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The Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for the two-parameter quantum algebra SUp,q(2) in the

Lowdin-Shapiro approach

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1992 J. Phys. A: Math. Gen. 25 5563

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I. Php. A Math. Gen. 25 (1992) 5563-5576. Rinted in the UK

The Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for the two-parameter

quantum algebra SU,,,(2) in the Liiwdin-Shapiro approach

Yu F Smirnovt and R F Wehrhahn

Theoretical Nuclear Physics, University of Hamburg, Luruper maussee 149,
ux)O Hamburg SO, Federal Republic of Germany

Received 2 April 1992

Abstract. The stmcture of the irreducible representations of the two-parameter quantum

algebra SUp,q(2) is studied. The projection operators for this algebra are constNcted in
the EwdinShapiro form. The explicit analytical expressions for the SU,,,(Z) aebsch-
Gordan coefficients are obtained with the help of these projection operators. There are
clear perspectives to elaborate the theory of tensor operators, universal R-matrix, 6j,
9 j symbols, etc for the SUP&) algebra using the Same tools.

1. Introduction

Quantum algebras were introduced in [1,2] in connection with the inverse scattering
problem. This concept was then developed in detail in [3-51 and by other authors
16121. The y-analogues of the Wigner-Racah algebra have been introduced and
studied in [6-le]. In particular the angular momentum theory for the SU(2) and
SU,(2) algebras was considered in [19-271. In recent years special interest has
been aroused about two-parameter quantum algebras [28-321. The general features
of the representation theory for the simplest two-parameter algebra SU,,,(2) were
studied. However, the Clebsch-Gordan problem was not analysed. Here we apply the
projection operator method, developed in [23,24,33] for standard Lie algebras and
used in [25,26] for the one-parameter quantum algebra SU,(2), to the solution of the
Clebsch-Gordan problem. The main advantage of the projection operator method
lies in the fact that for the calculation of quantities of the Wigner-Racah algebra no
explicit realization of the generators of the quantum algebra is necessary. Only the
commutation relations of the generators, their properties with respect to Hermitian
conjugation and the existence of the highest weight vectors are sufficient for the
development of the theory of unitary irreducible representation for the quantum
algebra under consideration. The analysis given below shows as expected that the
results for the SU,,,(2) irreducible representations are similar to the corresponding
formulae for the one-parameter SU,(2) algebra [25-271 and hence to those of the
standard angular momentum theory after the substitution of the numbers 2 by the
P, y-numbers [ ~11,,

t On leave of absence from: Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, SU-117234 Masaw,
Russia.

OWS-4470/92~15563+14$07.50@ 1992 IOP Publishing Ltd 5563

5564 E F Smimov and R F Wehrhahn
except for some factors containing powers of p and q. where p, q are assumed inde-
pendent, real positive numbers. In the limit p = q the SUp,,(2) algebra transforms
into the one-parameter SUq(2)quantum algebra. The case of p = q = 1corresponds
to the standard SU(2) Lie algebra.
The paper is organized in the following manner. In section 2 the structure of the
irreducible representation of the SUP,,(2) algebra is discussed and the matrices of
its generators are obtained in explicit form. In section 3 the projection operators for
this quantum algebra are derived in a form of power series in the J + , J- generators,
i.e. in the LowdinShapiro form. The problem of 'vector coupling' of the SUp,q(2)
'angular momenta' is discussed in section 4. The general analytical formula for the
SUp,,(2) ClebschGordan coefficients is derived in section 5 by using the projection
operator approach. The general scheme of calculations is similar to the corresponding
procedure, developed for the one-parameter quantum algebra SUq(2)in [25,26]. The
possiiiiiiiry to construct the theory of t i e tensor operators, 63,93 . . . symbols,
universal R-matrix etc by this method becomes evident.

