A Physicist's Introduction to Algebraic Structures

Book excerpt: An algebraic structure consists of a set of elements, with some rule of combining them, or some special property of selected subsets of the entire set. Many algebraic structures, such as vector space and group, come to everyday use of a modern physicist. Catering to the needs of graduate students and researchers in the field of mathematical physics and theoretical physics, this comprehensive and valuable text discusses the essential concepts of algebraic structures such as metric space, group, modular numbers, algebraic integers, field, vector space, Boolean algebra, measure space and Lebesgue integral. Important topics including finite and infinite dimensional vector spaces, finite groups and their representations, unitary groups and their representations and representations of the Lorentz group, homotopy and homology of topological spaces are covered extensively. Rich pedagogy includes various problems interspersed throughout the book for better understanding of concepts.