The subject matter of compact groups is frequently cited in fi elds like algebra, topology, functional analysis, and theoretical physics. This book serves the dual purpose of providing a text for upper level graduate students, and of being a source book for researchers who need the structure and representation theory of compact groups. After a gentle introduction to compact groups and their representation theory, the book presents self-contained courses on linear Lie groups and on locally compact abelian groups.Appended chapters contain the material for self-contained courses on abelian...