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Subalgebras of Lie algebras. Example of sl(3,ℝ)

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Centre de Recherches Mathématiques
CRM Proceedings and Lecture Notes
Volume 34, 2004

Subalgebras of Lie Algebras. Example of sl(3, R)

Pavel Winternitz

Abstract. Methods of classifying subalgebras of finite-dimensional Lie alge-

bras are briefly reviewed and applied to the Lie algebra sl(3, R). The results
for sl(3, R) are summed up in a table. Sublalgebras of sl(3, C) are classified as
a byproduct.

1. Introduction
One of the scientific programs that Bob Sharp was involved in for several years
was the classification of the continuous subgroups of the “fundamental groups of
physics.” These were the Poincaré and similitude group, the de Sitter groups and
the conformal group of Minkowski space-time [1, 12–18]. The methods developed
in this series of papers amount to an algorithm that can be used to classify the
subgroups of any finite-dimensional Lie group. The methods are algebraic and the
actual procedure is to classify the subalgebras of the Lie algebra g of the considered
Lie group G. They are classified into conjugacy classes under the action of the
group of inner automorphisms of the Lie algebras g, i.e., the group G itself.
The purpose of this article is to review the subgroup classification algorithm
and then to apply it to a case not treated previously, namely the Lie algebra sl(3, R).
This example is sufficiently simple to be treated in a short article. On the other
hand, it is rich enough to illustrate all aspects of the algorithm.
The Lie groups SL(3, C) and SL(3, R) play an important role in the theory
of ordinary differential equations. Indeed, S. Lie himself showed that the largest
symmetry group that a second order ordinary differential equation can allow is
SL(3, F ) with F = R, or F = C (depending on whether real or complex variables
are being considered [9]). Moreover, he showed that the equation
(1.1) y 00 = F (x, y, y 0 )
allows an SL(3, F ) symmetry group if and only if it is linearizable by a point trans-
formation. A classification of subgroups of SL(3, F ) provides a classification of
possible ways that the symmetry of a linear, or linearizable ODE can be broken by
imposing additional conditions on solutions.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 81R05; Secondary 22E70, 22E60.

The author’s research is partly supported by research grants from NSERC of Canada and
FQRNT of Québec.
This is the final form of the paper.

c
°2004 American Mathematical Society
215
216 PAVEL WINTERNITZ

2. Subalgebra classification algorithms

2.1. General strategy. Let us consider a Lie algebra g and the corresponding
Lie group G = hexp gi. Three different strategies should be used depending on the
type of algebra being considered. The different cases that occur are
(i) The algebra g is simple.
(ii) The algebra g is a direct sum of two Lie algebras

(2.1) g ≈ g1 ⊕ g2 , [g1 , g2 ] = 0, [ga , ga ] ⊆ ga , a = 1, 2

(iii) The algebra g is a semidirect sum of two Lie algebras

(2.2) g ≈ g1 ⊃
+ g2 , [g1 , g2 ] ⊆ g2 , [ga , ga ] ⊆ ga , a = 1, 2.

These three cases cover all possibilities. For instance, in case (ii) the algebras g1 and
g2 may themselves be direct sums. Then the algorithm is applied recursively, until
we obtain a direct sum of indecomposable components. Case (iii) may correspond
to a Levi decomposition, in which case g1 would be semisimple and g2 would be
the radical of g (the maximal solvable ideal). On the other hand g may itself be
solvable, then g2 is some ideal in g (for instance the nilradical).
Let us consider the three cases separately.

