Irreducible representations of a finite group over a field are important because all representations of a group are direct sums of irreducible representations. Maschke tells us that if φ is a representation of the finite group G of order n on the m-dimensional space V over the field K of complex numbers and if U is an invariant subspace of φ, then U has a complementary reducing subspace W . The objective of this thesis is to find all irreducible representations of the dihedral group D2n. The reason we will work with the dihedral group is because it is one of the first and most intuitive non-abelian group we encounter in abstract algebra. I will compute the representations and characters of D2n and my thesis will be an explanation of these computations. When n = 2k + 1 we will show that there are k + 2 irreducible representations of D2n, but when n = 2k we will see that D2n has k + 3 irreducible rep- resentations. To achieve this we will first give some background in group, ring, module, and vector space theory that is used in representation theory. We will then explain what general representation theory is. Finally we will show how we arrived at our conclusion.

For a finite group G = {g_0 = 1, g_1,. . ., g_{n-1}} , we can associate independent variables x_0, x_1, . . ., x_{n-1} where x_i = x_{g_i}. There is a natural action of Aut(G) on C[x_0, . . . ,x_{n-})]. Let C_1, . . . , C_r be the conjugacy classes of G. If C = {g_{i_1}, g_{i_2}, . . . , g_{i_u }} is a conjugacy class, then let x(C) = x_{i_1} + x_{i_2} + . . . + x_{i_u}. Let ρG be the representation of Aut(G) on C[x_0, . . . , x_(n-1)]/〈x(C_1), . . . , x(C_r) 〉 and let Χ_G be the character afforded by ρ_G. If G is a dihedral group of the form D_2p, D_4p or D_{2p^2}, with p an odd prime, I show how Χ_G splits into irreducible constituents. I also show how the module C[x_0, . . . ,x_{n-1}]/ decomposes into irreducible submodules. This problem is motivated by results of Humphries [2] relating to random walks on groups and the group determinant.

Let G be a finite group and V be an orthogonal four-dimensional real representation space of G where the action of G is non-free. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the existence of a G-equivariant vector field on the representation sphere of V in the cases G is the dihedral group, the generalized quaternion group and the semidihedral group in terms of decomposition of V into irreducible representations. In the case G is abelian, where the solution is already known, we give a more elementary solution.

This thesis arose from a desire to better understand the structures of automorphism groups and inner automorphism groups of quandles. We compute and give the structure of the automorphism groups of all dihedral quandles. In their paper Matrices and Finite Quandles, Ho and Nelson found all quandles (up to isomorphism) of orders 3, 4, and 5 and determined their automorphism groups. Here we find the automorphism groups of all quandles of orders 6 and 7. There are, up to isomoprhism, 73 quandles of order 6 and 289 quandles of order 7.

Based on Cohn and Umans’ group-theoretic method, we embed matrix multiplication into several group algebras, including those of cyclic groups, dihedral groups, special linear groups and Frobenius groups. We prove that SL2(Fp) and PSL2(Fp) can realize the matrix tensor ⟨p, p, p⟩, i.e. it is possible to encode p × p matrix multiplication in the group algebra of such a group. We also find the lower bound for the order of an abelian group realizing ⟨n, n, n⟩ is n3. For Frobenius groups of the form Cq Cp, where p and q are primes, we find that the smallest admissible value of q must be in the range p4/3 ≤ q ≤ p2 − 2p + 3. We also develop an algorithm to find the smallest q for a given prime p.

A little over 20 years ago Drinfeld presented the quantum (or Drinfeld) double construction. This construction takes any Hopf algebra and embeds it in a larger quasi-triangular Hopf algebra, which contains an algebraic solution to the constant Yang–Baxter equation. One such class of algebras consists of the Drinfeld doubles of finite groups, which are currently of interest due to their connections with non-Abelian anyons. The smallest non-commutative Drinfeld double of a finite group algebra is the Drinfeld double of D3 , the dihedral group of order six, which was recently used to construct solutions to the Yang–Baxter equation cor- responding to 2-state and 3-state integrable spin chains with periodic boundary conditions. In this thesis we construct R-matrices from the Drinfeld double of dihedral group algebras, D(Dn) and consider their associated integrable systems. The 3-state spin chain from D(D3) is generalised to include open boundaries and it is also shown that there exists a more general R-matrix for this algebra. For general D(Dn) an R-matrix is constructed as a descendant of the zero-field six-vertex model.

A little over 20 years ago Drinfeld presented the quantum (or Drinfeld) double construction. This construction takes any Hopf algebra and embeds it in a larger quasi-triangular Hopf algebra, which contains an algebraic solution to the constant Yang–Baxter equation. One such class of algebras consists of the Drinfeld doubles of finite groups, which are currently of interest due to their connections with non-Abelian anyons. The smallest non-commutative Drinfeld double of a finite group algebra is the Drinfeld double of D3 , the dihedral group of order six, which was recently used to construct solutions to the Yang–Baxter equation cor- responding to 2-state and 3-state integrable spin chains with periodic boundary conditions. In this thesis we construct R-matrices from the Drinfeld double of dihedral group algebras, D(Dn) and consider their associated integrable systems. The 3-state spin chain from D(D3) is generalised to include open boundaries and it is also shown that there exists a more general R-matrix for this algebra. For general D(Dn) an R-matrix is constructed as a descendant of the zero-field six-vertex model.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-15T11:46:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 564673 bytes, checksum: caec7ef95e0e9b70eb60b56bfa2f6547 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-08-03 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In this paper we study finite Abelian groups, where state and prove the fundamental theorem of finitely generated abelian groups, as well as determine a characterization of automorphisms of a p-group, moreover, we exhibit an algorithm that determines the count of the number of automorphisms of p-groups. Finally, we show the automorphisms of the non-Abelian dihedral group. / Neste trabalho estudamos Grupos Abelianos finitos, onde enunciamos e provamos o Teorema fundamental dos grupos abelianos finitamente gerados, bem como determinamos uma caracterização dos automorfismos de um p-grupo, além disso, exibimos um algoritmo que determina a contagem do número de automorfismos desses p-grupos. Por fim, mostramos os automorfismos do grupo não-Abeliano Diedral .