Introduces the richness of group theory to advanced undergraduate and graduate students, concentrating on the finite aspects. Provides a wealth of exercises and problems to support self-study. Additional online resources on more challenging and more specialised topics can be used as extension material for courses, or for further independent study.

17):~t? L It CIFDr- ! wei! unsre Weisheit Einfalt ist, From "Lohengrin", Richard Wagner At the time of the appearance of the first volume of this work in 1967, the tempestuous development of finite group theory had already made it virtually impossible to give a complete presentation of the subject in one treatise. The present volume and its successor have therefore the more modest aim of giving descriptions of the recent development of certain important parts of the subject, and even in these parts no attempt at completeness has been made. Chapter VII deals with the representation theory of finite groups in arbitrary fields with particular attention to those of non-zero charac teristic. That part of modular representation theory which is essentially the block theory of complex characters has not been included, as there are already monographs on this subject and others will shortly appear. Instead, we have restricted ourselves to such results as can be obtained by purely module-theoretical means.

Examines the internal structure of the finite simple groups of Lie type, the finite alternating groups, and 26 sporadic finite simple groups, as well as their analogues. Emphasis is on the structure of local subgroups and their relationships with one another, rather than development of an abstract theory of simple groups. A foundation is laid for the development of specific properties of K-groups to be used in the inductive proof of the classification theorem. Highlights include statements and proofs of the Breol-Tits and Curtis-Tits theorems, and material on centralizers of semisimple involutions in groups of Lie type. For graduate students and research mathematicians. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

From reviews of the German edition: "This is an exciting text and a refreshing contribution to an area in which challenges continue to flourish and to captivate the viewer. Even though representation theory and constructions of simple groups have been omitted, the text serves as a springboard for deeper study in many directions." Mathematical Reviews

Character theory is a powerful tool for understanding finite groups. In particular, the theory has been a key ingredient in the classification of finite simple groups. Characters are also of interest in their own right, and their properties are closely related to properties of the structure of the underlying group. The book begins by developing the module theory of complex group algebras. After the module-theoretic foundations are laid in the first chapter, the focus is primarily on characters. This enhances the accessibility of the material for students, which was a major consideration in the writing. Also with students in mind, a large number of problems are included, many of them quite challenging. In addition to the development of the basic theory (using a cleaner notation than previously), a number of more specialized topics are covered with accessible presentations. These include projective representations, the basics of the Schur index, irreducible character degrees and group structure, complex linear groups, exceptional characters, and a fairly extensive introduction to blocks and Brauer characters. This is a corrected reprint of the original 1976 version, later reprinted by Dover. Since 1976 it has become the standard reference for character theory, appearing in the bibliography of almost every research paper in the subject. It is largely self-contained, requiring of the reader only the most basic facts of linear algebra, group theory, Galois theory and ring and module theory.

This book covers the latest achievements of the Theory of Classes of Finite Groups. It introduces some unpublished and fundamental advances in this Theory and provides a new insight into some classic facts in this area. By gathering the research of many authors scattered in hundreds of papers the book contributes to the understanding of the structure of finite groups by adapting and extending the successful techniques of the Theory of Finite Soluble Groups.

Thisbookisintendedasanintroductiontoallthe?nitesimplegroups.During themonumentalstruggletoclassifythe?nitesimplegroups(andindeedsince), a huge amount of information about these groups has been accumulated. Conveyingthisinformationtothenextgenerationofstudentsandresearchers, not to mention those who might wish to apply this knowledge, has become a major challenge. With the publication of the two volumes by Aschbacher and Smith [12, 13] in 2004 we can reasonably regard the proof of the Classi?cation Theorem for Finite Simple Groups (usually abbreviated CFSG) as complete. Thus it is timely to attempt an overview of all the (non-abelian) ?nite simple groups in one volume. For expository purposes it is convenient to divide them into four basic types, namely the alternating, classical, exceptional and sporadic groups. The study of alternating groups soon develops into the theory of per- tation groups, which is well served by the classic text of Wielandt [170]and more modern treatments such as the comprehensive introduction by Dixon and Mortimer [53] and more specialised texts such as that of Cameron [19].