Group Theory and Physics [Paperback]

A cohesive and well-motivated introduction to group theory and its application to physics.This introduction to group theory and its application to physics covers molecular vibrations, homogeneous vector bundles, compact groups and Lie groups, as well as the group SU(n) and its representations, which is of great significance in elementary particle physics.This introduction to group theory and its application to physics covers molecular vibrations, homogeneous vector bundles, compact groups and Lie groups, as well as the group SU(n) and its representations, which is of great significance in elementary particle physics.This book is an introduction to group theory and its application to physics. The author considers the physical applications and develops mathematical theory in a presentation that is unusually cohesive and well-motivated. The book discusses many modern topics including molecular vibrations, homogeneous vector bundles, compact groups and Lie groups, and there is much discussion of the group SU(n) and its representations, which is of great significance in elementary particle physics. The author also considers applications to solid-state physics. This is an essential resource for senior undergraduates and researchers in physics and applied mathematics.1. Basic definitions and examples; 2. Representation theory of finite groups; 3. Molecular vibrations and homogeneous vector bundles; 4. Compact groups and Lie groups; 5. Irreducible representations of SU(n); Appendixces; Further reading; Index. ...the author...has made a valuable contribution to the breaking down of artifical barriers between mathematics and physics. J.E. Humphreys, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society Philosophers must thank Professor Sternberg for having written this book. Sternberg gives us an entree to quantum mechanics through the medium of group theory, probably the best such book since Weyl's Group Theory and Quantum Mechanics of 1929....The book contains a wealth of self-lãÜ