This book explores the theory and application of locally nilpotent derivations, a subject motivated by questions in affine algebraic geometry and having fundamental connections to areas such as commutative algebra, representation theory, Lie algebras and differential equations. The author provides a unified treatment of the subject, beginning with 16 First Principles on which the theory is based. These are used to establish classical results, such as Rentschler's Theorem for the plane and the Cancellation Theorem for Curves. More recent results, such as Makar-Limanov's theorem for locally nilpotent derivations of polynomial rings, are also discussed. Topics of special interest include progress in classifying additive actions on three-dimensional affine space, finiteness questions (Hilbert's 14th Problem), algorithms, the Makar-Limanov invariant, and connections to the Cancellation Problem and the Embedding Problem. A lot of new material is included in this expanded second edition, such as canonical factorization of quotient morphisms, and a more extended treatment of linear actions. The reader will also find a wealth of examples and open problems and an updated resource for future investigations.

This volume presents a panorama of the diverse activities organized by V. Heiermann and D. Prasad in Marseille at the CIRM for the Chaire Morlet event during the first semester of 2016. It assembles together expository articles on topics which previously could only be found in research papers. Starting with a very detailed article by P. Baumann and S. Riche on the geometric Satake correspondence, the book continues with three introductory articles on distinguished representations due to P. Broussous, F. Murnaghan, and O. Offen; an expository article of I. Badulescu on the Jacquet-Langlands correspondence; a paper of J. Arthur on functoriality and the trace formula in the context of "Beyond Endoscopy", taken from the Simons Proceedings; an article of W-W. Li attempting to generalize Godement-Jacquet theory; and a research paper of C. Moeglin and D. Renard, applying the trace formula to the local Langlands classification for classical groups. The book should be of interest to students as well as professional researchers working in the broad area of number theory and representation theory.

This book focuses on a conjectural class of zeta integrals which arose from a program born in the work of Braverman and Kazhdan around the year 2000, the eventual goal being to prove the analytic continuation and functional equation of automorphic L-functions. Developing a general framework that could accommodate Schwartz spaces and the corresponding zeta integrals, the author establishes a formalism, states desiderata and conjectures, draws implications from these assumptions, and shows how known examples fit into this framework, supporting Sakellaridis' vision of the subject. The collected results, both old and new, and the included extensive bibliography, will be valuable to anyone who wishes to understand this program, and to those who are already working on it and want to overcome certain frequently occurring technical difficulties.

This book provides an introduction to the ergodic theory and topological dynamics of actions of countable groups. It is organized around the theme of probabilistic and combinatorial independence, and highlights the complementary roles of the asymptotic and the perturbative in its comprehensive treatment of the core concepts of weak mixing, compactness, entropy, and amenability. The more advanced material includes Popa's cocycle superrigidity, the Furstenberg-Zimmer structure theorem, and sofic entropy. The structure of the book is designed to be flexible enough to serve a variety of readers. The discussion of dynamics is developed from scratch assuming some rudimentary functional analysis, measure theory, and topology, and parts of the text can be used as an introductory course. Researchers in ergodic theory and related areas will also find the book valuable as a reference.

This volume presents the lecture notes from the authors' three summer courses offered during the program "Automorphisms of Free Groups: Geometry, Topology, and Dynamics," held at the Centre de Recerca Matematica (CRM) in Bellaterra, Spain. The first two chapters present the basic tools needed, from formal language theory (regular and context-free languages, automata, rewriting systems, transducers, etc) and emphasize their connections to group theory, mostly relating to free and virtually-free groups. The material covered is sufficient to present full proofs of many of the existing interesting characterizations of virtually-free groups. In turn, the last chapter comprehensively describes Bonahon's construction of Thurston's compactification of Teichmuller space in terms of geodesic currents on surfaces. It also includes several intriguing extensions of the notion of geodesic current to various other, more general settings.

This book consists of both expository and research articles solicited from speakers at the conference entitled "Arithmetic and Ideal Theory of Rings and Semigroups," held September 22-26, 2014 at the University of Graz, Graz, Austria. It reflects recent trends in multiplicative ideal theory and factorization theory, and brings together for the first time in one volume both commutative and non-commutative perspectives on these areas, which have their roots in number theory, commutative algebra, and algebraic geometry. Topics discussed include topological aspects in ring theory, Prufer domains of integer-valued polynomials and their monadic submonoids, and semigroup algebras. It will be of interest to practitioners of mathematics and computer science, and researchers in multiplicative ideal theory, factorization theory, number theory, and algebraic geometry.

