Group Theory in Physics [Hardcover]

Wu-Ki Tung (Author), W. K. Tung (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1985 | ISBN-10: 9971966565 | ISBN-13: 978-9971966560

An introductory text book for graduates and advanced undergraduates on group representation theory. It emphasizes group theory's role as the mathematical framework for describing symmetry properties of classical and quantum mechanical systems.

Familiarity with basic group concepts and techniques is invaluable in the education of a modern-day physicist. This book emphasizes general features and methods which demonstrate the power of the group-theoretical approach in exposing the systematics of physical systems with associated symmetry.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... well organized and the material is presented in an appealing and easily absorbed style." -- Foundations of Physics

"...written to meet precisely this need of the lack of suitable textbooks on general group-theoretical methods in physics" -- Physics Briefs, 1986

"A valuable addition to group theory texts for physicists." -- Mathematical Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Company (April 1, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9971966565
• ISBN-13: 978-9971966560
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,114,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Almost perfect!, June 16, 2000

By 

"jsw2" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Group Theory in Physics (Paperback)

This book gives an excellent introduction into group theory and provides a working knowledge for those who want to study field theory (for example). I especially like the complete treatment of representations of the classical groups and the Lorentz and Poincare groups.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars He can do better., January 14, 2002

By 

Hui Fang "booklover" (NASHVILLE, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Group Theory in Physics (Paperback)

This is not a bad book. The contents are comprehensive. The theorems are well proved. Graphs are used appropriatly to clarify the concept. But it has several shortcomings. One is the line space is too small, too many words are clustered together. Another is sometimes the proofs are too short. Some explanation should be given on certain points because those points are not so obvious and should not be taken for granted. Frankly, I love group theory, but after reading this book for 20 pages, I felt very tired, both because of the bad format and hard thinking. Hamermesh's book will give you a more enjoyable reading.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars mostly math, a little physics, September 3, 2010

By 

arpard fazakas - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Group Theory in Physics (Paperback)

I like this book. I got it after struggling with some books on quantum field theory and finding myself unable to answer basic self-asked questions like "what is a spinor?". I went through the first 8 chapters and will go back and finish it some day. It's almost all math, very few explicit physics applications (apart from an interesting introduction in Chapter 1) which seems to upset some of the other reviewers, but I enjoyed it anyway. Group theory is beautiful and logical, and Professor Tung's exposition is concise and elegant. He doesn't waste any words and the notation is dense, which also seems to upset some of the other reviewers, but hey, that's math for you. If you would like to learn the essentials of the groups used in physics, this book will do the trick. You can then go back to the physics books for the applications.

P.S. I was only able to find a single typo!