Organized in honor of K T Hecht, Professor of Physics at the University of Michigan, for his frontier research in group theory and nuclear physics, this symposium features papers by principal researchers who have contributed to the development and use of algebraic methods in nuclear physics. The symposium aims to make a critical assessment of what has been accomplished since the seminal work of J P Elliott on the SU(3) model, and to identify significant challenges and opportunities that lie in the future. Topics include the SU(3) model and its noncompact Sp(3, R) extension, boson and fermion dynamical symmetry schemes, pseudo-spin and superdeformation, cluster model configurations and calculations, recent advances in vector coherent state theories, quark models for subnucleon degrees of freedom in nuclei, and more.

The symposium “Computational and Group-Theoretical Methods in Nuclear Physics” was organized to celebrate the 60th birthday of Jerry P Draayer, who is Professor of Physics, Lousiana State University, and President of the Southeastern Universities Research Association (SURA). The focus of the meeting was on computational and algebraic approaches to the nuclear many-body problem. The presentations highlighted recent experimental and theoretical developments in nuclear structure physics.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in:• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings® (ISTP® / ISI Proceedings)• Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)• CC Proceedings — Engineering & Physical Sciences

This book consists of pedagogical contributions on currently viable theories of nuclear structure and critical evaluative comments on each of these theories.

This monograph integrates unitary symmetry and combinatorics, showing in great detail how the coupling of angular momenta in quantum mechanics is related to binary trees, trivalent trees, cubic graphs, MacMahon's master theorem, and other basic combinatorial concepts. A comprehensive theory of recoupling matrices for quantum angular momentum is developed. For the general unitary group, polynomial forms in many variables called matrix Schur functions have the remarkable property of giving all irreducible representations of the general unitary group and are the basic objects of study. The structure of these irreducible polynomials and the reduction of their Kronecker product is developed in detail, as is the theory of tensor operators.

1. Composite quantum systems. 1.1. Introduction. 1.2. Angular momentum state vectors of a composite system. 1.3. Standard form of the Kronecker direct sum. 1.4. Recoupling matrices. 1.5. Preliminary results on doubly stochastic matrices and permutation matrices. 1.6. Relationship between doubly stochastic matrices and density matrices in angular momentum theory -- 2. Algebra of permutation matrices. 2.1. Introduction. 2.2. Basis sets of permutation matrices -- 3. Coordinates of A in basis [symbol]. 3.1. Notations. 3.2. The A-expansion rule in the basis [symbol]. 3.3. Dual matrices in the basis set [symbol](e, p). 3.4. The general dual matrices in the basis [symbol](e, p) -- 4. Further applications of permutation matrices. 4.1. Introduction. 4.2. An algebra of young operators. 4.3. Matrix Schur functions. 4.4. Real orthogonal irreducible representations of S[symbol]. 4.5. Left and right regular representations of finite groups -- 5. Doubly stochastic matrices in angular momentum theory. 5.1. Introduction. 5.2. Abstractions and interpretations. 5.3. Permutation matrices as doubly stochastic. 5.4 The doubly stochastic matrix for a single system with angular momentum J. 5.5. Doubly stochastic matrices for composite angular momentum systems. 5.6. Binary coupling of angular momenta. 5.7. State vectors : Uncoupled and coupled. 5.8. General binary tree couplings and doubly stochastic matrices -- 6. Magic squares. 6.1. Review. 6.2. Magic squares and addition of angular momenta. 6.3. Rational generating function of H[symbol](r) -- 7. Alternating sign matrices. 7.1. Introduction. 7.2. Standard Gelfand-Tsetlin patterns. 7.3. Strict Gelfand-Tsetlin patterns for [symbol] = (nn-1 ... 21). 7.4. Sign-reversal-shift invariant polynomials. 7.5. The requirement of zeros. 7.6. The incidence matrix formulation -- 8. The Heisenberg magnetic ring. 8.1. Introduction. 8.2. Matrix elements of H in the uncoupled and coupled bases. 8.3. Exact solution of the Heisenberg ring magnet for n = 2,3,4. 8.4. The Heisenberg Ring Hamiltonian : Even n. 8.5. The Heisenberg Ring Hamiltonian : Odd n. 8.6. Recount, synthesis, and critique. 8.7 Action of the cyclic group. 8.8. Concluding remarks

The Highly Specialized Seminar on ?Symmetries in Nuclear Structure?, held in Erice, Italy, in March 2003, celebrated the career and the remarkable achievements of Francesco Iachello, on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Since the development of the interacting boson model in the early 1970s, the ideas of Iachello have provided a variety of frameworks for understanding collective behaviour in nuclear structure, founded on the concepts of dynamical symmetries and spectrum-generating algebras. The original ideas, which were developed for the description of atomic nuclei, have now been successfully extended to cover spectroscopic behaviour in other fields, such as molecular or hadronic spectra. More recently, the suggestion by Iachello of critical point symmetries to treat nuclei in shape/phase transitional regions has opened an exciting new front for both theoreticians and experimentalists.The talks presented at the meeting covered many of the most active forefront areas of nuclear structure as well as other fields where ideas of symmetries are being explored. Topics in nuclear structure included extensive discussions on dynamical symmetries, critical point symmetries, phase transitions, statistical properties of nuclei, supersymmetry, mixed symmetry states, shears bands, pairing and clustering in nuclei, shape coexistence, exotic nuclei, dipole modes, and astrophysics, among others. In addition, important sessions focused on talks by European laboratory directors (or their representatives) outlining prospects for nuclear structure, and the application of symmetry ideas to molecular phenomena. Finally, a special lecture by Nobel laureate Alex Mueller, on s and d wave symmetry in superconductors, presented a unique insight into an allied field.The proceedings have been selected for coverage in: ? Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings? (ISTP? / ISI Proceedings)? Index to Scientific & Technical Proceedings (ISTP CDROM version / ISI Proceedings)? CC Proceedings ? Engineering & Physical Sciences

This volume gives a borad overview on symmetry methods ypplied to molecular and nuclear physics, to particle physics, decay processes, and phase space dynamics. The thoroughly edited contributions should be of interest not only to scientists but also to thos that want to see how symmetry considerations are put to work in twentieth century physics.

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