Cvitanovic Group Theory

Birdtracks, Lie's, and Exceptional Groups
Course Book
ISBN: 978-1-4008-3767-0
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 288 Seiten

If classical Lie groups preserve bilinear vector norms, what Lie groups preserve trilinear, quadrilinear, and higher order invariants? Answering this question from a fresh and original perspective, Predrag Cvitanovic takes the reader on the amazing, four-thousand-diagram journey through the theory of Lie groups. This book is the first to systematically develop, explain, and apply diagrammatic projection operators to construct all semi-simple Lie algebras, both classical and exceptional.

The invariant tensors are presented in a somewhat unconventional, but in recent years widely used, "birdtracks" notation inspired by the Feynman diagrams of quantum field theory. Notably, invariant tensor diagrams replace algebraic reasoning in carrying out all group-theoretic computations. The diagrammatic approach is particularly effective in evaluating complicated coefficients and group weights, and revealing symmetries hidden by conventional algebraic or index notations. The book covers most topics needed in applications from this new perspective: permutations, Young projection operators, spinorial representations, Casimir operators, and Dynkin indices. Beyond this well-traveled territory, more exotic vistas open up, such as "negative dimensional" relations between various groups and their representations. The most intriguing result of classifying primitive invariants is the emergence of all exceptional Lie groups in a single family, and the attendant pattern of exceptional and classical Lie groups, the so-called Magic Triangle. Written in a lively and personable style, the book is aimed at researchers and graduate students in theoretical physics and mathematics.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cvitanovic, Predrag

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Algebra Algebraische Strukturen, Gruppentheorie
• Naturwissenschaften Physik Physik Allgemein Theoretische Physik, Mathematische Physik, Computerphysik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
Chapter 2: A preview 5
Chapter 3: Invariants and reducibility 14
Chapter 4: Diagrammatic notation 27
Chapter 5: Recouplings 42
Chapter 6: Permutations 49
Chapter 7: Casimir operators 60
Chapter 8: Group integrals 76
Chapter 9: Unitary groups 82
Chapter 10: Orthogonal groups 118
Chapter 11: Spinors 132
Chapter 12: Symplectic groups 148
Chapter 13: Negative dimensions 151
Chapter 14: Spinors’ symplectic sisters 155
Chapter 15: SU(n) family of invariance groups 162
Chapter 16: G2 family of invariance groups 170
Chapter 17: E8 family of invariance groups 180
Chapter 18: E6 family of invariance groups 190
Chapter 19: F4 family of invariance groups 210
Chapter 20: E7 family and its negative-dimensional cousins 218
Chapter 21: Exceptional magic 229
Epilogue 235
Appendix A.Recursive decomposition 237
Appendix B.Properties of Young projections 239
H. Elvang and P. Cvitanovi´c
B.1 Uniqueness of Young projection operators 239
B.2 Orthogonality 240
B.3 Normalization and completeness 240
B.4 Dimension formula 241
Bibliography 243
Index 259

Über Autor(innen)

Predrag Cvitanovic is the Glen P. Robinson Professor of Nonlinear Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is the author of Universality in Chaos and lead author of the ChaosBook.org webbook.