2. SU,,(2) algebra and its irreducible representations

The SU,,,(2) algebra is defined by the three generators J o , Jt, J- with the fol-
lowing properties [28]:

Here we use the notation

The finite-dimensional unitary irreducible representation (IR)DJ contains the highest

weight vector Ijj) satisfying the equations

Jo I jj)= j I jj) Jt Ij j ) = 0 ( j j I jj) = 1. (2.2)

Using the generator J - a non-normalized basis vector of the IR with weight m is
constmctedin the standard way,

I j m ) = J_" I j j ) with m = j - n . (2.3)

The squared norm of this vector

N 2 ( n ):= ( j m I j m ) = ( j j I J ; J_" I jj)

can be calculated from the next relation that can be proven by induction:

J,J: = ( p q - ' ) " J _ " J + + [[n]]J_"-'[[2Jo

- n t l]](pq- )
1 n-1
. (2.4)
 The Clebsch-Gordan coefficientsfor SUP,,(2) 5565

It follows that

N 2 ( n ) = [[n]][[Zj- n + 111 N 2 ( n - l ) ( p q - ' ) " - ' . (2.5)

The representation will be finitedimensional only if a maximal value n, exists,

with N2(n,,, +
1) = 0. This is the case when 2 j - n,, = 0, i.e. j = in,,, hence
only integer or half-integer values of the highest weight j , labelling the IRS Dj of
the quantum algebra SU,,,(2) are admissible. In analogy with quantum mechanics
we call j an 'angular momentum'. For its 'projection', m, the following values are
possible: m = j , j - 1 , . . . ,- j . Thus the enumeration of the IRS of SU,,,(2), the
weight structure and the dimensions, d i m DJ = 2 j + 1, of these IRS are the same as
for the standard SU(2) algebra. Iterating (2.5) we obtain

It follows that the orthonormal basis vectors of Dj are given by

(2.7)

By acting the generator J- on the vector ljm) we obtain

and the application of Jt to the vector ljm) gives

(2.9)

Hence the explicit form of the IR of SU,,,(2),

coincides with the corresponding formulae of the standard SU(2) algebra except for
the substitution of the numbers ( j + m ) and ( j ~ m 1)+by the p , q-numbers [[jkm]]
and [ [ j 7 m + 111 respectively. As for the powers of the generators we have

(2.11)
5566 lh F Smimov and R F Wehrhahn
In the standard theory of angular momentum the vectors Ijm) are the eigenvectors
of the Casimir operator. This operator, characterized by its commutativity with all
the generators of the algebra, takes for SUp,,(2) the form

For its eigenvalues we have

C, I j m ) = A I j m ) with A = ( p q - ' ) j - l [ [ j + ;]I2. (2.13)

To prove the relations appearing in this section the identities given in appendix A are
useful.

3. Projection operators for the SU,,,(2) algebra

In this section we introduce the main tool of the paper, the projection operators. Let
us first consider the projection operator PiJ P having t i e property

i.e, the operator PJ projects into the subspace expanded by the highest weight vector
of the IR D j , I j j ) . As in [26] we seek this projector as a power series in the
generators J+ and J - ,

Ncte. that the e q c n e f i ~af the Oenemtnn J - , J+ must be the same due to the
condition [ P j ,.Io] = 0. Since P j 1 jj)= 133) it follows that

CO =1 and J+Pj = 0 . (3.3)

Using (2.4) the following recurrent relation for the coefficients c I is found:

CI-1 + [[ill [ [ 2 j + 1 + 111

CI = 0. (3.4)

It follows that

The problem of the convergence of the formal series (3.2) is not essential because
the sum is always applied to vectors containing in their expansion only components
Ij'j) with j' < .
,
j Hence only a finite number of terms in the series gives a
non-vanishing contribution, namely all terms with 1 < ,j - j.
 The Clebsch-Gordan co@ients for (2) 5567

Using the properties of J - and J+ it is easy to check the Hermiticity of PI. In

a similar manner projecting Pjj-j into the subspace expanded by the lowest weight
vector of the IR Dj, l j - j) can be constructed.
To deal with the Clebsch-Gordan problem a generalization of the projection
operator is required. Let PA,,,,, be the operator defined by

Pi,,,,, I j"") = Sm,,,,,,,Jj,j, I j m ) . (3.6)

Thus this operator cancels all components except for Ijm') and then transforms it
into the component Ijm). Because of its projecting property we also refer to these
operators as projection operators, although the exact term strictly applies only to the
idempotent operators Pi,,, .
The formula defining these Hermitian operators is gained in a similar fashion as
for PJ. Using (2.11) we obtain

(3.7)

