The mathematical language which encodes the symmetry properties in physics is group theory. In this chapter we recall the main results. We introduce the concepts of finite and infinite groups, that of group representations and the Clebsch–Gordan decomposition. We study, in particular, Lie groups and Lie algebras and give the Cartan classification. Some simple examples include the groups U(1), SU(2) – and its connection to O(3) – and SU(3). We use the method of Young tableaux in order to find the properties of products of irreducible representations. Among the non-compact groups we focus on the Lorentz group, its relation with O(4) and SL(2,C), and its representations. We construct the space of physical states using the infinite-dimensional unitary representations of the Poincaré group.
Operators of finite rank in unitary representations of exponential Lie groups