Heisenberg group Heisenberg group In mathematics, the Heisenberg group formula_1, named after Werner Heisenberg, is the group of 3×3 upper triangular matrices of the form under the operation of matrix multiplication. Elements "a, b" and "c" can be taken from any commutative ring with identity, often taken to be the ring of real numbers (resulting in the "continuous Heisenberg group") or the ring of integers (resulting in the "discrete Heisenberg group"). The continuous Heisenberg group arises in the description of one-dimensional quantum mechanical systems, especially in the context of the Stone–von Neumann theorem. More generally, one can consider Heisenberg groups associated to
Heisenberg group group of a locally compact abelian group "K", equipped with a Haar measure. Such a group has a Pontrjagin dual formula_101, consisting of all continuous formula_102-valued characters on "K", which is also a locally compact abelian group if endowed with the compact-open topology. The Heisenberg group associated with the locally compact abelian group "K" is the subgroup of the unitary group of formula_103 generated by translations from "K" and multiplications by elements of formula_101. In more detail, the Hilbert space formula_103 consists of square-integrable complex-valued functions formula_106 on "K". The translations in "K" form a unitary representation of "K" as