Sophus Lie's monumental Galois theory of continuous transformation groups, established at the end of the 19th Century. Lie groups are widespread in mathematics, playing a role in representation theory, algebraic geometry, Galois theory, the theory of partial differential equations and also in physics, for example in general relativity. This volume is of interest to researchers in Lie theory and exterior differential systems and also to historians of mathematics. The prerequisites are a basic knowledge of differential calculus, ordinary differential equations and differential geometry.
This textbook explains the fundamental concepts and techniques of group theory by making use of language familiar to physicists. Application methods to physics are emphasized. New materials drawn from the teaching and research experience of the author are included. This book can be used by graduate students and young researchers in physics, especially theoretical physics. It is also suitable for some graduate students in theoretical chemistry.
A concise, modern textbook on group theory written especially for physicists Although group theory is a mathematical subject, it is indispensable to many areas of modern theoretical physics, from atomic physics to condensed matter physics, particle physics to string theory. In particular, it is essential for an understanding of the fundamental forces. Yet until now, what has been missing is a modern, accessible, and self-contained textbook on the subject written especially for physicists. Group Theory in a Nutshell for Physicists fills this gap, providing a user-friendly and classroom-tested text that focuses on those aspects of group theory physicists most need to know. From the basic intuitive notion of a group, A. Zee takes readers all the way up to how theories based on gauge groups could unify three of the four fundamental forces. He also includes a concise review of the linear algebra needed for group theory, making the book ideal for self-study. Provides physicists with a modern and accessible introduction to group theory Covers applications to various areas of physics, including field theory, particle physics, relativity, and much more Topics include finite group and character tables; real, pseudoreal, and complex representations; Weyl, Dirac, and Majorana equations; the expanding universe and group theory; grand unification; and much more The essential textbook for students and an invaluable resource for researchers Features a brief, self-contained treatment of linear algebra An online illustration package is available to professors Solutions manual (available only to professors)
An introductory text book for graduates and advanced undergraduates on group representation theory. It emphasizes group theory's role as the mathematical framework for describing symmetry properties of classical and quantum mechanical systems. Familiarity with basic group concepts and techniques is invaluable in the education of a modern-day physicist. This book emphasizes general features and methods which demonstrate the power of the group-theoretical approach in exposing the systematics of physical systems with associated symmetry. Particular attention is given to pedagogy. In developing the theory, clarity in presenting the main ideas and consequences is given the same priority as comprehensiveness and strict rigor. To preserve the integrity of the mathematics, enough technical information is included in the appendices to make the book almost self-contained. A set of problems and solutions has been published in a separate booklet.
This famous book was the first treatise on Lie groups in which a modern point of view was adopted systematically, namely, that a continuous group can be regarded as a global object. To develop this idea to its fullest extent, Chevalley incorporated a broad range of topics, such as the covering spaces of topological spaces, analytic manifolds, integration of complete systems of differential equations on a manifold, and the calculus of exterior differential forms. The book opens with a short description of the classical groups: unitary groups, orthogonal groups, symplectic groups, etc. These special groups are then used to illustrate the general properties of Lie groups, which are considered later. The general notion of a Lie group is defined and correlated with the algebraic notion of a Lie algebra; the subgroups, factor groups, and homomorphisms of Lie groups are studied by making use of the Lie algebra. The last chapter is concerned with the theory of compact groups, culminating in Peter-Weyl's theorem on the existence of representations. Given a compact group, it is shown how one can construct algebraically the corresponding Lie group with complex parameters which appears in the form of a certain algebraic variety (associated algebraic group). This construction is intimately related to the proof of the generalization given by Tannaka of Pontrjagin's duality theorem for Abelian groups. The continued importance of Lie groups in mathematics and theoretical physics make this an indispensable volume for researchers in both fields.
Written by an engineer and sharply focused on practical matters, Solution of Ordinary Differential Equations by Continuous Groups explores the application of Lie groups to the solution of ordinary differential equations. The author's unique approach treats first- and second-order equations rather like integrals, through the use of extensive tables. The book is replete with exercises and fully worked examples, and it offers a number of new techniques published here for the first time. This singular, user-friendly text provides scientists and engineers with easy access to closed form solutions to nonlinear first- and second-order differential equations.
Recent research has repeatedly led to connections between important rigidity questions and bounded cohomology. However, the latter has remained by and large intractable. This monograph introduces the functorial study of the continuous bounded cohomology for topological groups, with coefficients in Banach modules. The powerful techniques of this more general theory have successfully solved a number of the original problems in bounded cohomology. As applications, one obtains, in particular, rigidity results for actions on the circle, for representations on complex hyperbolic spaces and on Teichmüller spaces. A special effort has been made to provide detailed proofs or references in quite some generality.
The great Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie developed the general theory of transformations in the 1870s, and the first part of the book properly focuses on his work. In the second part the central figure is Wilhelm Killing, who developed structure and classification of semisimple Lie algebras. The third part focuses on the developments of the representation of Lie algebras, in particular the work of Elie Cartan. The book concludes with the work of Hermann Weyl and his contemporaries on the structure and representation of Lie groups which serves to bring together much of the earlier work into a coherent theory while at the same time opening up significant avenues for further work.