Alberto Ibort

Introduction to Groups, Groupoids and Their Representations

This book offers an introduction to the theory of groupoids and their representations encompassing the standard theory of groups. Using a categorical language, developed from simple examples, the theory of finite groupoids is shown to knit neatly with that of groups and their structure as well as that of their representations is described. The book comprises numerous examples and applications, including well-known games and puzzles, databases and physics applications. Key concepts have been presented using only basic notions so that it can be used both by students and researchers interested in the subject. Category theory is the natural language that is being used to develop the theory of groupoids. However, categorical presentations of mathematical subjects tend to become highly abstract very fast and out of reach of many potential users. To avoid this, foundations of the theory, starting with simple examples, have been developed and used to study the structure of finite groups and groupoids. The appropriate language and notions from category theory have been developed for students of mathematics and theoretical physics. The book presents the theory on the same level as the ordinary and elementary theories of finite groups and their representations, and provides a unified picture of the same. The structure of the algebra of finite groupoids is analysed, along with the classical theory of characters of their representations. Unnecessary complications in the formal presentation of the subject are avoided. The book offers an introduction to the language of category theory in the concrete setting of finite sets. It also shows how this perspective provides a common ground for various problems and applications, ranging from combinatorics, the topology of graphs, structure of databases and quantum physics.