2.2. Maximal subalgebras of simple Lie algebras. Let g be a finite di-

mensional simple Lie algebra over R, or C. We choose a finite-dimensional faithful
irreducible representation of g, i.e., a representation by real, or complex matrices,
E(g). Usually it is convenient to use the lowest dimensional representation avail-
able. In particular, for one of the classical Lie algebras we would choose the defining
matrix representation.
The chosen representation will act on a linear space V of dimension dim V = n.
A subalgebra g0 ⊂ g can be imbedded into the representation E(g) reducibly, or
irreducibly. Let us consider the two cases separately
(a) Irreducibly imbedded subalgebras. The set of matrices E(g0 ) ⊂ E(g) leaves
no proper nontrivial subspace of V invariant. Then g0 must be a reductive alge-
bra, i.e., simple, semisimple, or the direct sum of a semisimple Lie algebra with an
Abelian one. The question of finding all such subalgebras g0 ⊂ g thus becomes a
question of Lie algebra representation theory: g0 must have a faithful irreducible
representation of dimension equal to dim E(g). The representations of the simple
and semisimple Lie algebras are well studied and tabled [2, 6, 11]. Those of the re-
ductive algebras can be obtained by constructing the centralizers of the semisimple
algebras in E(g). This is a problem of linear algebra.
(b) Reducibly imbedded subalgebras. The set of matrices E(g0 ) leaves a nontriv-
ial linear subspace V0 ⊂ V invariant. In this case it suffices to classify the spaces V0 ,
construct a representative of each class and then to find the algebra E(g0 ) leaving
V0 invariant. This again is a problem of linear algebra. If g is sl(n, F ) then V0 is
completely characterized by its dimension. If g is an orthogonal, or a symplectic Lie
algebra, then V0 is also characterized by its signature (number of positive, negative
or zero length vectors in any orthogonal basis).
Once the maximal subalgebras of a simple Lie algebra are found, we proceed
in the same manner if g0 is simple. Otherwise, we apply one of the other two
algorithms described below.
 SUBALGEBRAS OF LIE ALGEBRAS. EXAMPLE OF sl(3, R) 217

2.3. Subalgebras of direct sums. The Goursat method. E. Goursat

proposed a method for classifying discrete subgroups of direct products of continu-
ous and discrete groups [5, 7]. It has been adapted to classify subalgebras of direct
sums of Lie algebras [15].
The algorithm consists of several steps. Consider a Lie algebra g that is a direct
sum of two Lie algebras, as in eq. (2.1). Changing notation, we put
(2.3) g ∼ A ⊕ B, [A, A] ⊆ A, [B, B] ⊆ B, [A, B] = 0,
(A and B are not necessarily indecomposable). We wish to classify subalgebras of
g into conjugacy classes under the action of the group G
(2.4) G ∼ GA ⊗ GB GA = hexp Ai, GB = hexp Bi.
We distinguish two types of subalgebras of the direct sums (2.3).
(a) Nontwisted subalgebras. Such subalgebras are G conjugate to direct sums of
subalgebras A0 ⊆ A, B0 ⊆ B. They can be represented by direct sums themselves:
(2.5) L0 ∼ A0 ⊕ B0 , A0 ⊆ A, B0 ⊆ B
(b) Twisted subalgebras. These are subalgebras that are not G-conjugate to
any subalgebra of the form (2.5).
To obtain a representative list of all G-conjugacy classes of subalgebras of L,
we proceed in 4 steps.
Step 1. Construct representatives of all GA and GB conjugacy classes of subal-
gebras of A and B, respectively. Denote them Aj,a ⊆ A, Bk,b ⊆ B, where the first
label is equal to the dimension of the subalgebra, the second label enumerates all
mutually nonconjugate subalgebras of the same dimension. The trivial subalgebras
{∅} and A (and B) must be included. For each representative subalgebra in the
list, find its normalizer group in the corresponding group GA (or GB ):
(2.6) Nor{Aj,a , GA } ∼ {g ∈ GA | gAja g −1 ⊆ Aja }
Step 2. Form a representative list S1 of all all nontwisted subalgebras of g:
(2.7) S1 : {Aj,a ⊕ Bk,b }, ∀j, k, a, b
Step 3. Construct a representative list S2 of all twisted subalgebras of g. We
start from the list S1 . Two subalgebras Aj,a ⊆ A, Bk,b ⊆ B can be twisted together
if a homomorphism (that may be an isomorphism) exists from one to the other,
e.g.:
(2.8) τ (Aj,a ) ∼ Bk,b
if a homomorphism of Aj,a into Bk,b exists, then choose a basis for Aj,a ∼ {a1 , . . . aj }
and construct the most general homomorphic mapping
(2.9) τ : ai → τ (ai ) ∈ Bk,b .
Taking
(2.10) g̃j,a = {ai + τ (ai )}, i = 1, . . . j
we obtain a twisted subalgebra of g. To obtain a G-representative list S2 of all
twisted subalgebras of g we must now classify the subalgebras (2.10) into conjugacy
classes under the normalizer group
(2.11) Nor(Aj,a , GA ) ⊗ Nor(Bk,b , GB ).
218 PAVEL WINTERNITZ

This group is used to annul as many of the parameters introduced by the mapping
τ as possible and to normalize as many of the remaining ones as possible.
Step 4. Form a final representative list S of all subalgebras of g by merging the
lists S1 and S2 . It is useful to organize the final list by dimension and isomorphism
class. It is also convenient to provide a “normalized list.” That means that the list
S should contain the normalizer of each algebra in the list: for each gj,a in the list
we should also have
(2.12) nor(gj,a , g) ∼ {x ∈ g | [X, gj,a ] ⊆ gj,a }
in the list S (rather than an algebra that is conjugate, but not equal to the nor-
malizer).

