Not to be confused with group presentation. Representation theory is a branch of mathematics that studies abstract algebraic structures by representing their elements as linear transformations of vector spaces, and studies modules over these abstract algebraic structures.
The signature effect of HIV infection, and the cause of AIDS, is disruption of the T-lymphocyte branch of the immune system and in particular the destruction of CD4+ T-helper cells.
During HIV infection, CD4 T cells in lymphoid tissues initiate a highly inflammatory form of cell death that helps cripple the immune system. By Dan Cossins | December 19, 2013. HIV-infected T cell HIV leads to AIDS primarily because the virus destroys essential immune cells called CD4 T cells, but precisely how these cells are killed has not been clear.