In
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
, and specifically in
group theory
In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups.
The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ( ...
, a non-abelian group, sometimes called a non-commutative group, is a
group (''G'', ∗) in which there exists at least one pair of elements ''a'' and ''b'' of ''G'', such that ''a'' ∗ ''b'' ≠ ''b'' ∗ ''a''.
This class of groups contrasts with the
abelian group
In mathematics, an abelian group, also called a commutative group, is a group in which the result of applying the group operation to two group elements does not depend on the order in which they are written. That is, the group operation is commu ...
s, where all pairs of group elements
commute.
Non-abelian groups are pervasive in mathematics and
physics
Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
. One of the simplest examples of a non-abelian group is the
dihedral group of order 6. It is the smallest finite non-abelian group. A common example from physics is the
rotation group SO(3)
In mechanics and geometry, the 3D rotation group, often denoted SO(3), is the group of all rotations about the origin of three-dimensional Euclidean space \R^3 under the operation of composition.
By definition, a rotation about the origin is a ...
in three dimensions (for example, rotating something 90 degrees along one axis and then 90 degrees along a different axis is not the same as doing them in reverse order).
Both
discrete group
In mathematics, a topological group ''G'' is called a discrete group if there is no limit point in it (i.e., for each element in ''G'', there is a neighborhood which only contains that element). Equivalently, the group ''G'' is discrete if and ...
s and
continuous groups may be non-abelian. Most of the interesting
Lie group
In mathematics, a Lie group (pronounced ) is a group (mathematics), group that is also a differentiable manifold, such that group multiplication and taking inverses are both differentiable.
A manifold is a space that locally resembles Eucli ...
s are non-abelian, and these play an important role in
gauge theory
In physics, a gauge theory is a type of field theory in which the Lagrangian, and hence the dynamics of the system itself, does not change under local transformations according to certain smooth families of operations (Lie groups). Formally, t ...
.
See also
*
Associative algebra
In mathematics, an associative algebra ''A'' over a commutative ring (often a field) ''K'' is a ring ''A'' together with a ring homomorphism from ''K'' into the center of ''A''. This is thus an algebraic structure with an addition, a mult ...
*
Noncommutative geometry
*
Niels Henrik Abel
External links
*
David MadoreOrders of non abelian simple groups 22 January 2003. Retrieved 13 July 2024.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nonabelian Group
Properties of groups