The aim of this book is to present an introduction to the theory of transformation groups which will be suitable for all those coming to the subject for the first time. The emphasis is on the study of topological groups and, in particular, the study of compact Lie groups acting on manifolds. Throughout, much care is taken to illustrate concepts and results with examples and applications. Numerous exercises are also included to further extend a reader's understanding and knowledge. Prerequisites are a familiarity with algebra and topology as might have been acquired from an undergraduate degree in Mathematics. The author begins by introducing the basic concepts of the subject such as fixed point sets, orbits, and induced transformation groups. Attention then turns to the study of differentiable manifolds and Lie groups with particular emphasis on fibre bundles and characteristic classes. The latter half of the book is devoted to surveying the main themes of the subject: structure and decomposition theorems, the existence and uniqueness theorems of principal orbits, transfer theorems, and the Lefschetz fixed point theorem.

Adopting a new universal algebraic approach, this book explores and consolidates the link between Tarski's classical theory of equidecomposability types monoids, abstract measure theory (in the spirit of Hans Dobbertin's work on monoid-valued measures on Boolean algebras) and the nonstable K-theory of rings. This is done via the study of a monoid invariant, defined on Boolean inverse semigroups, called the type monoid. The new techniques contrast with the currently available topological approaches. Many positive results, but also many counterexamples, are provided.

This book provides an accessible introduction to algebraic topology, a field at the intersection of topology, geometry and algebra, together with its applications. Moreover, it covers several related topics that are in fact important in the overall scheme of algebraic topology. Comprising eighteen chapters and two appendices, the book integrates various concepts of algebraic topology, supported by examples, exercises, applications and historical notes. Primarily intended as a textbook, the book offers a valuable resource for undergraduate, postgraduate and advanced mathematics students alike. Focusing more on the geometric than on algebraic aspects of the subject, as well as its natural development, the book conveys the basic language of modern algebraic topology by exploring homotopy, homology and cohomology theories, and examines a variety of spaces: spheres, projective spaces, classical groups and their quotient spaces, function spaces, polyhedra, topological groups, Lie groups and cell complexes, etc. The book studies a variety of maps, which are continuous functions between spaces. It also reveals the importance of algebraic topology in contemporary mathematics, theoretical physics, computer science, chemistry, economics, and the biological and medical sciences, and encourages students to engage in further study.

An authoritative, full-year course on both group theory and ordinary character theory—essential tools for mathematics and the physical sciences

One of the few treatments available combining both group theory and character theory, Groups and Characters is an effective general textbook on these two fundamentally connected subjects. Presuming only a basic knowledge of abstract algebra as in a first-year graduate course, the text opens with a review of background material and then guides readers carefully through several of the most important aspects of groups and characters, concentrating mainly on finite groups.

Challenging yet accessible, Groups and Characters features:

• An extensive collection of examples surveying many different types of groups, including Sylow subgroups of symmetric groups, affine groups of fields, the Mathieu groups, and symplectic groups
• A thorough, easy-to-follow discussion of Pólya-Redfield enumeration, with applications to combinatorics
• Inclusive explorations of the transfer function and normal complements, induction and restriction of characters, Clifford theory, characters of symmetric and alternating groups, Frobenius groups, and the Schur index
• Illuminating accounts of several computational aspects of group theory, such as the Schreier-Sims algorithm, Todd-Coxeter coset enumeration, and algorithms for generating character tables

As valuable as Groups and Characters will prove as a textbook for mathematicians, it has broader applications. With chapters suitable for use as independent review units, along with a full bibliography and index, it will be a dependable general reference for chemists, physicists, and crystallographers.

This volume contains selected papers authored by speakers and participants of the 2013 Arbeitstagung, held at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, Germany, from May 22-28. The 2013 meeting (and this resulting proceedings) was dedicated to the memory of Friedrich Hirzebruch, who passed away on May 27, 2012. Hirzebruch organized the first Arbeitstagung in 1957 with a unique concept that would become its most distinctive feature: the program was not determined beforehand by the organizers, but during the meeting by all participants in an open discussion. This ensured that the talks would be on the latest developments in mathematics and that many important results were presented at the conference for the first time. Written by leading mathematicians, the papers in this volume cover various topics from algebraic geometry, topology, analysis, operator theory, and representation theory and display the breadth and depth of pure mathematics that has always been characteristic of the Arbeitstagung.

