Sophus Lie and Felix Klein: The Erlangen Program and Its Impact in Mathematics and Physics (IRMA Lectures in Mathematics and Theoretical Physics)

The Erlangen program expresses a fundamental point of view on the use of groups and transformation groups in mathematics and physics. This volume is the first modern comprehensive book on that program and its impact in contemporary mathematics and physics. Klein spelled out the program, and Lie, who contributed to its formulation, is the first mathematician who made it effective in his work. The theories that these two authors developed are also linked to their personal history and to their relations with each other and with other mathematicians, incuding Hermann Weyl, Élie Cartan, Henri Poincaré, and many others. All these facets of the Erlangen program appear in this volume. The book is written by well-known experts in geometry, physics and the history of mathematics and physics. A publication of the European Mathematical Society. Distributed within the Americas by the American Mathematical Society.