From this equation it follows that

t = Pi,,m
(Pi,m,)
(3.8)

4. Vector coupling of angular momenta'

It is known that the expansion of the tensor product of the SU(2) IFS Djl @ Dj2 into
irreducible components is of the form

and that the generators acting in the tensor product space are given in terms of the
generators in the initial spaces by

J,(1,2) = J 0 ( l ) + 5 , ( 2 ) and J*(1,2)= J i ( l ) f J i ( 2 ) . (4.2)

NOW for the SU,,,(2) algebra the above relations become [28]

J,(1,2) = J o ( l ) + J,(2) and J*(1,2) = qJ0(')Ji(2)+ J * ( I ) P - ~ @ )

(4.3)
or in the standard notation for Hopf algebras
A ( J , ) = Jo@ I + I @ Jo and A ( J , ) = qJO@ J+ + Ji @ p - J o . (4.4)
5568 Yu F Smimov and R F Wehrhahn
From these expressions the action of A( .lo and A(J+)
) on the vectors ljlml) @
ljzmz)I l j l m l , j 2 m 2 )can be seen to be given by

J0(1,2) I jlm1,jzmz) = (ml + mz) I j l m l , j z m z )

and
J+(1,2) I j l m l , j z m z )= (qm'(j2m2f 1 I J* I j z m z ) )I j l m l r j 2 m 2% 1)
+ (p-m2(jlm1f 1 I J + I j l m l ) ) I j l m l l , j z m z ) . (4.5)
'Ib calculate any power of the operators J*(1,2) the analogue of the binomial ex-
pansion formula in the case of the SU,,,(2) algebra is useful. This formula

(J*(1,2))' = (qJo(')J,(2) + .7+(l)p-Jo~')

(4.6)

can be proved by induction. Using (4.4) and (2.12) the Casimir operator in the
product space Cz(1,2) A(Cz)becomes
N c 2 )= J-(1,2)J+(1,2)(~q-')~~('~') + (pq- 1 Jo(l,Z)-l
) [[Jo(L2)+w . (4.7)
The generalization of the 'vector coupling' procedure for the SU,,,(2) algebra consists
in the construction, using the tensor product basis vectors lj, m l , jzmz),of such linear
combinations
Ijljz9jm)= ( j l m l , j z w I j l j 2 , j m ) Ijlml,jzm2) (4.8)
mlml

that belong to the IRS Dj of SU,,,(2), i.e. that are eigenvectors of the Casimir oper-
ator (4.7) with eigenvalues A = (pq-')j-l[[j+ +]Iz. The coefficients ( j l m l , j z m zI
j l j z , j m ) are the Clebsch-Gordan coefficients (CGC) for the SU,,,(2) quantum al-
gebra.
The standard way to calculate the CGC is to multiply both sides of the eigenvalue
equation
Cz(1,2) I j l j z , j m ) = A I j l j z , j m )
by the vector ( j l m l , j z m z l ,thus obtaining the recurrent relation for the COCs
 The Clebsch-Gordan coefficientsfor SU,2q(2) 5569

From these relations the analytic expression for the CGCS can be found in a similar
fashion, as done in the famous Racah paper [34]. Here, we prefer to apply the
projection operator method for this purpose. Simultaneously it will be shown that
the similar expansion (4.1) is also valid for the quantum SU,, (2) algebra.
However, before turning to this point, it is pertinent to hst the orthonormality
relations of the CGCS

(4.10)

Z GI1
I.
<2) CYehrrh32rrlin rwfficiontr
--~,~,-, --_"I-- -
-__I 11-1
-I- --.-.
Using the projection operator A(PA,m,) 5 PA,,,,(l,2), the vector ljlj2,jm)can
be written in the form

b'ljz>,im)= Q-'PAm,(1,2) I .i,m;,.7'2mL) (5.1)

+
where m' = mi m; and Q is a normalizing factor. Thus the CGC can be reduced
to the matrix element of the projection operator:

( j i m i , j z m , I j i j z ? j m )= Q-'(jimi,jzmz I PL,(1,2) I ji4,jzm;). (5.2)

Since the values of m' and of either mi or mi are arbitray, to simplify the cal-
culations we set m' = j and m; = j , hence m; = j - j,. Then (5.2) takes the
form

( j l m l , j z m zI j l j z , j m ) = Q - ' ( j l m , , j z m z I P ~ j ( 1 , 2 )l ~l~l,~zi-jl).

