Author: Vaughn Climenhaga
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470434792
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 442
Book Description
Groups arise naturally as symmetries of geometric objects, and so groups can be used to understand geometry and topology. Conversely, one can study abstract groups by using geometric techniques and ultimately by treating groups themselves as geometric objects. This book explores these connections between group theory and geometry, introducing some of the main ideas of transformation groups, algebraic topology, and geometric group theory. The first half of the book introduces basic notions of group theory and studies symmetry groups in various geometries, including Euclidean, projective, and hyperbolic. The classification of Euclidean isometries leads to results on regular polyhedra and polytopes; the study of symmetry groups using matrices leads to Lie groups and Lie algebras. The second half of the book explores ideas from algebraic topology and geometric group theory. The fundamental group appears as yet another group associated to a geometric object and turns out to be a symmetry group using covering spaces and deck transformations. In the other direction, Cayley graphs, planar models, and fundamental domains appear as geometric objects associated to groups. The final chapter discusses groups themselves as geometric objects, including a gentle introduction to Gromov's theorem on polynomial growth and Grigorchuk's example of intermediate growth. The book is accessible to undergraduate students (and anyone else) with a background in calculus, linear algebra, and basic real analysis, including topological notions of convergence and connectedness. This book is a result of the MASS course in algebra at Penn State University in the fall semester of 2009.
From Groups to Geometry and Back
Author: Vaughn Climenhaga
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470434792
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 442
Book Description
Groups arise naturally as symmetries of geometric objects, and so groups can be used to understand geometry and topology. Conversely, one can study abstract groups by using geometric techniques and ultimately by treating groups themselves as geometric objects. This book explores these connections between group theory and geometry, introducing some of the main ideas of transformation groups, algebraic topology, and geometric group theory. The first half of the book introduces basic notions of group theory and studies symmetry groups in various geometries, including Euclidean, projective, and hyperbolic. The classification of Euclidean isometries leads to results on regular polyhedra and polytopes; the study of symmetry groups using matrices leads to Lie groups and Lie algebras. The second half of the book explores ideas from algebraic topology and geometric group theory. The fundamental group appears as yet another group associated to a geometric object and turns out to be a symmetry group using covering spaces and deck transformations. In the other direction, Cayley graphs, planar models, and fundamental domains appear as geometric objects associated to groups. The final chapter discusses groups themselves as geometric objects, including a gentle introduction to Gromov's theorem on polynomial growth and Grigorchuk's example of intermediate growth. The book is accessible to undergraduate students (and anyone else) with a background in calculus, linear algebra, and basic real analysis, including topological notions of convergence and connectedness. This book is a result of the MASS course in algebra at Penn State University in the fall semester of 2009.
Publisher: American Mathematical Soc.
ISBN: 1470434792
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 442
Book Description
Groups arise naturally as symmetries of geometric objects, and so groups can be used to understand geometry and topology. Conversely, one can study abstract groups by using geometric techniques and ultimately by treating groups themselves as geometric objects. This book explores these connections between group theory and geometry, introducing some of the main ideas of transformation groups, algebraic topology, and geometric group theory. The first half of the book introduces basic notions of group theory and studies symmetry groups in various geometries, including Euclidean, projective, and hyperbolic. The classification of Euclidean isometries leads to results on regular polyhedra and polytopes; the study of symmetry groups using matrices leads to Lie groups and Lie algebras. The second half of the book explores ideas from algebraic topology and geometric group theory. The fundamental group appears as yet another group associated to a geometric object and turns out to be a symmetry group using covering spaces and deck transformations. In the other direction, Cayley graphs, planar models, and fundamental domains appear as geometric objects associated to groups. The final chapter discusses groups themselves as geometric objects, including a gentle introduction to Gromov's theorem on polynomial growth and Grigorchuk's example of intermediate growth. The book is accessible to undergraduate students (and anyone else) with a background in calculus, linear algebra, and basic real analysis, including topological notions of convergence and connectedness. This book is a result of the MASS course in algebra at Penn State University in the fall semester of 2009.
