by Dimitri D Vvedensky (Imperial College London, UK) & Timothy S Evans (Imperial College London, UK)

This book is an introduction to symmetry in physics based on discrete and continuous groups. No knowledge of algebra is assumed and the book is suitable for both beginning and advanced graduate students. In fact, at Imperial College, the notes on which this book is based have been thoroughly tested in the classroom by two lecturers with quite different backgrounds (condensed matter theory and field theory) to classes composed of third- and fourth-year undergraduate students as well as students from the MSc in Quantum Fields and Fundamental Forces program. Abundant exercises, all with detailed solutions that are available in a separate instructor's manual, are included to illustrate the concepts introduced in the main text, to extend some of the main results, and to introduce new ideas. One of the main themes in the book is the application of group theory to physical problems.

• Symmetry in Science
• Elements of Abstract Group Theory
• Representations of Groups
• The Fundamental Theorems of Irreducible Representations
• Characters and Character Tables
• Basis Functions of Irreducible Representations
• Symmetry and Ordinary Differential Equations in Classical Physics
• Symmetry and Partial Differential Equations in Quantum Physics
• Symmetry in Quantum Mechanical Problems
• Continuous Groups and Lie Groups
• Irreducible Representations of SO(2) and SO(3)
• From Lie Groups to Lie Algebras
• Unitary Groups and SU(N)
• The Group SU(2)
• Irreducible Representations of SU(3)
• Young Tableaux and Irreducible Representations of SU(N)