Loop Groups Paperback

Andrew Pressley

Loop groups are the simplest class of infinite dimensional Lie groups, and have important applications in elementary particle physics. They have recently been studied intensively, and the theory is now well developed, involving ideas from several areas of mathematics - algebra, geometry, analysis, and combinatorics. The mathematics of quantum field theory is an important ingredient. This book gives a complete and self-contained account of what is known about the subject and it is written from a geometrical and analytical point of view, with quantum field theory very much in mind. The mathematics used in connection with loop groups is interesting and important beyond its immediate applications and the authors have tried to make the book accessible to mathematicians in many fields.

0198535619

9780198535614

English

Oxford University Press

11-May-1995

326

The arguments are clear and full proofs are given. ... The whole text is actually built up around the idea of classification theorems. The inherent limitations of such an approach put aside, such glimpses of a distant horizon can do a lot towards stimulating the students to find more about the subject for themselves. (M Deaconescu, Zentralblatt fur Mathematik, Band 843/96.)