Lie Groups (Mathematical Association of America Textbooks) - Hardcover

Harriet Pollatsek

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0883857596 ISBN 13: 9780883857595

Publisher: American Mathematical Society, 2009

Synopsis

This textbook is a complete introduction to Lie groups for undergraduate students. The only prerequisites are multi-variable calculus and linear algebra. The emphasis is placed on the algebraic ideas, with just enough analysis to define the tangent space and the differential and to make sense of the exponential map. This textbook works on the principle that students learn best when they are actively engaged. To this end nearly 200 problems are included in the text, ranging from the routine to the challenging level. Every chapter has a section called 'Putting the pieces together' in which all definitions and results are collected for reference and further reading is suggested.

About this title

About the Author

Harriet Pollatsek was a mathematics major at the University of Michigan and stayed on for her Ph.D. She is currently the Julia and Sarah Ann Adams Professor of Mathematics at Mount Holyoke College, where she has been since 1970.

She has been awarded the Mount Holyoke College Teaching Award and the Association for Women in Mathematics' Louis Hay Award for contributions to mathematics education.

From the Back Cover

The work of the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie extends ideas of symmetry and leads to many applications in mathematics and physics. Ordinarily, the study of the "objects" in Lie's theory (Lie groups and Lie algebras) requires extensive mathematical prerequisites beyond the reach of the typical undergraduate. By restricting to the special case of matrix Lie groups and relying on ideas from multivariable calculus and linear algebra, this lovely and important material becomes accessible even to college sophomores. Working with Lie's ideas fosters an appreciation of the unity of mathematics and the sometimes surprising ways in which mathematics provides a language to describe and understand the physical world.Lie Groups is an active learning text that can be used by students with a range of backgrounds and interests. The material is developed through 200 carefully chosen problems. This is the only book in the undergraduate curriculum to bring this material to students so early in their mathematical careers.

Edition details

• Publisher: American Mathematical Society
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0883857596
• ISBN 13: 9780883857595
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 177