Groups
Author: R. P. Burn
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521347938
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
Following the same successful approach as Dr. Burn's previous book on number theory, this text consists of a carefully constructed sequence of questions that will enable the reader, through participation, to study all the group theory covered by a conventional first university course. An introduction to vector spaces, leading to the study of linear groups, and an introduction to complex numbers, leading to the study of Möbius transformations and stereographic projection, are also included. Quaternions and their relationships to 3-dimensional isometries are covered, and the climax of the book is a study of the crystallographic groups, with a complete analysis of these groups in two dimensions.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521347938
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 260
Book Description
Following the same successful approach as Dr. Burn's previous book on number theory, this text consists of a carefully constructed sequence of questions that will enable the reader, through participation, to study all the group theory covered by a conventional first university course. An introduction to vector spaces, leading to the study of linear groups, and an introduction to complex numbers, leading to the study of Möbius transformations and stereographic projection, are also included. Quaternions and their relationships to 3-dimensional isometries are covered, and the climax of the book is a study of the crystallographic groups, with a complete analysis of these groups in two dimensions.
Topics in Groups and Geometry
Author: Tullio Ceccherini-Silberstein
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030881091
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 468
Book Description
This book provides a detailed exposition of a wide range of topics in geometric group theory, inspired by Gromov’s pivotal work in the 1980s. It includes classical theorems on nilpotent groups and solvable groups, a fundamental study of the growth of groups, a detailed look at asymptotic cones, and a discussion of related subjects including filters and ultrafilters, dimension theory, hyperbolic geometry, amenability, the Burnside problem, and random walks on groups. The results are unified under the common theme of Gromov’s theorem, namely that finitely generated groups of polynomial growth are virtually nilpotent. This beautiful result gave birth to a fascinating new area of research which is still active today. The purpose of the book is to collect these naturally related results together in one place, most of which are scattered throughout the literature, some of them appearing here in book form for the first time. In this way, the connections between these topics are revealed, providing a pleasant introduction to geometric group theory based on ideas surrounding Gromov's theorem. The book will be of interest to mature undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics who are familiar with basic group theory and topology, and who wish to learn more about geometric, analytic, and probabilistic aspects of infinite groups.
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 3030881091
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 468
Book Description
This book provides a detailed exposition of a wide range of topics in geometric group theory, inspired by Gromov’s pivotal work in the 1980s. It includes classical theorems on nilpotent groups and solvable groups, a fundamental study of the growth of groups, a detailed look at asymptotic cones, and a discussion of related subjects including filters and ultrafilters, dimension theory, hyperbolic geometry, amenability, the Burnside problem, and random walks on groups. The results are unified under the common theme of Gromov’s theorem, namely that finitely generated groups of polynomial growth are virtually nilpotent. This beautiful result gave birth to a fascinating new area of research which is still active today. The purpose of the book is to collect these naturally related results together in one place, most of which are scattered throughout the literature, some of them appearing here in book form for the first time. In this way, the connections between these topics are revealed, providing a pleasant introduction to geometric group theory based on ideas surrounding Gromov's theorem. The book will be of interest to mature undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics who are familiar with basic group theory and topology, and who wish to learn more about geometric, analytic, and probabilistic aspects of infinite groups.
Groups and Geometry
Author: Roger C. Lyndon
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521316944
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 231
Book Description
This 1985 book is an introduction to certain central ideas in group theory and geometry. Professor Lyndon emphasises and exploits the well-known connections between the two subjects and leads the reader to the frontiers of current research at the time of publication.
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521316944
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 231
Book Description
This 1985 book is an introduction to certain central ideas in group theory and geometry. Professor Lyndon emphasises and exploits the well-known connections between the two subjects and leads the reader to the frontiers of current research at the time of publication.
Groups and Geometry
Author: P. M. Neumann
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198534518
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
Contains the Oxford Mathematical Institute notes for undergraduate and first-year postgraduates. The first half of the book covers groups, the second half covers geometry and both parts contain a number of exercises.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780198534518
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 268
Book Description
Contains the Oxford Mathematical Institute notes for undergraduate and first-year postgraduates. The first half of the book covers groups, the second half covers geometry and both parts contain a number of exercises.
