Symmetry Theory in Molecular Physics With Mathematica ― A New Kind of Tutorial Book

Prof. McClain has, quite simply, produced a new kind of tutorial book. It is written using the logic engine Mathematica, which permits concrete exploration and development of every concept involved in Symmetry Theory. It is aimed at students of chemistry and molecular physics who need to know mathematical group theory and its applications, either for their own research or for understanding the language and concepts of their field. The book begins with the most elementary symmetry concepts, then presents mathematical group theory, and finally the projection operators that flow from the Great Orthogonality are automated and applied to chemical and spectroscopic problems.

W.M. McClain started working with Mathematica as soon as it appeared in 1988, bringing over ten years of nearly daily experience with Mathematica to this book. He has written many research papers that use Mathematica and has also used group theory throughout his 20-year research career in nonlinear spectroscopy. He published the first group theoretic analysis of nonlinear tensors in vibronic sprectroscopy, regarded by many as a landmark paper.