This text systematically presents the basics of quantum mechanics, emphasizing the role of Lie groups, Lie algebras, and their unitary representations. The mathematical structure of the subject is brought to the fore, intentionally avoiding significant overlap with material from standard physics courses in quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. The level of presentation is attractive to mathematics students looking to learn about both quantum mechanics and representation theory, while also appealing to physics students who would like to know more about the mathematics underlying the subject. This text showcases the numerous differences between typical mathematical and physical treatments of the subject. The latter portions of the book focus on central mathematical objects that occur in the Standard Model of particle physics, underlining the deep and intimate connections between mathematics and the physical world. While an elementary physics course of some kind would be helpful to the reader, no specific background in physics is assumed, making this book accessible to students with a grounding in multivariable calculus and linear algebra. Many exercises are provided to develop the reader's understanding of and facility in quantum-theoretical concepts and calculations.

This book is the first one addressing quantum information from the viewpoint of group symmetry. Quantum systems have a group symmetrical structure. This structure enables to handle systematically quantum information processing. However, there is no other textbook focusing on group symmetry for quantum information although there exist many textbooks for group representation. After the mathematical preparation of quantum information, this book discusses quantum entanglement and its quantification by using group symmetry. Group symmetry drastically simplifies the calculation of several entanglement measures although their calculations are usually very difficult to handle. This book treats optimal information processes including quantum state estimation, quantum state cloning, estimation of group action and quantum channel etc. Usually it is very difficult to derive the optimal quantum information processes without asymptotic setting of these topics. However, group symmetry allows to derive these optimal solutions without assuming the asymptotic setting. Next, this book addresses the quantum error correcting code with the symmetric structure of Weyl-Heisenberg groups. This structure leads to understand the quantum error correcting code systematically. Finally, this book focuses on the quantum universal information protocols by using the group SU(d). This topic can be regarded as a quantum version of the Csiszar-Korner's universal coding theory with the type method. The required mathematical knowledge about group representation is summarized in the companion book, Group Representation for Quantum Theory.

This book presents a consistent development of the Kohn-Nirenberg type global quantization theory in the setting of graded nilpotent Lie groups in terms of their representations. It contains a detailed exposition of related background topics on homogeneous Lie groups, nilpotent Lie groups, and the analysis of Rockland operators on graded Lie groups together with their associated Sobolev spaces. For the specific example of the Heisenberg group the theory is illustrated in detail. In addition, the book features a brief account of the corresponding quantization theory in the setting of compact Lie groups. The monograph is the winner of the 2014 Ferran Sunyer i Balaguer Prize.

This text is an introduction to harmonic analysis on symmetric spaces, focusing on advanced topics such as higher rank spaces, positive definite matrix space and generalizations. It is intended for beginning graduate students in mathematics or researchers in physics or engineering. As with the introductory book entitled "Harmonic Analysis on Symmetric Spaces - Euclidean Space, the Sphere, and the Poincare Upper Half Plane, the style is informal with an emphasis on motivation, concrete examples, history, and applications. The symmetric spaces considered here are quotients X=G/K, where G is a non-compact real Lie group, such as the general linear group GL(n,P) of all n x n non-singular real matrices, and K=O(n), the maximal compact subgroup of orthogonal matrices. Other examples are Siegel's upper half "plane" and the quaternionic upper half "plane". In the case of the general linear group, one can identify X with the space Pn of n x n positive definite symmetric matrices. Many corrections and updates have been incorporated in this new edition. Updates include discussions of random matrix theory and quantum chaos, as well as recent research on modular forms and their corresponding L-functions in higher rank. Many applications have been added, such as the solution of the heat equation on Pn, the central limit theorem of Donald St. P. Richards for Pn, results on densest lattice packing of spheres in Euclidean space, and GL(n)-analogs of the Weyl law for eigenvalues of the Laplacian in plane domains. Topics featured throughout the text include inversion formulas for Fourier transforms, central limit theorems, fundamental domains in X for discrete groups (such as the modular group GL(n,Z) of n x n matrices with integer entries and determinant +/-1), connections with the problem of finding densest lattice packings of spheres in Euclidean space, automorphic forms, Hecke operators, L-functions, and the Selberg trace formula and its applications in spectral theory as well as number theory.

