Banach algebras are Banach spaces equipped with a continuous multipli- tion. In roughterms, there arethree types ofthem: algebrasofboundedlinear operators on Banach spaces with composition and the operator norm, al- bras consisting of bounded continuous functions on topological spaces with pointwise product and the uniform norm, and algebrasof integrable functions on locally compact groups with convolution as multiplication. These all play a key role in modern analysis. Much of operator theory is best approached from a Banach algebra point of view and many questions in complex analysis (such as approximation by polynomials or rational functions in speci?c - mains) are best understood within the framework of Banach algebras. Also, the study of a locally compact Abelian group is closely related to the study 1 of the group algebra L (G). There exist a rich literature and excellent texts on each single class of Banach algebras, notably on uniform algebras and on operator algebras. This work is intended as a textbook which provides a thorough introduction to the theory of commutative Banach algebras and stresses the applications to commutative harmonic analysis while also touching on uniform algebras. In this sense and purpose the book resembles Larsen's classical text 75] which shares many themes and has been a valuable resource. However, for advanced graduate students and researchers I have covered several topics which have not been published in books before, including some journal articles.

The dual space of a locally compact group G consists of the equivalence classes of irreducible unitary representations of G. This book provides a comprehensive guide to the theory of induced representations and explains its use in describing the dual spaces for important classes of groups. It introduces various induction constructions and proves the core theorems on induced representations, including the fundamental imprimitivity theorem of Mackey and Blattner. An extensive introduction to Mackey analysis is applied to compute dual spaces for a wide variety of examples. Fell's contributions to understanding the natural topology on the dual are also presented. In the final two chapters, the theory is applied in a variety of settings including topological Frobenius properties and continuous wavelet transforms. This book will be useful to graduate students seeking to enter the area as well as experts who need the theory of unitary group representations in their research.

Banach algebras are Banach spaces equipped with a continuous multipli- tion. In roughterms, there arethree types ofthem: algebrasofboundedlinear operators on Banach spaces with composition and the operator norm, al- bras consisting of bounded continuous functions on topological spaces with pointwise product and the uniform norm, and algebrasof integrable functions on locally compact groups with convolution as multiplication. These all play a key role in modern analysis. Much of operator theory is best approached from a Banach algebra point of view and many questions in complex analysis (such as approximation by polynomials or rational functions in speci?c - mains) are best understood within the framework of Banach algebras. Also, the study of a locally compact Abelian group is closely related to the study 1 of the group algebra L (G). There exist a rich literature and excellent texts on each single class of Banach algebras, notably on uniform algebras and on operator algebras. This work is intended as a textbook which provides a thorough introduction to the theory of commutative Banach algebras and stresses the applications to commutative harmonic analysis while also touching on uniform algebras. In this sense and purpose the book resembles Larsen's classical text 75] which shares many themes and has been a valuable resource. However, for advanced graduate students and researchers I have covered several topics which have not been published in books before, including some journal articles.