2.4. Subalgebras of semidirect sums. The method for classifying subalge-

bras of semidirect sums was elaborated and applied in Refs. [1, 12–18]. Let L have
the form of eq. (2.2), i.e., it contains an ideal g2 = N and a factor algebra g1 = F
that is itself a Lie algebra. In particular, this may be a Levi decomposition; then
F is semisimple and N is solvable.
We again proceed in a series of steps.
Step 1. Form a representative list S(F ) of subalgebras of the factor algebra F ,
classified under the action of the group GF = exp F :
(2.13) S(F ) = {F1 = {∅}, F2 , . . . , FN ≡ F }.
The list should be normalized, i.e. for each subalgebra Fi its normalizer algebra in
F should also be in the list S(F ). For each subalgebra Fi construct its normalizer
group in GF .
Step 2. Classify all splitting subalgebras of L. A subalgebra of a semidirect
sum is called splitting if it is itself a semidirect sum of subalgebras of the two
components:
(2.14) L0 = F0 ⊃
+ N0 , F0 ⊆ F, N0 ⊆ N.
Splitting subalgebras of semidirect sums are thus analogs of the untwisted subalge-
bras of direct sums.
The procedure for finding all splitting subalgebras is as follows.
ei,α that
(1) For each subalgebra Fi in the list S(F ) find all invariant subspaces N
are also subalgebras:
(2.15) ei,α ] ⊆ N
[Fi , N ei,α , ei,α ⊆ N,
N ei,α , N
[N ei,α ] ⊆ N
ei,α ,

(if N is Abelian then any subspace is a subalgebra). The trivial invariant

subspaces Nei,0 = {∅} and N ei,n = N must be included for each Fi .
(2) For each Fi classify all invariant subalgebras Nei,α into conjugacy classes under
the action of the normalizer group Nor(Fi , GF ). Choose a representative Ni,α
of each conjugacy class.
(3) Form a representative list of all splitting subalgebras of L
(2.16) S1 (L) = {Li,α ⊆ L | Li,α = Fi ⊃
+ Ni,α }.

Note that the list S(F ) is contained in S1 (L).

(4) For each subalgebra Li,α in the list S1 (L) find its normalizer group Nor(Li,α , G)
in the group G. The list S1 (L) should be normalized.
 SUBALGEBRAS OF LIE ALGEBRAS. EXAMPLE OF sl(3, R) 219

We have obtained the list S1 (L) in such a manner that each splitting subalgebra
Li,α ⊆ L has a basis satisfying.

(2.17) Li,α = {Ba , Xj }, Ba ∈ F, Xj ∈ N, 1 ≤ a ≤ fi = dim Fi ,

1 ≤ j ≤ r = dim Ni,α .
Step 3. Classify all nonsplitting subalgebras of L. By definition, a nonsplitting
subalgebra is not conjugate to any splitting one. Nonsplitting subalgebras of a
semidirect sum are generalizations of Goursat twisted subalgebras of direct sums.
The procedure for finding all nonsplitting subalgebras is as follows.
(1) Run through the list S1 (L) of all splitting subalgebras of L. For each member
Li,α of the list take a basis as in eq. (2.17). Complement the basis {Xj } of Ni,α
to a basis of N
(2.18) N = {X1 , . . . , Xr , Y1 , . . . , Ys }, r + s = dim N.
(2) For each splitting subalgebra Li,α form the vector space
½ Xs ¾
(2.19) V = Ba + caµ Xµ , Xj , a = 1, . . . , fi , j = 1, . . . , r,
µ=1