Inspired by classical geometry, geometric group theory has in turn provided a variety of applications to geometry, topology, group theory, number theory and graph theory. This carefully written textbook provides a rigorous introduction to this rapidly evolving field whose methods have proven to be powerful tools in neighbouring fields such as geometric topology. Geometric group theory is the study of finitely generated groups via the geometry of their associated Cayley graphs. It turns out that the essence of the geometry of such groups is captured in the key notion of quasi-isometry, a large-scale version of isometry whose invariants include growth types, curvature conditions, boundary constructions, and amenability. This book covers the foundations of quasi-geometry of groups at an advanced undergraduate level. The subject is illustrated by many elementary examples, outlooks on applications, as well as an extensive collection of exercises.

Groups and Manifolds is an introductory, yet a complete self-contained course on mathematics of symmetry: group theory and differential geometry of symmetric spaces, with a variety of examples for physicists, touching briefly also on super-symmetric field theories. The core of the course is focused on the construction of simple Lie algebras, emphasizing the double interpretation of the ADE classification as applied to finite rotation groups and to simply laced simple Lie algebras. Unique features of this book are the full-fledged treatment of the exceptional Lie algebras and a rich collection of MATHEMATICA Notebooks implementing various group theoretical constructions.

When we began to consider the scope of this book, we envisaged a catalogue supplying at least one abstract definition for any finitely generated group that the reader might propose. But we soon realized that more or less arbitrary restrictions are necessary, because interesting groups are so numerous. For permutation groups of degree 8 or less (i.e.' .subgroups of es), the reader cannot do better than consult the tables of JosEPHINE BuRNS (1915), while keeping an eye open for misprints. Our own tables (on pages 134-142) deal with groups of low order, finite and infinite groups of congruent transformations, symmetric and alternating groups, linear fractional groups, and groups generated by reflections in real Euclidean space of any number of dimensions. The best substitute for a more extensive catalogue is the description (in Chapter 2) of a method whereby the reader can easily work out his own abstract definition for almost any given finite group. This method is sufficiently mechanical for the use of an electronic computer.

This volume presents the current state of knowledge in all aspects of two-dimensional homotopy theory. Building on the foundations laid a quarter of a century ago in the volume Two-dimensional Homotopy and Combinatorial Group Theory (LMS 197), the editors here bring together much remarkable progress that has been obtained in the intervening years. And while the fundamental open questions, such as the Andrews-Curtis Conjecture and the Whitehead asphericity problem remain to be (fully) solved, this book will provide both students and experts with an overview of the state of the art and work in progress. Ample references are included to the LMS 197 volume, as well as a comprehensive bibliography bringing matters entirely up to date.

This fascinating new book examines diversity in moral judgements, drawing on recent work in social, personality, and evolutionary psychology, reviewing the factors that influence the moral judgments people make. Why do reasonable people so often disagree when drawing distinctions between what is morally right and wrong? Even when individuals agree in their moral pronouncements, they may employ different standards, different comparative processes, or entirely disparate criteria in their judgments. Examining the sources of this variety, the author expertly explores morality using ethics position theory, alongside other theoretical perspectives in moral psychology, and shows how it can relate to contemporary social issues from abortion to premarital sex to human rights. Also featuring a chapter on applied contexts, using the theory of ethics positions to gain insights into the moral choices and actions of individuals, groups, and organizations in educational, research, political, medical, and business settings, the book offers answers that apply across individuals, communities, and cultures. Investigating the relationship between people's personal moral philosophies and their ethical thoughts, emotions, and actions, this is fascinating reading for students and academics from psychology and philosophy and anyone interested in morality and ethics.

