Description

These notes give an introduction to subfactors suitable for newcomers to the field. Subfactors have been a subject of considerable research activity for about fifteen years and are known to have significant relations with other fields such as low dimensional topology and algebraic quantum field theory. These notes give an introduction to the subject suitable for a student who has only a little familiarity with the theory of Hilbert space. Subfactors have been a subject of considerable research activity for about fifteen years and are known to have significant relations with other fields such as low dimensional topology and algebraic quantum field theory. These notes give an introduction to the subject suitable for a student who has only a little familiarity with the theory of Hilbert space. Subfactors have been a subject of considerable research activity for about fifteen years and are known to have significant relations with other fields such as low dimensional topology and algebraic quantum field theory. These notes give an introduction to the subject suitable for a student who has only a little familiarity with the theory of Hilbert space. A new pictorial approach to subfactors is presented in a late chapter. 1. Factors; 2. Subfactors and index; 3. Some basic facts; 4. The principal and dual graphs; 5. Commuting squares; 6. Vertex and spin models. 'The presentation is a pleasure to read, and the careful selection of topics leads the reader on a very direct route to some o