  The use of dynamical symmetries or spectrum generating algebras for the
solution of the nuclear many-body problem is reviewed. General notions of
symmetry and dynamical symmetry in quantum mechanics are introduced and
illustrated with simple examples such as the SO(4) symmetry of the hydrogen
atom and the isospin symmetry in nuclei. Two nuclear models, the shell model
and the interacting boson model, are reviewed with particular emphasis on their
use of group-theoretical techniques.
