A concise treatment of topics from group theory and representation theory for use in a one-term course. Focussing on the non-commutative side of the field, this advanced textbook emphasizes the general linear group as the most important group and example. Readers are expected to be familiar with groups, rings, and fields, and to have a solid knowledge of linear algebra. Close to 200 exercises of varying difficulty serve both to reinforce the main concept of the text and to introduce the reader to additional topics.

This book gives an exposition of the fundamentals of the theory of linear representations of finite and compact groups, as well as elements of the the ory of linear representations of Lie groups. As an application we derive the Laplace spherical functions. The book is based on lectures that I delivered in the framework of the experimental program at the Mathematics-Mechanics Faculty of Moscow State University and at the Faculty of Professional Skill Improvement. My aim has been to give as simple and detailed an account as possible of the problems considered. The book therefore makes no claim to completeness. Also, it can in no way give a representative picture of the modern state of the field under study as does, for example, the monograph of A. A. Kirillov [3]. For a more complete acquaintance with the theory of representations of finite groups we recommend the book of C. W. Curtis and I. Reiner [2], and for the theory of representations of Lie groups, that of M. A. Naimark [6]. Introduction The theory of linear representations of groups is one of the most widely ap plied branches of algebra. Practically every time that groups are encountered, their linear representations play an important role. In the theory of groups itself, linear representations are an irreplaceable source of examples and a tool for investigating groups. In the introduction we discuss some examples and en route we introduce a number of notions of representation theory. O.

This book provides a modern introduction to the representation theory of finite groups. Now in its second edition, the authors have revised the text and added much new material. The theory is developed in terms of modules, since this is appropriate for more advanced work, but considerable emphasis is placed upon constructing characters. Included here are the character tables of all groups of order less than 32, and all simple groups of order less than 1000. Applications covered include Burnside's paqb theorem, the use of character theory in studying subgroup structure and permutation groups, and how to use representation theory to investigate molecular vibration. Each chapter features a variety of exercises, with full solutions provided at the end of the book. This will be ideal as a course text in representation theory, and in view of the applications, will be of interest to chemists and physicists as well as mathematicians.

The theory of group representations plays an important roie in modern mathematics and its applica~ions to natural sciences. In the compulsory university curriculum it is included as a branch of algebra, dealing with representations of finite groups (see, for example, the textbook of A. I. Kostrikin [25]). The representation theory for compact, locally compact Abelian, and Lie groups is co vered in graduate courses, concentrated around functional analysis. The author of the present boo~ has lectured for many years on functional analysis at Khar'kov University. He subsequently con tinued these lectures in the form of a graduate course on the theory of group representations, in which special attention was devoted to a retrospective exposition of operator theory and harmo nic analysis of functions from the standpoint of representation theory. In this approach it was natural to consider not only uni tary, but also Banach representations, and not only representations of groups, but also of semigroups.

This text is a comprehensive pedagogical presentation of the theory of representation of finite and compact Lie groups. It considers both the general theory and representation of specific groups. Representation theory is discussed on the following types of groups: finite groups of rotations, permutation groups, and classical compact semisimple Lie groups. Along the way, the structure theory of the compact semisimple Lie groups is exposed. This is aimed at research mathematicians and graduate students studying group theory.

Just as groups can have representations on vector spaces, 2-groups have representations on 2-vector spaces, but Lie 2-groups typically have few representations on the finite-dimensional 2-vector spaces introduced by Kapranov and Voevodsky. Therefore, Crane, Sheppeard, and Yetter introduced certain infinite-dimensional 2-vector spaces, called measurable categories, to study infinite-dimensional representations of certain Lie 2-groups, and German and North American mathematicians continue that work here. After introductory matters, they cover representations of 2-groups, and measurable categories, representations on measurable categories. There is no index. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).