Introduction to compact (matrix) quantum groups and Banica–Speicher (easy) quantum groups

Abstract

This is a transcript of a series of eight lectures, 90 min each, held at IMSc Chennai, India from 5–24 January 2015. We give basic definitions, properties and examples of compact quantum groups and compact matrix quantum groups such as the existence of a Haar state, the representation theory and Woronowicz’s quantum version of the Tannaka–Krein theorem. Building on this, we define Banica–Speicher quantum groups (also called easy quantum groups), a class of compact matrix quantum groups determined by the combinatorics of set partitions. We sketch the classification of Banica–Speicher quantum groups and we list some applications. We review the state-of-the-art regarding Banica–Speicher quantum groups and we list some open problems.