where the constants caµ are such that V is a Lie algebra

(2.20) [V, V ] ⊆ V.
In order to obtain equations for the constants caµ following from eq. (2.20) we
must now specify the commutation relations for L in the chosen basis:
c l
[Ba , Bb ] = fab Bc , [Ba , Xk ] = αak Xl ,
(2.21) [Ba , Xµ ] = ρνaµ Yν + σaµ
m
Xm , m
[Xi , Xj ] = ωij Xm ,
σ m
[Yµ , Yν ] = βµν Yσ + γµν Xm , [Xi , Yµ ] = λνiµ Yν + τiµ
m
Xm .
The condition (2.20) implies that the constants caµ in eq. (2.19) must satisfy
a set of algebraic equations
(2.22) cbν ρα α c α
aν − caµ ρbµ − ccα fab = −caµ cbν βµν ,
(2.23) caµ λνjµ = 0,
for all a, b, α, j and ν.
In general, equations (2.22) are bilinear, rather than linear and solving
them is a non-trivial task in algebraic geometry. It reduces to linear algebra if
the ideal N is such that
α
(2.24) βµν = 0, ∀µ, ν, α.
In the simplest case, when the ideal N is Abelian, we have
m σ m
(2.25) ωij = βµν = γνµ = λνiµ = τiµ
ν
= 0,
and the equations for caµ reduce to a system of homogeneous linear equations
(2.26) cbν ρα α c
aν − caµ ρbµ − ccα fab = 0.

In mathematical terms eq. (2.26) means that the quantities caµ form 1-cocycles.
220 PAVEL WINTERNITZ

(3) Once the constants caµ are obtained as general solutions of the system (2.22),
(2.23), or of (2.26) if N is Abelian, the vector space V of eq. (2.19) becomes a
Lie algebra. The Lie algebras V must now be classified into conjugacy classes
under the group
(2.27) Ge = Nor(Li,α , G) ×
⊃ Nor(Ni,α , GN ),
where GN = exp N .
This classification is again simplified if N is Abelian. Then we have
Nor(Ni,α , GN ) = GN .
In the Abelian case we can generate trivial nonzero cocycles by conjugating the
splitting subalgebras by elements of GN :
exp(λµ Yµ )Ba exp(−λµ Yµ ) = Ba + λµ [Yµ , Ba ],
(2.28)
exp(λµ Yµ )Xj exp(−λµ Yµ ) = Xj .
We obtain an algebra conjugate to the splitting one, namely:
(2.29) Li,α ∼ {Ba + λµ ρνaµ Xν , Xj }.
The constants λµ can be freely chosen and the trivial cocycles
s
X
(2.30) δaµ = λα ρµaα
α=1
are called coboundaries. Any cocycle caµ can be replaced by caµ + δaµ . We choose
the constants λα to annul as many as possible of the cocycles. If all cocycles can
be annuled, the subalgebra is splitting. The remaining cocycles caµ (mod δaµ )
are to be further classified under the action of the normalizer Nor(Li,α , G) of the
corresponding splitting subalgebra Li,α .
Step 4. Form the final representative list S(L) = S1 (L) ∪ S2 (L) of all G-
conjugacy classes of splitting and nonsplitting subalgebras.
We note that most of the work in the classification procedure concerns non-
splitting algebras. Which algebras are splitting depends on the decomposition of
L and this is usually not unique. Whenever possible, N should be chosen to be
Abelian. The algorithm starts with the assumption that the subalgebras of F are
known. If this is not the case, then one of the methods described above should be
applied to F : this is a lower dimensional problem, so the procedure is iterative.

3. Subalgebras of sl(3, R)
3.1. General comments. All three algorithms described in Section 2 can be
examplified on the case of the algebra g ∼ sl(3, R), the Lie algebra of 3 × 3 real
traceless matrices. We shall use a basis given by the following elements
     
1 0 1 0 −1
1 1 1
K1 =  −1  , K2 = 1 0  , K3 = 1 0 
2 2 2
0 0 0
     
1 0 0 1 0 0 0
(3.1) D= 1 , P1 = 0 0 0 P2 = 0 0 1
−2 0 0 0 0 0 0
   
0 0 0 0 0 0
R1 = 0 0 0 , R2 = 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 1 0
 SUBALGEBRAS OF LIE ALGEBRAS. EXAMPLE OF sl(3, R) 221

Let us first look at one- and two-dimensional subalgebras directly. An element

of sl(3, R) can be taken in its Jordan canonical form. As a basis element of a one-
dimensional Lie algebra, the corresponding matrix can be multiplied by an arbitrary
nonzero real constant. We obtain the following representatives of one-dimensional
subalgebras of sl(3, R):
   
