  We consider symmetry operators a from the group ring C[S_N] which act on the
Hilbert space H of the 1D spin-1/2 Heisenberg magnetic ring with N sites. We
investigate such symmetry operators a which are self-adjoint (in a sence
defined in the paper) and which yield consequently observables of the
Heisenberg model. We prove the following results: (i) One can construct a
self-adjoint idempotent symmetry operator from every irreducible character of
every subgroup of S_N. This leads to a big manifold of observables. In
particular every commutation symmetry yields such an idempotent. (ii) The set
of all generating idempotents of a minimal right ideal R of C[S_N] contains one
and only one idempotent which ist self-adjoint. (iii) Every self-adjoint
idempotent e can be decomposed into primitive idempotents e = f_1 + ... + f_k
which are also self-adjoint and pairwise orthogonal. We give a computer
algorithm for the calculation of such decompositions. Furthermore we present 3
additional algorithms which are helpful for the calculation of self-adjoint
operators by means of discrete Fourier transforms of S_N. In our investigations
we use computer calculations by means of our Mathematica packages PERMS and
HRing.
