This book is designed both as a textbook for high-level graduate courses and as a reference for researchers who need to apply the structure and representation theory of compact groups. A gentle introduction to compact groups and their representation theory is followed by self-contained courses on linear and compact Lie groups, and on locally compact abelian groups. This fourth edition was updated with the latest developments in the field.
Lie groups were introduced in 1870 by the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie. A century later Jean Dieudonne quipped that Lie groups had moved to the center of mathematics and that one cannot undertake anything without them. If a complete topological group $G$ can be approximated by Lie groups in the sense that every identity neighborhood $U$ of $G$ contains a normal subgroup $N$ such that $G/N$ is a Lie group, then it is called a pro-Lie group. Every locally compact connected topological group and every compact group is a pro-Lie group. While the class of locally compact groups is not closed under the formation of arbitrary products, the class of pro-Lie groups is. For half a century, locally compact pro-Lie groups have drifted through the literature, yet this is the first book which systematically treats the Lie and structure theory of pro-Lie groups irrespective of local compactness. This study fits very well into the current trend which addresses infinite-dimensional Lie groups. The results of this text are based on a theory of pro-Lie algebras which parallels the structure theory of finite-dimensional real Lie algebras to an astonishing degree, even though it has had to overcome greater technical obstacles. This book exposes a Lie theory of connected pro-Lie groups (and hence of connected locally compact groups) and illuminates the manifold ways in which their structure theory reduces to that of compact groups on the one hand and of finite-dimensional Lie groups on the other. It is a continuation of the authors' fundamental monograph on the structure of compact groups (1998, 2006) and is an invaluable tool for researchers in topological groups, Lie theory, harmonic analysis, and representation theory. It is written to be accessible to advanced graduate students wishing to study this fascinating and important area of current research, which has so many fruitful interactions with other fields of mathematics.
The famous problems of squaring the circle, doubling the cube and trisecting an angle captured the imagination of both professional and amateur mathematicians for over two thousand years. Despite the enormous effort and ingenious attempts by these men and women, the problems would not yield to purely geometrical methods. It was only the development. of abstract algebra in the nineteenth century which enabled mathematicians to arrive at the surprising conclusion that these constructions are not possible. In this book we develop enough abstract algebra to prove that these constructions are impossible. Our approach introduces all the relevant concepts about fields in a way which is more concrete than usual and which avoids the use of quotient structures (and even of the Euclidean algorithm for finding the greatest common divisor of two polynomials). Having the geometrical questions as a specific goal provides motivation for the introduction of the algebraic concepts and we have found that students respond very favourably. We have used this text to teach second-year students at La Trobe University over a period of many years, each time refining the material in the light of student performance.
Named a Library Journal Best Reference of 2023 - From Library Journal's Starred Review: "This ambitious and entertaining update solidifies Berger’s volume as a must-have title for librarians, booksellers, collectors, and students of the book arts and book history." This new edition of The Dictionary of the Book adds more than 700 new entries and many new illustrations and brings the vocabulary and theory of bookselling and collecting into the modern commercial and academic world, which has been forced to adjust to a new reality. The definitive glossary of the book covers all the terms needed for a thorough understanding of how books are made, the materials they are made of, and how they are described in the bookselling, book collecting, and library worlds. Every key term—more than 2,000—that could be used in booksellers’ catalogs, library records, and collectors’ descriptions of their holdings is represented in this dictionary. This authoritative source covers all areas of book knowledge, including: The book as physical object Typeface terminology Paper terminology Printing Book collecting Cataloging Book design Bibliography as a discipline, bibliographies, and bibliographical description Physical Condition and how to describe it Calligraphy Language of manuscripts Writing implements Librarianship Legal issues Parts of a book Book condition terminology Pricing of books Buying and selling Auctions Items one will see an antiquarian book fairs Preservation and conservation issues, and the notion of restoration Key figures, presses / publishers, and libraries in the history of books Book collecting clubs and societies How to read and decipher new and old dealers’ catalogs And much more The Dictionary also contains an extensive bibliography—more than 1,000 key readings in the book world and it gives current (and past) definitions of terms whose meaning has shifted over the centuries. More than 200 images accompany the entries, making the work even more valuable for understanding the terms described.
This textbook develops the abstract algebra necessary to prove the impossibility of four famous mathematical feats: squaring the circle, trisecting the angle, doubling the cube, and solving quintic equations. All the relevant concepts about fields are introduced concretely, with the geometrical questions providing motivation for the algebraic concepts. By focusing on problems that are as easy to approach as they were fiendishly difficult to resolve, the authors provide a uniquely accessible introduction to the power of abstraction. Beginning with a brief account of the history of these fabled problems, the book goes on to present the theory of fields, polynomials, field extensions, and irreducible polynomials. Straightedge and compass constructions establish the standards for constructability, and offer a glimpse into why squaring, doubling, and trisecting appeared so tractable to professional and amateur mathematicians alike. However, the connection between geometry and algebra allows the reader to bypass two millennia of failed geometric attempts, arriving at the elegant algebraic conclusion that such constructions are impossible. From here, focus turns to a challenging problem within algebra itself: finding a general formula for solving a quintic polynomial. The proof of the impossibility of this task is presented using Abel’s original approach. Abstract Algebra and Famous Impossibilities illustrates the enormous power of algebraic abstraction by exploring several notable historical triumphs. This new edition adds the fourth impossibility: solving general quintic equations. Students and instructors alike will appreciate the illuminating examples, conversational commentary, and engaging exercises that accompany each section. A first course in linear algebra is assumed, along with a basic familiarity with integral calculus.
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