Representation Theory Notes Ravi Charan

1 Lie Groups and Algebras

1. A matrix Lie group is a closed subset of GL(n, C) (sequences within it converge to a non-
invertible matrix or to within it)

2. Orthogonal matrix: column vectors are orthonormal; preserves inner products < Ax, Ay >,
Inverse is a transpose

3. O(n) matrices are rotations and reflections; SO(n) are just the rotations

4. For complex matrices, we say unitary and take the adjoint (conjugate transpose). The norm
of the determinant must be 1 (ei ). The special unitary group requires = 0

5. We can generalize to a matrix preserving the bilinear form giving the Minkowski Metric O(3,1)
over the reals

6. The symplectic groups SP (n; R), SP (n; C), SP (n)

i) Skew symmetric bilinear forms

7. The Euclidean Group is distance-preserving one-to-one and onto maps from Rn to itself.

i) The Orthogonal Group and the group of Translations are both subgroups, and the
Euclidean Group factors into the two
ii) The Orthogonal Group is the group of linear transforms

8. The Poincare group likewise is distance preserving in Rn+1 for the Minkowski Metric

9. Connectedness is equivalent to path-connectedness for a Matrix Lie Group

10. Simply connected: connected and every loop can be shrunk to a point (no holes)

i) Fundamental Group: take loops based at a point. The homotopy class of a loop is all
those loops it can be continuously deformed to. The fundamental group is the group of
homotopy classes under concatenation

11. SU (2) can be mapped two-to-one to SO(3)

12. det(eX ) = etr(X) (the product of the eigenvalues on the left; their sum exponentiated on the
right, for a diagonalizable matrix)

13. Theorem: all 1-parameter subgroups are of the form etX for a unique X (1-parameter sub-
groups are continuous and start at 1, and add time by composition)

14. The Lie Algebra of a Lie Group is the set of matrices X such that for any real t, etX lies in
G. (It is a 1-parameter subgroup).

i) One can think of the Lie Algebra as the tangent space at the identity to the group
(considered as a manifold). This in turn can be considered the derivative of smooth
curves that go through the identity.
ii) Physicists use eitX and refer to the Lie Algebra as infinitesimal group elements

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iii) The Lie Algebra of GL(n, R/C) is the space of matrices.
iv) The Special Linear Group is generated by traceless matrices (the determinant is eT r )
v) The Unitary Group is generated by matrices that are skew-adjoint. The Special Unitary
group is traceless skew-adjoint matrices
vi) The Orthogonal Group and the Special one are generated by matrices that are skew-
symmetric (and hence traceless). The Lie Algebra generates only the identity component
of O
vii) For generalized orthogonal groups with signature g a diagonal matrix with 1s and -1s,
require gX T g = X to generalize skew symmetry

15. Lie Algebras are real vector spaces and closed under XY Y X (commutator). For Physics,
require i(XY Y X)

16. A Lie Algebra is complex if it is a complex vector space (contains iX for X in the Algebra)

17. A Lie Group homomorphism gives rise to a unique Lie Algebra homomorphism that is a real
linear map. This map is the derivative of the original group homomorphism at the identity
(as expected). The converse is true if the co-domain for the group map is simply connected

18. The Adjoint mapping takes X to AXA1 for A in G and X in its Lie Algebra. This gives a
group homomorphism from G to the general linear group of the Lie Algebra

19. adX (Y ) = [X, Y ]

20. Ad is a Lie Algebra homomorphism

21. The exponential mapping

i) There is a neighborhood of 0 in GL such that the log is well-defined

ii) There is a neighborhood U of 0 in g and a neighborhood of V in G such that exp is a
homeomorphism from U to V

22. Every element of a connected Lie Group is of the form exi

23. For a connected Lie Group: same induced Lie Algebra homomorphism implies same group
homomorphism (use characterization)

24. We can complexify a real Lie Algebra by formally adding i.

25. If G is not simply connected, we will look for a universal covering group with the same Lie
Algebra that is simply connected

i) The universal cover exists and is unique up to canonical isomorphism

ii) The universal cover of SO(n) is called Spin(n)

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2 Representations
1. A representation is the action on a vector space (map to GL(V ) or the corresponding Lie
Algebra).

2. A subspace is invariant if it is invariant under the action of the entire Lie Group.

3. A representation is irreducible if it has no non-trivial invariant subspaces in V

4. A representation of a Lie Group is irreducible iff the associated representation of the Lie
Algebra is.

5. A unitary representation is a representation to Unitary Operators on a Hilbert space that

satisifes strong continuity (if group elements An converge to A, then the action of the An
converges to the action of A for any vector v)

6. (!!) If an equation is symmetric, the solution space will constitute a representation of the
symmetry group

7. Example: the representation of so(3) = su(2) which complexifies to sl(2, C) is the theory of
angular momentum (m, l numbers). The irreducible representations are uniquely character-
ized by their dimension m + 1.

8. We can build new representations from irreducible ones as:

i) direct sums (obvious)

ii) tensor products for G acting on V and H acting on W : if 1 2 is a representation of
G H in the obvious way, the Lie Algebra is g h and the induced representation is

1 2 (X, Y ) = 1 (X) I + I 2 (Y )

(the product rule)

iii) tensor products for G acting on V and W seperately (here the representation is of G,
not G G)
iv) dual representations acting on V with

(g) = [(g 1 )]T (X) = (X)T

9. Analyzing tensor products as direct sums is Clebsch-Gordon theory (addition of angular

momentum for SU (2))

10. Schurs lemma: maps between representations (i.e. between the underlying spaces that are
compatible) are either 0 or isomorphisms if the representations V and W are both irreducible.
There is only one isomorphism, up to multiplication by a complex constant

i) Corollary: if is a representation and A in the center of G (commutes with everything)

then (A) is a multiple of the identity
ii) Corollary: for an Abelian group, irreducible representations are 1 dimensional!

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11. A group has the complete reducibility property if every finite-dimensional representation is
the direct sum of a finite number of irreducible representations

12. Every finite or compact group is completely reducible! Also any unitary representation on a
finite-dimensional hilbert space

13. For compactness, we define a measure (the left Haar measure) which is unique up to constant
multiplication, and which every matrix Lie Group has. When this measure is finite, we
can define convergent integrals easily, allowing us to construct an inner product for which a
representation is unitary, and hence decomposes

3 Manifolds
1. Vector fields: elements of the tangent space defined over the whole manifold. Can be regarded
as differential operators (by thinking about them as the dual space and using directional
derivatives on smooth functions)

2. If X and Y are vector fields, XY doesnt satisfy the product rule, but [X, Y ] does (an infinite
dimensional lie algebra!)

3. An integral curve has derivative in time equal to the vector field at the appropriate place.
They always exist locally.

4. A complete vector field has integral curves for all initial conditions and all time. On a compact
manifold, all vector fields are complete

5. For a smooth complete vector field, we can define the flow automorphisms (t) that evolve
the manifold forwards in time

6. A Lie Group is a group that is also a smooth manifold with group operations smooth

7. To get the Lie Algebra: define left multiplication Lg (h) = gh

i) The differential (Lg ) at h is a linear map from Th (G) to Tgh (G)

ii) A left invariant vector field has (Lg ) (Xh ) = Xgh
iii) For each vector v Te (G) there is a unique left-invariant vector field with Xe = v
(namely Xg = (Lg ) (v)

8. The exponential mapping is flow!!

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