Discrete quantum groups were introduced as duals of compact quantum groups by Podleś and Woronowicz in 1990. Shortly after, they were defined and studied intrinsically by Effros and Ruan, and by this author. In 1998, with the introduction of the multiplier Hopf algebras with integrals (also called algebraic quantum groups), the duality between discrete and compact quantum groups became part of the more general duality in the self-dual category of these algebraic quantum groups. Again a few years later the duality was extended to all locally compact quantum groups.
In these notes, we give a new and a somewhat updated approach of the theory of discrete quantum groups. In particular, we view them as special cases of algebraic quantum groups. The duality between the compact quantum groups and the discrete quantum groups is seen in this larger context. This has a number of advantages as we will explain.
On the one hand, we provide quite a bit of information about how all of this fits into the more general theory of algebraic quantum groups and its duality. Occasionally, we even go one step further and look at the most general case of locally compact quantum groups. Also sometimes, we compare with known results in pure Hopf algebra theory. On the other hand however, we have tried to make these notes highly self-contained. The aim of these notes in the first place is not to give new results but rather to review known results in a more modern perspective, taking into account recent developments. We believe this may be helpful for people who want to work with compact and discrete quantum groups now.