In this classic edition of her groundbreaking text Knowledge in Context, Sandra Jovchelovitch revisits her influential work on the societal and cultural processes that shape the development of representational processes in humans. Through a novel analysis of processes of representation, and drawing on dialogues between psychology, sociology and anthropology, Jovchelovitch argues that representation, a social psychological construct relating Self, Other and Object-world, is at the basis of all knowledge. Exploring the dominant assumptions of western conceptions of knowledge and the quest for a unitary reason free from the 'impurities' of person, community and culture, Jovchelovitch recasts questions related to historical comparisons between the knowledge of adults and children, 'civilised' and 'primitive' peoples, scientists and lay communities and examines the ambivalence of classical theorists such as Piaget, Vygotsky, Freud, Durkheim and Levy-Bruhl in addressing these issues. Featuring a new introductory chapter, the author evaluates the last decade of research since Knowledge in Context first appeared and reassesses the social psychology of the contemporary public sphere, exploring how challenges to the dialogicality of representations reconfigure both community and selfhood in this early 21st century. This book will make essential reading for all those wanting to follow debates on knowledge and representation at the cutting edge of social, cultural and developmental psychology, sociology, anthropology, development and cultural studies.

This book treats ensembles of Young diagrams originating from group-theoretical contexts and investigates what statistical properties are observed there in a large-scale limit. The focus is mainly on analyzing the interesting phenomenon that specific curves appear in the appropriate scaling limit for the profiles of Young diagrams. This problem is regarded as an important origin of recent vital studies on harmonic analysis of huge symmetry structures. As mathematics, an asymptotic theory of representations is developed of the symmetric groups of degree n as n goes to infinity. The framework of rigorous limit theorems (especially the law of large numbers) in probability theory is employed as well as combinatorial analysis of group characters of symmetric groups and applications of Voiculescu's free probability. The central destination here is a clear description of the asymptotic behavior of rescaled profiles of Young diagrams in the Plancherel ensemble from both static and dynamic points of view.

Geometric Invariant Theory (GIT) is developed in this text within the context of algebraic geometry over the real and complex numbers. This sophisticated topic is elegantly presented with enough background theory included to make the text accessible to advanced graduate students in mathematics and physics with diverse backgrounds in algebraic and differential geometry. Throughout the book, examples are emphasized. Exercises add to the reader's understanding of the material; most are enhanced with hints. The exposition is divided into two parts. The first part, 'Background Theory', is organized as a reference for the rest of the book. It contains two chapters developing material in complex and real algebraic geometry and algebraic groups that are difficult to find in the literature. Chapter 1 emphasizes the relationship between the Zariski topology and the canonical Hausdorff topology of an algebraic variety over the complex numbers. Chapter 2 develops the interaction between Lie groups and algebraic groups. Part 2, 'Geometric Invariant Theory' consists of three chapters (3-5). Chapter 3 centers on the Hilbert-Mumford theorem and contains a complete development of the Kempf-Ness theorem and Vindberg's theory. Chapter 4 studies the orbit structure of a reductive algebraic group on a projective variety emphasizing Kostant's theory. The final chapter studies the extension of classical invariant theory to products of classical groups emphasizing recent applications of the theory to physics.

The Bialowieza Workshops on Geometric Methods in Physics, which are hosted in the unique setting of the Bialowieza natural forest in Poland, are among the most important meetings in the field. Every year some 80 to 100 participants from both the mathematics and physics world join to discuss new developments and to exchange ideas. The current volume was produced on the occasion of the 32nd meeting in 2013. It is now becoming a tradition that the Workshop is followed by a School on Geometry and Physics, which consists of advanced lectures for graduate students and young researchers. Selected speakers at the 2013 Workshop were asked to contribute to this book, and their work was supplemented by additional review articles. The selection shows that, despite its now long tradition, the workshop remains at the cutting edge of research. The 2013 Workshop also celebrated the 75th birthday of Daniel Sternheimer, and on this occasion the discussion mainly focused on his contributions to mathematical physics such as deformation quantization, Poisson geometry, symplectic geometry and non-commutative differential geometry.

This edited volume presents a collection of carefully refereed articles covering the latest advances in Automorphic Forms and Number Theory, that were primarily developed from presentations given at the 2012 "International Conference on Automorphic Forms and Number Theory," held in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. The present volume includes original research as well as some surveys and outlines of research altogether providing a contemporary snapshot on the latest activities in the field and covering the topics of: Borcherds products Congruences and Codes Jacobi forms Siegel and Hermitian modular forms Special values of L-series Recently, the Sultanate of Oman became a member of the International Mathematical Society. In view of this development, the conference provided the platform for scientific exchange and collaboration between scientists of different countries from all over the world. In particular, an opportunity was established for a close exchange between scientists and students of Germany, Oman, and Japan. The conference was hosted by the Sultan Qaboos University and the German University of Technology in Oman.