Unitary representationIn mathematics, a unitary representation of a group G is a linear representation π of G on a complex Hilbert space V such that π(g) is a unitary operator for every g ∈ G. The general theory is well-developed in the case that G is a locally compact (Hausdorff) topological group and the representations are strongly continuous. The theory has been widely applied in quantum mechanics since the 1920s, particularly influenced by Hermann Weyl's 1928 book Gruppentheorie und Quantenmechanik.
Gelfand representationIn mathematics, the Gelfand representation in functional analysis (named after I. M. Gelfand) is either of two things: a way of representing commutative Banach algebras as algebras of continuous functions; the fact that for commutative C*-algebras, this representation is an isometric isomorphism. In the former case, one may regard the Gelfand representation as a far-reaching generalization of the Fourier transform of an integrable function.
Locally compact groupIn mathematics, a locally compact group is a topological group G for which the underlying topology is locally compact and Hausdorff. Locally compact groups are important because many examples of groups that arise throughout mathematics are locally compact and such groups have a natural measure called the Haar measure. This allows one to define integrals of Borel measurable functions on G so that standard analysis notions such as the Fourier transform and spaces can be generalized.
Tannakian formalismIn mathematics, a Tannakian category is a particular kind of C, equipped with some extra structure relative to a given field K. The role of such categories C is to approximate, in some sense, the category of linear representations of an algebraic group G defined over K. A number of major applications of the theory have been made, or might be made in pursuit of some of the central conjectures of contemporary algebraic geometry and number theory.
Hodge theoryIn mathematics, Hodge theory, named after W. V. D. Hodge, is a method for studying the cohomology groups of a smooth manifold M using partial differential equations. The key observation is that, given a Riemannian metric on M, every cohomology class has a canonical representative, a differential form that vanishes under the Laplacian operator of the metric. Such forms are called harmonic. The theory was developed by Hodge in the 1930s to study algebraic geometry, and it built on the work of Georges de Rham on de Rham cohomology.
Braid groupIn mathematics, the braid group on n strands (denoted ), also known as the Artin braid group, is the group whose elements are equivalence classes of n-braids (e.g. under ambient isotopy), and whose group operation is composition of braids (see ). Example applications of braid groups include knot theory, where any knot may be represented as the closure of certain braids (a result known as Alexander's theorem); in mathematical physics where Artin's canonical presentation of the braid group corresponds to the Yang–Baxter equation (see ); and in monodromy invariants of algebraic geometry.
Heisenberg groupIn mathematics, the Heisenberg group , named after Werner Heisenberg, is the group of 3×3 upper triangular matrices of the form under the operation of matrix multiplication. Elements a, b and c can be taken from any commutative ring with identity, often taken to be the ring of real numbers (resulting in the "continuous Heisenberg group") or the ring of integers (resulting in the "discrete Heisenberg group"). The continuous Heisenberg group arises in the description of one-dimensional quantum mechanical systems, especially in the context of the Stone–von Neumann theorem.