1 1 1
L1,1 (a) :  a  , −1 ≤ a ≤ − 1 ,
2 L1,2 :  1 
−1 − a −2
(3.2)    
0 1 a 1
L1,3 : 0 0 , L1,4 (a) : −1 a  , 0 ≤ a.
0 −2a
For sl(3, C) the algebra L1,4 (a) is conjugate to L1,1 (ã) and should be eliminated
from the list. Moreover, the condition on a in (3.2) should be replaced by |a| ≤ 1,
Re a ≤ − 21 . In L1,1 (a) and L1,4 (a) the letter a denotes a fixed parameter.
A two-dimensional Lie algebra can either be Abelian, or solvable with a basis
satisfying [A, B] = A.
Much is known about maximal Abelian subalgebras of the classical Lie algebras
[4, 8, 19, 21, 23]. Let us list those of sl(3, R); they are all two-dimensional
     
 a+b   a b   a b 
L2,1 :  −a+b  , L2,2 : −b a  , L2,3 :  a  ,
     
−2b −2a −2a
     
 0 0 a   0 a b   0 a b 
L2,4 : 0 0 b  , L2,5 : 0 0 0 , L2,6 : 0 0 a
     
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
(in all cases a ∈ R, b ∈ R are group parameters). Algebras L2,1 and L2,2 are both
Cartan subalgebras, mutually conjugate over C, but not over R. The algebra L2,1
generates a noncompact Abelian group, L2,2 an Abelian group with one compact
basis element. The algebra L2,3 is not a Cartan subalgebra because the element
corresponding to a = 0, b 6= 0 is not diagonizable. The algebras L2,4 , L2,5 and
L2,6 are maximal Abelian nilpotent subalgebras (MANS). In any finite-dimensional
representation they are represented by nilpotent matrices. A MANS of sl(n, R)
(or sl(n, C)) is partly characterized by its Kravchuk signature [21, 23], a triplet of
integers
(3.3) (λ, µ, ν) λ ≥ 1, ν ≥ 1, µ ≥ 0, λ + µ + ν = n.
The invariant definition of the signature is that λ is the dimension of the kernel
of X and ν is the codimension of the image of X, where X is the set of matrices
representing the MANS, viewed as a mapping. In our case L2,4 , L2,5 and L2,6 have
Kravchuk signature (2, 0, 1), (1, 0, 2), and (1, 1, 1), respectively. Hence they are not
conjugate under SL(3, R) (nor SL(3, C).
For non-Abelian algebras satisfying [A, B] = A the matrix A must be nilpotent.
Four SL(3, R) classes of such subalgebras exist in sl(3, R), represented by
   
 cos α 0 1 0 
L2,7 (a) :  sin α  , 0 0 0  , 0 ≤ α < π
 
− cos α − sin α 0 0 0
222 PAVEL WINTERNITZ

where α is a fixed parameter,

       
 −2 0 1 0   1 0 1 0 1 0 
L2,8 :  1 0 , 0 0 0 , L2,9 : 0 −2 0 , 0 0 0 ,
   
1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
   
 1 0 0 0 1 0 
L2,10 : 0 0 0  ; 0 0 1 .
 
0 0 −1 0 0 0

3.2. Maximal subalgebras of sl(3, R). Following the method outlined in

Section 2.2 we choose the defining representation of sl(3, R) by real 3 × 3 traceless
matrices as E(g).
(a) Irreducibly imbedded subalgebras. The only semisimple Lie algebras that
have real irreducible faithful representations of dimension 3 are the simple Lie
algebras o(3) and o(2, 1). They can be represented as subalgebras of sl(3, R) as
   
0 a b 0 a b
(3.4) o(3) ∼ −a 0 c  , o(2, 1) ∼ −a 0 c  ,
−b −c 0 b c 0
respectively. Neither of them has a nontrivial centralizer in SL(3, R). They are
conjugate to each other in sl(3, C).
(b) Reducibly imbedded maximal subalgebras. An invariant subspace V0 ⊂ V
can be either two-dimensional, or one-dimensional. We consider the two separately,
and construct the subalgebras g0 satisfying g0 V0 ⊆ V0 .
   
