Recent devopments, particularly in high-energy physics, have projected group theory and symmetry consideration into a central position in theoretical physics. These developments have taken physicists increasingly deeper into the fascinating world of pure mathematics. This work presents important mathematical developments of the last fifteen years in a form that is easy to comprehend and appreciate.

This book, an abridgment of Volumes I and II of the highly respected Group Theory in Physics, presents a carefully constructed introduction to group theory and its applications in physics. The book provides anintroduction to and description of the most important basic ideas and the role that they play in physical problems. The clearly written text contains many pertinent examples that illustrate the topics, even for those with no background in group theory.This work presents important mathematical developments to theoretical physicists in a form that is easy to comprehend and appreciate. Finite groups, Lie groups, Lie algebras, semi-simple Lie algebras, crystallographic point groups and crystallographic space groups, electronic energy bands in solids, atomic physics, symmetry schemes for fundamental particles, and quantum mechanics are all covered in this compact new edition. - Covers both group theory and the theory of Lie algebras - Includes studies of solid state physics, atomic physics, and fundamental particle physics - Contains a comprehensive index - Provides extensive examples

The Super Field Theory Workshop, held at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada July 25 - August 5, 1986 was originally intended to be a sequel to the 1983 Chalk River Workshop on Kaluza-Klein Theories and the 1985 Workshop on Quantum Field Theories held at the University of Western Ontario. The scope of the workshop was therefore not to be very big, with a program of about 20 papers, an anticipated 30 to 45 participants, and with much time scheduled for discussion and personal contact. These goals were soon changed in the face of wide interest in the workshop, both for participation and for giving talks, so that the workshop materialized with about 90 participants and 40 talks. This volume contains the texts, some considerably expanded from the oral version, of most of the talks pre sented at the workshop. Not included are a few talks whose manuscripts were not made available to the editors. In the last few years the subject of particle physics and unified field theory has developed in a way not witnessed in the last fifty years: a confluence with mathematics, especially in geometry, topology and algebra at an advanced level. This has vastly expanded the horizon of the disci pline and heightened the expectation that a true understanding of the fun damental laws of physics may soon be within reach. Most aspects of this new development are covered, many in pedagogical detail, by articles in this volume.

A self-contained introduction to the cohomology theory of Lie groups and some of its applications in physics.

This Festschrift volume in honour of Prof. E R Caianiello contains invited papers of eminent scientists who have worked in the several areas to which Prof. Caianiello has given seminal contributions: quantum field theory, foundations of quantum mechanics and maximal acceleration (Vol. 1); neural nets, general systems theory and various topics of cybernetics (Vol. 2). The wide range of topics covered shows the fruitfulness of a higher unifying perspective on seemingly diverse subjects.

Topological GeometroDynamics is a modification of general relativity inspired by the conceptual problems related to the definitions of inertial and gravitational energy in general relativity. Topological geometrodynamics can be also seen as a generalization of super string models. Physical space-times are seen as four-dimensional surfaces in certain eight-dimensional space. The choice of this space is fixed by symmetries of the standard model so that geometrization of known classical fields and elementary particle quantum numbers results. The notion of many-sheeted space-time allows re-interpretation of the structures of perceived world in terms of macroscopic space-time topology. The generalization of the number concept based on fusion of real numbers and p-adic number fields implies a further generalization of the space-time concept allowing to identify space-time correlates of cognition and intentionality. Quantum measurement theory extended to a quantum theory of consciousness becomes an organic part of theory. A highly non-trivial prediction is the existence of a fractal hierarchy of copies of standard model physics with dark matter identified in terms of macroscopic quantum phases characterized by dynamical and quantized Planck constant. The book is a comprehensive overview and analysis of topological geometrodynamics as a mathematical and physical theory.

The book discusses hidden symmetries in the Anti-de Sitter/conformal field theory (AdS/CFT) duality. This duality is a modern concept that asserts an exact duality between conformally invariant quantum field theories and string theories in higher dimensional Anti-de Sitter spaces, and in this way provides a completely new tool for the study of strongly coupled quantum field theories. In this setting, the book focuses on the Wilson loop, an important observable in four-dimensional maximally supersymmetric gauge theory. The dual string description using minimal surfaces enables a systematic study of the hidden symmetries of the loop. The book presents major findings, including the discovery of a master symmetry for strings in general symmetric spaces, its relation to the Yangian symmetry algebra and its action on the minimal surfaces appearing in the dual string description of the Wilson loop. Moreover, it clarifies why certain symmetries are not present on the gauge theory side for purely bosonic Wilson loops and, lastly, how the supersymmetrization of the minimal surface problem for type IIB superstrings can be undertaken. As such, it substantially increases our understanding and use of infinite dimensional symmetries occurring in the AdS/CFT correspondence.

"Visions in Mathematics - Towards 2000" was one of the most remarkable mathematical meetings in recent years. It was held in Tel Aviv from August 25th to September 3rd, 1999, and united some of the leading mathematicians worldwide. The goals of the conference were to discuss the importance, the methods, the past and the future of mathematics as we enter the 21st century and to consider the connection between mathematics and related areas. The aims of the conference are reflected in the present set of survey articles, documenting the state of art and future prospects in many branches of mathematics of current interest. This is the first part of a two-volume set that will serve any research mathematician or advanced student as an overview and guideline through the multifaceted body of mathematical research in the present and near future.

The idea of supersymmetry was originally introduced in relativistic quantum field theories as a generalization of Poincare symmetry. In 1976 Nicolai sug gested an analogous generalization for non-relativistic quantum mechanics. With the one-dimensional model introduced by Witten in 1981, supersym metry became a major tool in quantum mechanics and mathematical, sta tistical, and condensed-IIll;l. tter physics. Supersymmetry is also a successful concept in nuclear and atomic physics. An underlying supersymmetry of a given quantum-mechanical system can be utilized to analyze the properties of the system in an elegant and effective way. It is even possible to obtain exact results thanks to supersymmetry. The purpose of this book is to give an introduction to supersymmet ric quantum mechanics and review some of the recent developments of vari ous supersymmetric methods in quantum and statistical physics. Thereby we will touch upon some topics related to mathematical and condensed-matter physics. A discussion of supersymmetry in atomic and nuclear physics is omit ted. However, the reader will find some references in Chap. 9. Similarly, super symmetric field theories and supergravity are not considered in this book. In fact, there exist already many excellent textbooks and monographs on these topics. A list may be found in Chap. 9. Yet, it is hoped that this book may be useful in preparing a footing for a study of supersymmetric theories in atomic, nuclear, and particle physics. The plan of the book is as follows.