In studying the symmetry groups of a crystal lattice in the presence of a magnetic field, the projective representations of these groups must be considered, because of the phase change in the wave functions which is due to the gauge transformations which accompany the geometric symmetries. These projective representations are ordinary representations of a group which is isomorphic to the generalized Dirac groups. The irreducible representations of the symmetry adapted functions of these groups can be obtained by means of techniques arising from the method of induced representations for those groups which can be exhibited as semi-direct products. One of the traditional puzzles for students of quantum mechanics is the reconciliation of the quantification principle that wave functions must be square integrable with the reality that continuum wave functions do not respect this requirement. By protesting that neither are they quantized the problem can be sidestepped, although some ingenuity may still be required to find suitable boundary conditions.
Further difficulties await later on when particular systems are studied in more detail.
Sometimes all the solutions, and not just some of them, are square integrable. Then it is necessary to resort to another principle, such as continuity or finiteness of the wave function, to achieve quantization. Examples where such steps have to be taken can be found both in the Schr dinger equation and the Dirac equation. The ground state of the hydrogen atom, the hydrogen atom in Minkowski space, the theta component of angular momentum, all pose problems for the Schr dinger equation. Finiteness of wavefunction alone is not a reliable principle because it fails in the radial equation of the Dirac hydrogen atom.