The work of Gian-Carlo Rota on invariant theory (Q2496147)

This is a very comprehensive and excellently written paper which explains Gian-Carlo Rota's attempt to invariant theory. The author gives a broad historical and mathematical context. The paper is concentrated on three specific cases: vector invariants, the invariants of binary forms, and invariants of skew-symmetric tensors. He discusses all of these cases and shows how determinants and straightening play central roles. Determinants constitute all invariants in the vector case. For binary forms and skew-symmetric tensors, they constitute all invariants when they are represented symbolically. Consequently, the author explains the symbolic method both for binary forms and for skew-symmetric tensors, where Rota developed generalizations of the notion of a determinant. The Grassmann algebra is discussed with its two operations, which was a theme running through Rota's work on invariant theory.