Groups and Symmetries

Groups and Symmetries: From Finite Groups to Lie Groups presents an introduction to the theory of group representations and its applications in quantum mechanics. Accessible to advanced undergraduates in mathematics and physics as well as beginning graduate students, the text deals with the theory of representations of finite groups, compact groups, linear Lie groups and their Lie algebras, concisely and in one volume. Prerequisites include calculus and linear algebra.

This new edition contains an additional chapter that deals with Clifford algebras, spin groups, and the theory of spinors, as well as new sections entitled “Topics in history” comprising notes on the history of the material treated within each chapter. (Taken together, they constitute an account of the development of the theory of groups from its inception in the 18^th century to the mid-20^th.)

References for additional resources and further study are provided in each chapter. All chapters end with exercises of varying degree of difficulty, some of which introduce new definitions and results. The text concludes with a collection of problems with complete solutions making it ideal for both course work and independent study.

Key Topics include:

• Brisk review of the basic definitions of group theory, with examples
• Representation theory of finite groups: character theory
• Representations of compact groups using the Haar measure
• Lie algebras and linear Lie groups
• Detailed study of SO(3) and SU(2), and their representations
• Spherical harmonics
• Representations of SU(3), roots and weights, with quark theory as a consequence of the mathematical properties of this symmetry group
• Spin groups and spinors