This textbook, based on courses taught at Harvard University, is an introduction to group theory and its application to physics. The physical applications are considered as the mathematical theory is developed so that the presentation is unusually cohesive and well-motivated. Many modern topics are dealt with, and there is much discussion of the group SU(n) and its representations. This is of great significance in elementary particle physics. Applications to solid state physics are also considered. This stimulating account will prove to be an essential resource for senior undergraduate students and their teachers.

The Mathematical Study Of Group Theory Was Initiated In The Early Nineteenth Century By Such Mathematicians As Gauss, Cauchy, Abel, Hamilton, Galois, Cayley, And Many Others. However, The Advantages Of Group Theory In Physics Were Not Recognized Till 1925 When It Was Applied For Formal Study Of Theoretical Foundations Of Quantum Mechanics, Atomic Structures And Spectra By, To Name A Few, H A Bethe, E P Wigner, Etc. It Has Now Become Indispensable In Several Branches Of Physics And Physical Chemistry.Dr. Joshi Develops The Mathematics Of Group Theory And Then Goes On To Present Its Applications To Quantum Mechanics, Crystallography, And Solid State Physics. For Proper Comprehension Of Representation Theory, He Has Covered Thoroughly Such Diverse But Relevant Topics As Hilbert Spaces, Function Spaces, Operators, And Direct Sum And Product Of Matrices. He Often Proceeds From The Particular To The General So That The Beginning Student Does Not Have An Impression That Group Theory Is Merely A Branch Of Abstract Mathematics. Various Concepts Have Been Explained Consistently By The Use Of The C4V. Besides, It Contains An Improved And More General Proof Of The Schurs First Lemma And An Interpretation Of The Orthogonality Theorem In The Language Of Vector Spaces (Chapter 3).Throughout The Text The Author Gives Attention To Details And Avoids Complicated Notation. This Is A Valuable Book For Senior Students And Researchers In Physics And Physical Chemistry. A Thorough Understanding Of The Methodology And Results Contained In This Book Will Provide The Reader Sound Theoretical Foundations For Advanced Study Of Quantum Mechanics, Solid State Physics And Atomic And Particle Physics To Help Students A Flow-Chart Explaining Step By Step The Method Of Determining A Parallel-Running Example Illustrating The Procedure In Full Details Have Been Included. An Appendix On Mappings And Functions Has Also Been Added.

An introductory text book for graduates and advanced undergraduates on group representation theory. It emphasizes group theory's role as the mathematical framework for describing symmetry properties of classical and quantum mechanical systems.Familiarity with basic group concepts and techniques is invaluable in the education of a modern-day physicist. This book emphasizes general features and methods which demonstrate the power of the group-theoretical approach in exposing the systematics of physical systems with associated symmetry.Particular attention is given to pedagogy. In developing the theory, clarity in presenting the main ideas and consequences is given the same priority as comprehensiveness and strict rigor. To preserve the integrity of the mathematics, enough technical information is included in the appendices to make the book almost self-contained.A set of problems and solutions has been published in a separate booklet.

An introductory text book for graduates and advanced undergraduates on group representation theory. It emphasizes group theory's role as the mathematical framework for describing symmetry properties of classical and quantum mechanical systems. Familiarity with basic group concepts and techniques is invaluable in the education of a modern-day physicist. This book emphasizes general features and methods which demonstrate the power of the group-theoretical approach in exposing the systematics of physical systems with associated symmetry. Particular attention is given to pedagogy. In developing the theory, clarity in presenting the main ideas and consequences is given the same priority as comprehensiveness and strict rigor. To preserve the integrity of the mathematics, enough technical information is included in the appendices to make the book almost self-contained. A set of problems and solutions has been published in a separate booklet. Request Inspection Copy

A thorough introduction to group theory, this (highly problem-oriented) book goes deeply into the subject to provide a fuller understanding than available anywhere else. The book aims at, not only teaching the material, but also helping to develop the skills needed by a researcher and teacher, possession of which will be highly advantageous in these very competitive times, particularly for those at the early, insecure, stages of their careers. And it is organized and written to serve as a reference to provide a quick introduction giving the essence and vocabulary useful for those who need only some slight knowledge, those just learning, as well as researchers, and especially for the latter it provides a grasp, and often material and perspective, not otherwise available.