x a11 a12 a13
(3.5) V2 ∼ y  g7,1 ∼ a21 a22 a23 
0 0 0 −a11 − a22
   
x a11 a12 a13
(3.6) V1 ∼  0  g7,2 ∼  0 a22 a23 .
0 0 a32 −a11 − a22
The two algebras g7,1 and g7,2 are both isomorphic to the affine Lie algebra
aff(2, R). They are however not conjugate to each other under SL(3, R) since the
spaces V2 and V1 have different dimensions and hence cannot be mutually conjugate.
The same is true in the case of sl(3, C).
We shall classify all subalgebras of g7,1 under the action of the corresponding
affine group, realized by the matrices
 
g11 q12 g13
(3.7) g ∼ g21 g22 g23  , det g = 1.
0 0 g33
Most subalgebras of g7,2 will be SL(3, R) conjugate to some subalgebra of g7,1 .
Indeed, any subalgebra of g7,2 that leaves a two-dimensional vector space invariant
will be conjugate to a subalgebra of g7,1 . It follows that a necessary condition for
g0 ∈ g7,2 not to be conjugate to some g̃0 ∈ g7,1 is that it must contain an element
with a32 a23 6= 0 in eq. (3.6). We also have
     
1 a 1 c −e
(3.8)  −1   b d  −1  = −d b ,
1 e c 1 a
 SUBALGEBRAS OF LIE ALGEBRAS. EXAMPLE OF sl(3, R) 223

so every subalgebra of gl(2, R) in g7,2 is conjugate to a subalgebra of g7,1 . Similarly,

any proper subalgebra of the algebras o(3), or o(2, 1) of eq. (3.4) will also be a
subalgebra of g7,1 (and also g7,2 ).

3.3. Subalgebras of the affine Lie algebra g7,1 . We apply the algorithm
of Section 2.4 and write
(3.9) aff(2, R) ∼ gl(2, R) ⊃
+ T2

with
(3.10) gl(2, R) ∼ {K1 , K2 , L3 } ⊕ D, T2 = {P1 , P2 }.
Step 1. The subalgebras of gl(2, R) ∼ sl(2, R) ⊕ {D} can be constructed using
the Goursat method of Section 2.3. We represent them by
F4,1 ∼ {L3 , K1 , K2 , D}, F3,1 ∼ {L3 , K1 , K2 },
F3,2 ∼ {K1 , K2 − L3 , D}, F2,1 = {K1 , K2 − L3 },
F2,2 = {K1 + aD, K2 − L3 , a 6= 0} F2,3 = {L3 , D},
F2,4 = {K1 , D}, F2,5 = {K2 − L3 , D},
(3.11)
F1,1 = {L3 }, F1,2 = {K1 },
F1,3 = {K2 − L3 }, F1,5 = {L3 + aD, a 6= 0},
F1,1 = {K1 + aD, a > 0}, F1,2 = {D + ε(K2 − L3 ), ε = ±1},
F0,1 = {∅}.
Each algebra in (3.11) represents a GL(2, R) class of subalgebras of gl(2, R).
Step 2. We omit all details and just give a representative list of all Aff(2, R)
conjugacy classes of splitting subalgebras of aff(2, R). The notation is the following:
Sa,b;1 ∼ {Fa,b , P1 , P2 }, Sa,b;2 ∼ {Fa,b }
(3.12)
Sa,b;k ∼ {Fa,b , X, X ∈ T2 }, k = 3, 4, . . . ;
with Fa,b running through the list (3.11). We only give the cases with k ≥ 3. In
addition to (3.12) (for all a and b), we have:
S3,2;3 ∼ {K1 , K2 −L3 , D, P1 }, S2,1;3 ∼ {K1 , K2 −L3 , P1 },
S2,2;3 ∼ {K1 +aD, K2 −L3 , P1 , a 6= 0}, S2,4;3 ∼ {K1 , D, P1 },
S2,5;3 ∼ {K2 −L3 , D, P1 }, S1,2;3 ∼ {K1 , P1 },
(3.13)
S1,3;3 ∼ {K2 −L3 , P1 }, S1,4;3 ∼ {D, P1 },
© ª © ª
S1,6;3 ∼ K1 +aD, P1 , a 6= 0, ± 61 , S1,6;4 ∼ K1 +ε 16 D, P1 , ε = ±1 ,
S1,7;3 ∼ {D+ε(K2 −L3 ), P1 , ε = ±1}, S0,1;3 ∼ {P1 }.
Step 3. Starting from the splitting algebras (3.12) and (3.13), we form a repre-
sentative list of all nonsplitting ones. We only present the final Aff(2, R) represen-
tative list. The notation again indicates the subalgebra Fa,b ⊂ gl(2, R) that gives
rise to the nonsplitting subalgebra Sa,b,k ∈ aff(2, R).
© ª © ª
S2,2;4 ∼ K1 + 21 D, K2 −L3 +P2 , S2,2;5 ∼ K1 + 21 D, K2 −L3 +P2 , P1 ,
© ª © ª
(3.14) S2,2;6 ∼ K1 + 61 D+P2 , K2 −L3 , P1 , S2,2;7 ∼ K1 − 61 D+P1 , K2 −L3 ,
© ª © ª
S1,6;5 ∼ K1 + 21 D+P2 , S1,6;6 ∼ K1 − 61 D+P1 , P2 .
224 PAVEL WINTERNITZ

