大魔群的历史与发展

The History and Development of the Monster

有限单群分类定理的证明是本世纪初取得的一项重大成就。作为有限单群中最大的散单群,大魔群自20世纪70年代就以其复杂的结构和迷人的性质受到广泛关注。文章介绍了人们对大魔群求索与认知的过程,分析了它与数学其他学科乃至物理学的关系。

The proof for the theorm of the classification of finite simple groups is a great achievement made in the beginning of this century. Since 1970s,the monster, which is the largest sporadic simple group, has received extensive concern because of its complicated structure and charming properties. This paper introduces the process of pursuit and comprehension of it, and analyses its relations with other disciplines in mathematics and physics.