Lie algebras, cohomology, and new applications to quantum mechanics

About this book

This volume is devoted to a range of important new ideas arising in the applications of Lie groups and Lie algebras to Schrodinger operators and associated quantum mechanical systems. In these applications, the group does not appear as a standard symmetry group, but rather as a "hidden" symmetry group whose representation theory can still be employed to analyze at least part of the spectrum of the operator. In light of the rapid developments in this subject, a Special Session was organized at the AMS meeting at Southwest Missouri State University in March 1992 in order to bring together, perhaps for the first time, mathematicians and physicists working in closely related areas. The contributions to this volume cover Lie group methods, Lie algebras and Lie algebra cohomology, representation theory, orthogonal polynomials, q-series, conformal field theory, quantum groups, scattering theory, classical invariant theory, and other topics. This volume, which contains a good balance of research and survey papers, presents at look at some of the current development in this extraordinarily rich and vibrant area.