ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Group representation

Group representation is when you have a group of things, like a group of toys or a group of animals, and you can show them in different ways. For example, you might have 5 pieces of candy and you can show them as 5 individual pieces or you can group them together and show them as 1 group of 5.

Now, imagine you have a group of friends who all have different talents, like singing, dancing or telling jokes. You can represent this group in different ways too! You can show the group as a whole, where everyone is equal and important, or you can show each person individually, highlighting their unique talents.

In math, group representation is used to study symmetrical objects and their properties. This involves taking a group, like a square or a triangle, and representing it in different ways, like rotating it or reflecting it. This helps us understand the group better and learn more about its properties.

So, group representation is basically about showing a group in different ways and using these representations to learn more about the group and its properties!