The Geometry and Topology of Coxeter Groups
Author: Michael Davis
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691131384
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 601
Book Description
The Geometry and Topology of Coxeter Groups is a comprehensive and authoritative treatment of Coxeter groups from the viewpoint of geometric group theory. Groups generated by reflections are ubiquitous in mathematics, and there are classical examples of reflection groups in spherical, Euclidean, and hyperbolic geometry. Any Coxeter group can be realized as a group generated by reflection on a certain contractible cell complex, and this complex is the principal subject of this book. The book explains a theorem of Moussong that demonstrates that a polyhedral metric on this cell complex is nonpositively curved, meaning that Coxeter groups are "CAT(0) groups." The book describes the reflection group trick, one of the most potent sources of examples of aspherical manifolds. And the book discusses many important topics in geometric group theory and topology, including Hopf's theory of ends; contractible manifolds and homology spheres; the Poincaré Conjecture; and Gromov's theory of CAT(0) spaces and groups. Finally, the book examines connections between Coxeter groups and some of topology's most famous open problems concerning aspherical manifolds, such as the Euler Characteristic Conjecture and the Borel and Singer conjectures.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691131384
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 601
Book Description
The Geometry and Topology of Coxeter Groups is a comprehensive and authoritative treatment of Coxeter groups from the viewpoint of geometric group theory. Groups generated by reflections are ubiquitous in mathematics, and there are classical examples of reflection groups in spherical, Euclidean, and hyperbolic geometry. Any Coxeter group can be realized as a group generated by reflection on a certain contractible cell complex, and this complex is the principal subject of this book. The book explains a theorem of Moussong that demonstrates that a polyhedral metric on this cell complex is nonpositively curved, meaning that Coxeter groups are "CAT(0) groups." The book describes the reflection group trick, one of the most potent sources of examples of aspherical manifolds. And the book discusses many important topics in geometric group theory and topology, including Hopf's theory of ends; contractible manifolds and homology spheres; the Poincaré Conjecture; and Gromov's theory of CAT(0) spaces and groups. Finally, the book examines connections between Coxeter groups and some of topology's most famous open problems concerning aspherical manifolds, such as the Euler Characteristic Conjecture and the Borel and Singer conjectures.
The Geometry of Discrete Groups
Author: Alan F. Beardon
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461211468
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
This text is intended to serve as an introduction to the geometry of the action of discrete groups of Mobius transformations. The subject matter has now been studied with changing points of emphasis for over a hundred years, the most recent developments being connected with the theory of 3-manifolds: see, for example, the papers of Poincare [77] and Thurston [101]. About 1940, the now well-known (but virtually unobtainable) Fenchel-Nielsen manuscript appeared. Sadly, the manuscript never appeared in print, and this more modest text attempts to display at least some of the beautiful geo metrical ideas to be found in that manuscript, as well as some more recent material. The text has been written with the conviction that geometrical explana tions are essential for a full understanding of the material and that however simple a matrix proof might seem, a geometric proof is almost certainly more profitable. Further, wherever possible, results should be stated in a form that is invariant under conjugation, thus making the intrinsic nature of the result more apparent. Despite the fact that the subject matter is concerned with groups of isometries of hyperbolic geometry, many publications rely on Euclidean estimates and geometry. However, the recent developments have again emphasized the need for hyperbolic geometry, and I have included a comprehensive chapter on analytical (not axiomatic) hyperbolic geometry. It is hoped that this chapter will serve as a "dictionary" offormulae in plane hyperbolic geometry and as such will be of interest and use in its own right.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1461211468
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 350
Book Description
This text is intended to serve as an introduction to the geometry of the action of discrete groups of Mobius transformations. The subject matter has now been studied with changing points of emphasis for over a hundred years, the most recent developments being connected with the theory of 3-manifolds: see, for example, the papers of Poincare [77] and Thurston [101]. About 1940, the now well-known (but virtually unobtainable) Fenchel-Nielsen manuscript appeared. Sadly, the manuscript never appeared in print, and this more modest text attempts to display at least some of the beautiful geo metrical ideas to be found in that manuscript, as well as some more recent material. The text has been written with the conviction that geometrical explana tions are essential for a full understanding of the material and that however simple a matrix proof might seem, a geometric proof is almost certainly more profitable. Further, wherever possible, results should be stated in a form that is invariant under conjugation, thus making the intrinsic nature of the result more apparent. Despite the fact that the subject matter is concerned with groups of isometries of hyperbolic geometry, many publications rely on Euclidean estimates and geometry. However, the recent developments have again emphasized the need for hyperbolic geometry, and I have included a comprehensive chapter on analytical (not axiomatic) hyperbolic geometry. It is hoped that this chapter will serve as a "dictionary" offormulae in plane hyperbolic geometry and as such will be of interest and use in its own right.