Illustrating the fascinating interplay between physics and mathematics, Groups, Representations and Physics, Second Edition provides a solid foundation in the theory of groups, particularly group representations. For this new, fully revised edition, the author has enhanced the book's usefulness and widened its appeal by adding a chapter on the Cartan-Dynkin treatment of Lie algebras. This treatment, a generalization of the method of raising and lowering operators used for the rotation group, leads to a systematic classification of Lie algebras and enables one to enumerate and construct their irreducible representations. Taking an approach that allows physics students to recognize the power and elegance of the abstract, axiomatic method, the book focuses on chapters that develop the formalism, followed by chapters that deal with the physical applications. It also illustrates formal mathematical definitions and proofs with numerous concrete examples.

This book is aimed at graduate students and young researchers in physics who are studying group theory and its application to physics. It contains a short explanation of the fundamental knowledge and method, and the fundamental exercises for the method, as well as some important conclusions in group theory. This book is also suitable for some graduate students in theoretical chemistry.

While group theory and its application to solid state physics is well established, this textbook raises two completely new aspects. First, it provides a better understanding by focusing on problem solving and making extensive use of Mathematica tools to visualize the concepts. Second, it offers a new tool for the photonics community by transferring the concepts of group theory and its application to photonic crystals. Clearly divided into three parts, the first provides the basics of group theory. Even at this stage, the authors go beyond the widely used standard examples to show the broad field of applications. Part II is devoted to applications in condensed matter physics, i.e. the electronic structure of materials. Combining the application of the computer algebra system Mathematica with pen and paper derivations leads to a better and faster understanding. The exhaustive discussion shows that the basics of group theory can also be applied to a totally different field, as seen in Part III. Here, photonic applications are discussed in parallel to the electronic case, with the focus on photonic crystals in two and three dimensions, as well as being partially expanded to other problems in the field of photonics. The authors have developed Mathematica package GTPack which is available for download from the book's homepage. Analytic considerations, numerical calculations and visualization are carried out using the same software. While the use of the Mathematica tools are demonstrated on elementary examples, they can equally be applied to more complicated tasks resulting from the reader's own research.

Symmetries, coupled with the mathematical concept of group theory, are an essential conceptual backbone in the formulation of quantum field theories capable of describing the world of elementary particles. This primer is an introduction to and survey of the underlying concepts and structures needed in order to understand and handle these powerful tools. Specifically, in Part I of the book the symmetries and related group theoretical structures of the Minkowskian space-time manifold are analyzed, while Part II examines the internal symmetries and their related unitary groups, where the interactions between fundamental particles are encoded as we know them from the present standard model of particle physics. This book, based on several courses given by the authors, addresses advanced graduate students and non-specialist researchers wishing to enter active research in the field, and having a working knowledge of classical field theory and relativistic quantum mechanics. Numerous end-of-chapter problems and their solutions will facilitate the use of this book as self-study guide or as course book for topical lectures.

'The book contains a lot of examples, a lot of non-standard material which is not included in many other books. At the same time the authors manage to avoid numerous cumbersome calculations … It is a great achievement that the authors found a balance.'zbMATHThis book presents the study of symmetry groups in Physics from a practical perspective, i.e. emphasising the explicit methods and algorithms useful for the practitioner and profusely illustrating by examples.The first half reviews the algebraic, geometrical and topological notions underlying the theory of Lie groups, with a review of the representation theory of finite groups. The topic of Lie algebras is revisited from the perspective of realizations, useful for explicit computations within these groups. The second half is devoted to applications in physics, divided into three main parts — the first deals with space-time symmetries, the Wigner method for representations and applications to relativistic wave equations. The study of kinematical algebras and groups illustrates the properties and capabilities of the notions of contractions, central extensions and projective representations. Gauge symmetries and symmetries in Particle Physics are studied in the context of the Standard Model, finishing with a discussion on Grand-Unified Theories.