Matrix Groups
If n is some positive integer, we can consider the set of all invertible n by n matrices over the reals, say. This is a group with matrix multiplication as operation. It is called the general linear group, GL(n). Geometrically, it contains all combinations of rotations, reflections, dilations and skew transformations of n-dimensional Euclidean space that fix a given point (the origin).
If we restrict ourselves to matrices with determinant 1, then we get another group, the special linear group, SL(n). Geometrically, this consists of all the elements of GL(n) that preserve both orientation and volume of the various geometric solids in Euclidean space.
If instead we restrict ourselves to orthogonal matrices, then we get the orthogonal group O(n). Geometrically, this consists of all combinations of rotations and reflections that fix the origin. These are precisely the transformations which preserve lengths and angles.
Finally, if we impose both restrictions, then we get the special orthogonal group SO(n), which consists of rotations only.
These groups are our first examples of infinite non-abelian groups. They are also happen to be Lie groups. In fact, most of the important Lie groups (but not all) can be expressed as matrix groups.
If this idea is generalised to matrices with complex numbers as entries, then we get further useful Lie groups, such as the unitary group U(n). We can also consider matrices with quaternions as entries; in this case, there is no well-defined notion of a determinant (and thus no good way to define a quaternionic "volume"), but we can still define a group analogous to the orthogonal group, the symplectic group Sp(n).
Furthermore, the idea can be treated purely algebraically with matrices over any field, but then the groups are not Lie groups.
For example, we have the general linear groups over finite fields. The group theorist J. L. Alperin has written that "The typical example of a finite group is GL(n,q), the general linear group of n dimensions over the field with q elements. The student who is introduced to the subject with other examples is being completely misled." (Bulletin (New Series) of the American Mathematical Society, 10 (1984) 121)
Read more about this topic: Examples Of Groups
Famous quotes containing the words matrix and/or groups:
“In all cultures, the family imprints its members with selfhood. Human experience of identity has two elements; a sense of belonging and a sense of being separate. The laboratory in which these ingredients are mixed and dispensed is the family, the matrix of identity.”
—Salvador Minuchin (20th century)
“Belonging to a group can provide the child with a variety of resources that an individual friendship often cannot—a sense of collective participation, experience with organizational roles, and group support in the enterprise of growing up. Groups also pose for the child some of the most acute problems of social life—of inclusion and exclusion, conformity and independence.”
—Zick Rubin (20th century)