Abstract
To apply the tools of “group theory” to physical problems, one does not need much of what a mathematician would mean by the term. Rather, one needs a good grasp of a few linear algebra ideas, in particular the ideas relating to a basis of a vector space. The operations of the group map the vector space to itself and this leads to the concept of minimal invariant subspaces (irrep spaces) of a vector (ket) space.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Butler, P.H. (1981). Basic Concepts. In: Point Group Symmetry Applications. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3141-4_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-3141-4_2
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-3143-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4613-3141-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive