Symmetry Groups and Their Applications

Symmetry: An Introduction to Group Theory and its Application is an eight-chapter text that covers the fundamental bases, the development of the theoretical and experimental aspects of the group theory. Chapter 1 deals with the elementary concepts and definitions, while Chapter 2 provides the necessary theory of vector spaces. Chapters 3 and 4 are devoted to an opportunity of actually working with groups and representations until the ideas already introduced are fully assimilated. Chapter 5 looks into the more formal theory of irreducible representations, while Chapter 6 is concerned largely with quadratic forms, illustrated by applications to crystal properties and to molecular vibrations. Chapter 7 surveys the symmetry properties of functions, with special emphasis on the eigenvalue equation in quantum mechanics. Chapter 8 covers more advanced applications, including the detailed analysis of tensor properties and tensor operators. This book is of great value to mathematicians, and math teachers and students.

This book brings together many of the important results in this field. From the reviews: ""A classic gets even better....The edition has new material including the Novelli-Pak-Stoyanovskii bijective proof of the hook formula, Stanley’s proof of the sum of squares formula using differential posets, Fomin’s bijective proof of the sum of squares formula, group acting on posets and their use in proving unimodality, and chromatic symmetric functions." --ZENTRALBLATT MATH

The mathematical apparatus of group theory is a means of exploring and exploiting physical and algebraic structure in physical and chemical prob lems. The existence of structure in the physical processes leads to structure in the solutions. For group theory to be useful this structure need not be an exact symmetry, although as examples of exact symmetries we have that the identity of electrons leads to permutation symmetries in many-electron wave functions, the spatial structure of crystals leads to the Bloch theory of crystal eigenfunctions, and the rotational invariance of the hydrogenic Hamiltonian leads to its factorization into angular and radial parts. In the 1930's Wigner extended what is known to mathematicians as the theory of group representations and the theory of group algebras to study the coupling coefficients of angular momentum, relating various properties of the coefficients to the properties of the abstract group of rotations in 3-space. In 1949 Racah, in a paper on rare earth spectra, showed that similar coefficients occur in other situations. Immediately a number of studies of the coefficients were begun, notably by Jahn, with his applications in nuclear physics. In the years since then a large number of physicists and chemists have added to the development of a general theory of the coefficients, or have produced specialized tables for a specific application. Applications now range from high-energy physics to biology.

This is a gentle introduction to the vocabulary and many of the highlights of elementary group theory. Written in an informal style, the material is divided into short sections, each of which deals with an important result or a new idea. Includes more than 300 exercises and approximately 60 illustrations.

This textbook provides a readable account of the examples and fundamental results of groups from a theoretical and geometrical point of view. This is the second book of the set of two books on groups theory. Topics on linear transformation and linear groups, group actions on sets, Sylow’s theorem, simple groups, products of groups, normal series, free groups, platonic solids, Frieze and wallpaper symmetry groups and characters of groups have been discussed in depth. Covering all major topics, this book is targeted to advanced undergraduate students of mathematics with no prerequisite knowledge of the discussed topics. Each section ends with a set of worked-out problems and supplementary exercises to challenge the knowledge and ability of the reader.

This concise, class-tested book was refined over the authors’ 30 years as instructors at MIT and the University Federal of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil. The approach centers on the conviction that teaching group theory along with applications helps students to learn, understand and use it for their own needs. Thus, the theoretical background is confined to introductory chapters. Subsequent chapters develop new theory alongside applications so that students can retain new concepts, build on concepts already learned, and see interrelations between topics. Essential problem sets between chapters aid retention of new material and consolidate material learned in previous chapters.

This book is devoted to explaining a wide range of applications of con tinuous symmetry groups to physically important systems of differential equations. Emphasis is placed on significant applications of group-theoretic methods, organized so that the applied reader can readily learn the basic computational techniques required for genuine physical problems. The first chapter collects together (but does not prove) those aspects of Lie group theory which are of importance to differential equations. Applications covered in the body of the book include calculation of symmetry groups of differential equations, integration of ordinary differential equations, including special techniques for Euler-Lagrange equations or Hamiltonian systems, differential invariants and construction of equations with pre scribed symmetry groups, group-invariant solutions of partial differential equations, dimensional analysis, and the connections between conservation laws and symmetry groups. Generalizations of the basic symmetry group concept, and applications to conservation laws, integrability conditions, completely integrable systems and soliton equations, and bi-Hamiltonian systems are covered in detail. The exposition is reasonably self-contained, and supplemented by numerous examples of direct physical importance, chosen from classical mechanics, fluid mechanics, elasticity and other applied areas.

X system Ib-TEX. I wish to thank her for the beautiful work and the numerous discussions on the contents of this book. I am indebted to Peter Fassler, Neu-Technikum Buchs, Switzerland, for drafting the figures, to my students Kurt Rothermann and Stefan Strahl for computer enhancing and labeling the graphics, to Pascal Felder and Markus Wittwer for a simulation program that generated the figures in the stochastics sections. My thanks go to my new colleague at work, Daniel Neuenschwander, for the inspiring discussions related to the section in stochastics and for reading the manuscript to it. I am also grateful to Dacfey Dzung for reading the whole manuscript. Thanks go especially to Professor \Valter Gander of ETH, Zurich, who at the finishing stage and as an expert of 'JEXgenerously invested numerous hours to assist us in solving software as well as hardware problems; thanks go also to Martin Muller, Ingenieurschule Biel, who made the final layout of this book on the NeXT computer. Thanks are also due to Helmut Kopka of the Max Planck Institute, for solving software problems, and to Professor Burchard Kaup of the Uni versity of Fribourg, Switzerland for adding some useful software; also to Birkhauser Boston Inc. for the pleasant co-operation. Finally, let me be reminiscent of Professor E. Stiefel (deceased 1978) with whom I had many interesting discussions and true co-operation when writing the book in German.

This substantially revised and expanded new edition of the bestselling textbook, addresses the difficulties that can arise with the mathematics that underpins the study of symmetry, and acknowledges that group theory can be a complex concept for students to grasp. Written in a clear, concise manner, the author introduces a series of programmes that help students learn at their own pace and enable to them understand the subject fully. Readers are taken through a series of carefully constructed exercises, designed to simplify the mathematics and give them a full understanding of how this relates to the chemistry. This second edition contains a new chapter on the projection operator method. This is used to calculate the form of the normal modes of vibration of a molecule and the normalised wave functions of hybrid orbitals or molecular orbitals. The features of this book include: * A concise, gentle introduction to symmetry and group theory * Takes a programmed learning approach * New material on projection operators, and the calcultaion of normal modes of vibration and normalised wave functions of orbitals This book is suitable for all students of chemistry taking a first course in symmetry and group theory.