User:JackSchmidt/AGT

The mathematical field of abstract algebra known as group theory is important to many disciplines, because of the wide range of applications of group theory.

Mathematics

Algebra

• Galois theory of equations
• Steinberg and fundamental groups of rings
• Group rings as important examples in ring theory
  • Easy counterexample for "noncomm domains have skew fields of fractions"
  • "If G is torsion free, is kG a domain?" has generated tons of ring theory
  • basically just check passman
• Maximal orders, and the Albert-Brauer-Hasse-Noether theorem more or less come down to crossed algebras, a simple application of groups to algebras

Analysis

• Lie groups
  • Classical elliptic integrals, etc.
• Harmonic analysis
• Haar measure type arguments
• Homogenous spaces

Combinatorics

• burnside-cauchy-frobenius
• transitive graphs
• dense codes
• analysis of block designs
• finite geometry

Numerical analysis

• efficient matrix multiplication

Number theory

• galois cohomology

Topology

• fundamental group, homotopy groups

Science

Statistics

• dense block designs, analysis of block designs
• examples of rapidly mixing markov chains

Biology

• check biostats literature, algebraic statistics mostly uses abelian groups and commutative algebra, but probably some real groups too

Chemistry

• Crystallography

Computer science

• (coding theory again)
• efficient network design
• Crypto
  • Group theoretic analysis of block ciphers
  • Counting arguments for stream ciphers
  • Generalized Diffie Hellman problems (solve the word or conjugacy problem in some infinite nonabelian group)

Earth science

Hrm, dunno

Material science

• quasicrystals and texture recognition

Physics

• Symmetry principles in general
• Quantum groups, quantum mechanics
• Heisenberg groups

Social science

Economics

• i think game theory uses some group theory

Humanities

Art

• symmetry based art, old pottery, fabrics, and modern escher style

Music

• tons of musicology