A Quick Introduction to Finite Representations

For my Fall 2001-Spring 2002 VIGRE REU project I wrote an expository introduction to the the representation theory of finite groups. This introduction runs 14 pages and for that amount covers quite a lot of ground. Still, I would like to see what I could do in another 15 or so pages. It would be nice to go more deeply into the theory of characters and discuss one or two particularly illuminating examples. This remains a possibility. During this REU I learned in particular about the irreducible representations of the symmetric group, and had planned to give a construction of these in my written REU project. However, because of time constraints, I decided against this.

Regardless, I think this project could serve as a valuable launching point for other VIGRE undergraduates working on Finite Representations. You may download my exposition below. My thanks go to Henryk Hecht, who supervised this project, and to the University of Utah VIGRE program.

If you have any questions, you may email me.