In The Joy of X, I was introduced to the concept of group theory.

I was surprised that I had not been (or dont remember being) formally exposed to it in my mathematical career, so I read closely and took some notes. The book didnt delve into the full definition and explanation of group theory, so I also decided to research it further. Group Theory According to The Joy of X: Strogatz describes group theory as a connection between the arts and the sciences due to its focus on symmetry. He states that group theory involves making transformations that leave a shape unchanged. These transformations are called symmetries of the shape. The way that Strogatz explains group theory is in the context of transforming a mattress. He describes three types of transformations: a horizontal flip, a vertical flip, and a rotation. A fourth transformation that is less acknowledged but important to note is leaving the mattress as is. Not changing the mattresss position whatsoever still satisfies the features of a symmetry of the shape. This transformation is referred to as the identity element (similar to the identity elements that keep a number as is in addition and multiplication). The book includes an illustration that I am going to replicate here because it really helped me to visualize this idea. Below are the four possible positions of the mattress (with corners labeled). The transformations that cause one position to become another are shown with arrows.

H horizontal flip, V vertical flip, R rotation

1 2
H

V R

4
H

The picture above would be called a group in group theory. A group is a collection of the transformations (symmetries) of a shape. In the mattress situation, there are the four above transformations plus the non-action transformation (the identity element). This group solves the problem posed in the book (and by people everywhere), which is: What is the best way to prolong a mattresss duration? By looking at the illustration, you can see all of the steps that can be taken to get the most use out of a mattress. The main idea is to transform it so that all four positions are reached over time, thus preventing body impressions and wear all in one spot. The books discussion of group theory gave me some insight about one version of it, but I still wondered about its range in math (and other sciences) and the basic starting points. Here is what I got out of it. Transformation groups (like the one above) are just one class of groups. Others include: o Permutation groups (involving a group of bijections of a set into itself that is closed under compositions and inverses)

o Matrix groups (involving a set of invertible matrices closed under products and inverses) o Abstract groups o Topological and algebraic groups Wolfram Mathworld defines group theory as a powerful formal method for analyzing abstract and physical systems in which symmetry is present. Group theory is the study of mathematical systems that follow a set of axioms. A group must have: o Closure [the result (depending on the systems operation) of any two elements in the group must also be an element in the group] o Associativity (the same way that it works for addition or multiplication) o Identity (an element that, when applied to any element in the group, leaves that element unchanged) o Inverses (for every element in the group, there is another element in the group that when applied to the first element results in the identity element) The axioms above are used in order to abstractly solve equations in group theory. I found an explanation of this process that really cleared things up for me, so instead of struggling to put it into my own words, Ill copy it directly and give credit to dogschool.tripod.com. o Using the closure axiom and the axiom for inverses we operate on both sides of the equation by the inverse of a. The inverse axiom says that a-1, the inverse of a exists and the closure axiom says that the product of a-1and any other group element exists and is still in the group. a-1 (a x) = a-1 b o Now applying the associative axiom,

 (a-1 a) x = a-1 b o The axiom of inverses gives e x = a-1 b o Finally using the axiom of identity we get, x = a-1 b o So we "solved" equation (2) without answering the questions about a, b or x actually were or even what the operation indicated by was.

Examples of common groups:

o The integers (under addition) o The non-zero rational numbers (under multiplication) o The real numbers (under addition) o The complex numbers (under addition) o The Euclidean group (all tranformations of the plane that dont alter distances) Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Group_theory http://dogschool.tripod.com/groups.html http://mathworld.wolfram.com/GroupTheory.html