Groups and Geometric Analysis
Author: Sigurdur Helgason
Publisher: American Mathematical Society
ISBN: 0821832115
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 667
Book Description
Group-theoretic methods have taken an increasingly prominent role in analysis. Some of this change has been due to the writings of Sigurdur Helgason. This book is an introduction to such methods on spaces with symmetry given by the action of a Lie group. The introductory chapter is a self-contained account of the analysis on surfaces of constant curvature. Later chapters cover general cases of the Radon transform, spherical functions, invariant operators, compact symmetric spaces and other topics. This book, together with its companion volume, Geometric Analysis on Symmetric Spaces (AMS Mathematical Surveys and Monographs series, vol. 39, 1994), has become the standard text for this approach to geometric analysis. Sigurdur Helgason was awarded the Steele Prize for outstanding mathematical exposition for Groups and Geometric Analysis and Differential Geometry, Lie Groups and Symmetric Spaces.
Publisher: American Mathematical Society
ISBN: 0821832115
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 667
Book Description
Group-theoretic methods have taken an increasingly prominent role in analysis. Some of this change has been due to the writings of Sigurdur Helgason. This book is an introduction to such methods on spaces with symmetry given by the action of a Lie group. The introductory chapter is a self-contained account of the analysis on surfaces of constant curvature. Later chapters cover general cases of the Radon transform, spherical functions, invariant operators, compact symmetric spaces and other topics. This book, together with its companion volume, Geometric Analysis on Symmetric Spaces (AMS Mathematical Surveys and Monographs series, vol. 39, 1994), has become the standard text for this approach to geometric analysis. Sigurdur Helgason was awarded the Steele Prize for outstanding mathematical exposition for Groups and Geometric Analysis and Differential Geometry, Lie Groups and Symmetric Spaces.
Transformation Groups in Differential Geometry
Author: Shoshichi Kobayashi
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642619819
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 192
Book Description
Given a mathematical structure, one of the basic associated mathematical objects is its automorphism group. The object of this book is to give a biased account of automorphism groups of differential geometric struc tures. All geometric structures are not created equal; some are creations of ~ods while others are products of lesser human minds. Amongst the former, Riemannian and complex structures stand out for their beauty and wealth. A major portion of this book is therefore devoted to these two structures. Chapter I describes a general theory of automorphisms of geometric structures with emphasis on the question of when the automorphism group can be given a Lie group structure. Basic theorems in this regard are presented in §§ 3, 4 and 5. The concept of G-structure or that of pseudo-group structure enables us to treat most of the interesting geo metric structures in a unified manner. In § 8, we sketch the relationship between the two concepts. Chapter I is so arranged that the reader who is primarily interested in Riemannian, complex, conformal and projective structures can skip §§ 5, 6, 7 and 8. This chapter is partly based on lec tures I gave in Tokyo and Berkeley in 1965.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642619819
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 192
Book Description
Given a mathematical structure, one of the basic associated mathematical objects is its automorphism group. The object of this book is to give a biased account of automorphism groups of differential geometric struc tures. All geometric structures are not created equal; some are creations of ~ods while others are products of lesser human minds. Amongst the former, Riemannian and complex structures stand out for their beauty and wealth. A major portion of this book is therefore devoted to these two structures. Chapter I describes a general theory of automorphisms of geometric structures with emphasis on the question of when the automorphism group can be given a Lie group structure. Basic theorems in this regard are presented in §§ 3, 4 and 5. The concept of G-structure or that of pseudo-group structure enables us to treat most of the interesting geo metric structures in a unified manner. In § 8, we sketch the relationship between the two concepts. Chapter I is so arranged that the reader who is primarily interested in Riemannian, complex, conformal and projective structures can skip §§ 5, 6, 7 and 8. This chapter is partly based on lec tures I gave in Tokyo and Berkeley in 1965.
Conformal Groups in Geometry and Spin Structures
Author: Pierre Anglès
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0817646434
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
This book provides a self-contained overview of the role of conformal groups in geometry and mathematical physics. It features a careful development of the material, from the basics of Clifford algebras to more advanced topics. Each chapter covers a specific aspect of conformal groups and conformal spin geometry. All major concepts are introduced and followed by detailed descriptions and definitions, and a comprehensive bibliography and index round out the work. Rich in exercises that are accompanied by full proofs and many hints, the book will be ideal as a course text or self-study volume for senior undergraduates and graduate students.
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0817646434
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
This book provides a self-contained overview of the role of conformal groups in geometry and mathematical physics. It features a careful development of the material, from the basics of Clifford algebras to more advanced topics. Each chapter covers a specific aspect of conformal groups and conformal spin geometry. All major concepts are introduced and followed by detailed descriptions and definitions, and a comprehensive bibliography and index round out the work. Rich in exercises that are accompanied by full proofs and many hints, the book will be ideal as a course text or self-study volume for senior undergraduates and graduate students.