Now, ljIjl)is a highest weight vector, hence the generator J+(1,2) in Pjj(1,2)
becomes Jt(2)qj1 yielding
 x J!(2)5:(2) I j z j -jl). (5.6)

By adopting the standard phase convention for Q being the positive square root of
Q 2 all cocs turn out to be real. Further, it is clear that only values of the total
 The Clebsch-Gordan coefficientsfor (2) 5571
angular momentum j satisfying the condition U, - j, I< j < j, + j 2 are allowed.
We thus obtain for the quantum algebra SUP,,(2)the standard rule for the 'vector
coupling of angular momenta', i.e. expansion (4.1).
Again with (2.11) it follows for the normalizing factor,

(5.7)
This last sum can be calculated applying certain summation rules for some specific
combinations of generalized factorials. Here we prefer the use of a recurrent ap-
proach as described in appendix B. We End

Here the summation index I -+ j, t j , - j - I is adopted to obtain the expression that

coincides in the classical limit p = q = 1 with one of standard formulae for the usual
COCS. Simple analytical formulae can be found for the important particular cases. As
an example the explicit expressions for the CGcs ( f m l j z m 2I f j , , j m ) are given in
?&!e 1.
Table 1. The Clebsch-Gordan coefficients ( i m l j z m z I $ j z , j m ) for h e quantum
algebra SUp,,(Z).
. .
, = J 2 + q ,1 m,=$ j = j 2 - L ,2 m,=-;
5512 Yu F Smimov and R F Wehrhahn

6. Conclusion

In the literature a great amount of applications of the quantum groups have been
discussed. The presence of an arbitrary deforming parameter is one of the main
advantages of the quantum groups since this allows for more flexibility when dealing
with applications to physical models. Along these lines of reasoning it appears that in-
troducing more deforming parameters more useful quantum groups result. However,
the number of allowed deforming parameters is limited [28]. In fact, for semi-simple
algebras this number is one (Drinfeld's theorem). For the algebras SU,,,(2) and
SU,(2) we explicitly see their equivalence from

In spite of Drinfeld's theorem our results show, however, that important physical
quantities, like for instance the a c s for the SU,,,(2) algebra, do depend on the
two deforming parameters p and q. There is thus a definite indication that the
physical applications of the SU,,,(2) algebra are richer than those corresponding to
the one-parameter deformed aGibra.
To conclude let us point out that even if in this paper we have only considered the
structure of the irreducible representations of SUP,,(2) and the CGC problem, it is
evident that the projection operator method allows several other applications like the
study of the symmetry properties of the CGCS, the explicit calculation of the Racah
coefficients, of the tensor operators, the 9 j symbols etc for this algebra.

Acknowledgment

One of us (YuFS) would like to thank the Nuclear Theory Department of the Uni-
versity Hamburg for its hospitality.

Appendix A. Useful relations for the p, pnumbers

 The Clebsch-Gordan coefficientsfor SUP,,(2) 5573
Appendix B. The calculation of the normalizing factor for the CGCS

To calmlate

we firstly consider

and obtain using the permutation relation (2.10) and, substituting the operator J 0 ( 2 )
by its eigenvalue j - j ,

Hence

The substitution 1 = j, + j , - j gives the result

5574 Yu F Smimov and R F Wehrhahn
Appendix C. Particular cases of the Clebscb-Gordan coetllcients

Let X,,,! be defied as

xmI (jim1,jzmz I p j j ( 1 , 2 ) 1 jij19jzj-31) = (j1m1,j2mz I jljz,jj)Q .

(C1)
'Ib find a recurrent relation for X,,,, we write

Noting that
Jt(1,2)PjJ1,2) =0
it follows that
 The Clebsch-Gordan coefficients for (2) 5575

To fiid a recurrent relation for Ym note that

Letting 5+(1,2) act on (jljl,j2m21the following recursion results

Since Y, = Q 2 . iteration of (CY)yields

Ym = P(I-"""-""(pq-');[(j, - m 2 ) ( j- m ) + j , - j + m,]

We finally obtain for the CGC

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