Group Ring - Group Algebra Over A Finite Group

Group Algebra Over A Finite Group

Group algebras occur naturally in the theory of group representations of finite groups. The group algebra K over a field K is essentially the group ring, with the field K taking the place of the ring. As a set and vector space, it is the free vector space over the field, with the elements being formal sums:

The algebra structure on the vector space is defined using the multiplication in the group:

where on the left, g and h indicate elements of the group algebra, while the multiplication on the right is the group operation (written as multiplication).

Because the above multiplication can be confusing, one can also write the basis vectors of K as eg (instead of g), in which case the multiplication is written as:

Read more about this topic:  Group Ring

Famous quotes containing the words group, algebra and/or finite:

    Just as a person who is always asserting that he is too good-natured is the very one from whom to expect, on some occasion, the coldest and most unconcerned cruelty, so when any group sees itself as the bearer of civilization this very belief will betray it into behaving barbarously at the first opportunity.
    Simone Weil (1910–1943)

    Poetry has become the higher algebra of metaphors.
    José Ortega Y Gasset (1883–1955)

    Any language is necessarily a finite system applied with different degrees of creativity to an infinite variety of situations, and most of the words and phrases we use are “prefabricated” in the sense that we don’t coin new ones every time we speak.
    David Lodge (b. 1935)