Fabio Scarabotti - Böcker

The representation theory of the symmetric groups is a classical topic that, since the pioneering work of Frobenius, Schur and Young, has grown into a huge body of theory, with many important connections to other areas of mathematics and physics. This self-contained book provides a detailed introduction to the subject, covering classical topics such as the Littlewood-Richardson rule and the Schur-Weyl duality. Importantly the authors also present many recent advances in the area, including Lassalle's character formulas, the theory of partition algebras, and an exhaustive exposition of the approach developed by A. M. Vershik and A. Okounkov. A wealth of examples and exercises makes this an ideal textbook for graduate students. It will also serve as a useful reference for more experienced researchers across a range of areas, including algebra, computer science, statistical mechanics and theoretical physics.

Line up a deck of 52 cards on a table. Randomly choose two cards and switch them. How many switches are needed in order to mix up the deck? Starting from a few concrete problems such as random walks on the discrete circle and the finite ultrametric space this book develops the necessary tools for the asymptotic analysis of these processes. This detailed study culminates with the case-by-case analysis of the cut-off phenomenon discovered by Persi Diaconis. This self-contained text is ideal for graduate students and researchers working in the areas of representation theory, group theory, harmonic analysis and Markov chains. Its topics range from the basic theory needed for students new to this area, to advanced topics such as the theory of Green's algebras, the complete analysis of the random matchings, and the representation theory of the symmetric group.

This self-contained book introduces readers to discrete harmonic analysis with an emphasis on the Discrete Fourier Transform and the Fast Fourier Transform on finite groups and finite fields, as well as their noncommutative versions. It also features applications to number theory, graph theory, and representation theory of finite groups. Beginning with elementary material on algebra and number theory, the book then delves into advanced topics from the frontiers of current research, including spectral analysis of the DFT, spectral graph theory and expanders, representation theory of finite groups and multiplicity-free triples, Tao's uncertainty principle for cyclic groups, harmonic analysis on GL(2,Fq), and applications of the Heisenberg group to DFT and FFT. With numerous examples, figures, and over 160 exercises to aid understanding, this book will be a valuable reference for graduate students and researchers in mathematics, engineering, and computer science.

This book presents an introduction to the representation theory of wreath products of finite groups and harmonic analysis on the corresponding homogeneous spaces. The reader will find a detailed description of the theory of induced representations and Clifford theory, focusing on a general formulation of the little group method. This provides essential tools for the determination of all irreducible representations of wreath products of finite groups. The exposition also includes a detailed harmonic analysis of the finite lamplighter groups, the hyperoctahedral groups, and the wreath product of two symmetric groups. This relies on the generalised Johnson scheme, a new construction of finite Gelfand pairs. The exposition is completely self-contained and accessible to anyone with a basic knowledge of representation theory. Plenty of worked examples and several exercises are provided, making this volume an ideal textbook for graduate students. It also represents a useful reference for more experienced researchers.

This monograph is the first comprehensive treatment of multiplicity-free induced representations of finite groups as a generalization of finite Gelfand pairs.

This monograph adopts an operational and functional analytic approach to the following problem: given a short exact sequence (group extension) 1 ? N ? G ? H ? 1 of finite groups, describe the irreducible representations of G by means of the structure of the group extension.