The Irreducible Tensor Method for Molecular Symmetry Groups

Suitable for advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this text presents a highly specific version of the irreducible tensor method for molecular symmetry groups. It was written by a distinguished chemist and biophysicist, John Stanley Griffith (1928-72), whose brief career spanned many disciplines and included the development of a theory of protein self-replication that led to significant advances in genetic research.The text begins with an introduction, followed by considerations of V coefficients for the octahedral group and other symmetry groups, and a survey of W coefficients. Subsequent topics include irreducible products and their matrix elements, two-electron formulae for the octahedral group, fractional parentage, X coefficients, spin, and matrices of one-electron operators. A concluding chapter addresses special topics, and six appendixes offer useful supplementary material.