In mathematics, a Young symmetrizer is an element of the group algebra of the symmetric group, constructed in such a way that, for the homomorphism from the group algebra to the endomorphisms of a vector space obtained from the action of on by permutation of indices, the image of the endomorphism determined by that element corresponds to an irreducible representation of the symmetric group over the complex numbers. A similar construction works over any field, and the resulting representations are called Specht modules. The Young symmetrizer is named after British mathematician Alfred Young.