Step 4. This step consists of merging the subalgebras (3.12), (3.13) and (3.14)
into one table, ordered by dimension and isomorphism class. We will not display
the Table of representatives of Aff(2, R) classes of subalgebras of aff(2, R) here.
Instead we proceed to the final list of SL(3, R) classes of subalgebras of sl(3, R).
3.4. All subalgebras of sl(3, R). To obtain representatives of all SL(3, R)
classes of subalgebras of sl(3, R) we must take the four maximal subalgebras and
then combine together their lists of subalgebras. We proceed as follows:
(1) Take the list of subalgebras of g7,1 ∼ aff(2, R), classified under Aff(2, R) and
establish which subalgebras in the list are mutually SL(3, R) conjugate. Among
those choose one and drop all others from the list.
(2) Add representatives of subalgebras of g7,2 , not SL(3, R) conjugate to subalge-
bras of g7,1 . As established in Section 3.2 such subalgebras must contain an
element of the type P2 − R2 + aD.
(3) Add the irreducibly imbedded subalgebras o(3) and o(2, 1). Their proper sub-
algebras should not be included since they are conjugate to subalgebras of g7,1 .
The final list of subalgebras of sl(3, R) is given in Table 1, ordered by dimension
and isomorphism class. The notations in the last column are that A2,1 is a solv-
able non-Abelian two-dimensional algebra, A3,1 is the nilpotent three-dimensional
algebra (the Heisenberg algebra) A3,2 , A3,3 and A3,4 are all solvable algebras with
a two-dimensional Abelian ideal, the nilradical (denoted NR(L) in the Table). The
action of the non-nilpotent element on the nilradical is given by a matrix M with
µ ¶ µ ¶ µ ¶
1 α 1 1 1
M2 = , 0 < |α| ≤ 1, M3 = , 0 ≤ α, M4 = ,
α −1 α 0 1
for A3,2 , A3,3 and A3,4 , respectively.
The Borel subalgebra W5,3 is a maximal solvable subalgebra of sl(3, R), iso-
morphic to the algebra of traceless upper triangular 3 × 3 matrices. Interestingly,
sl(3, R) has two further classes of maximal solvable subalgebras, namely W4,4 and
W4,5 (over C they are no longer maximal and are both contained in the complexi-
fication of W5,3 ).
The only subalgebras of sl(3, R), not contained in W6,1 are W6,2 , W5,2 , W4,5 ,
W3,9 (a), W3,13 and W3,14 .

4. Conclusion
The subgroup classification algorithms described in Section 2 are very general
and powerful. The application to sl(3, R) is rather simple, though the results are,
to my knowledge, new. For other applications, see the original articles [1, 12–18]
and also the lecture series [22]. The method has also been generalized to the case
of infinite dimensional Lie algebras [3, 10].
The subalgebras of sl(3, C) can also be read off from Table 1. Certain subalge-
bras should be dropped from the list. Thus, over C the subalgebras W4,4 and W4,5
are equivalent to W4,3 and W4,2 , respectively. Similarly W3,8 and W3,9 are conjugate
to W3,6 and W3,5 , respectively. The o(3) and o(2, 1) algebras are conjugate under
SL(3, C), so W3,14 can be dropped. Other mutually conjugate subalgebras (over C)
are W2,1 and W2,2 and also W1,1 and W1,2 . Moreover, the ranges of parameters
have to be adapted to the complex case.
 Table 1. Representative list of all subalgebras of sl(3, R) classified under the group SL(3, R)

Dim Name Basis Isomorphism class

and comments
6 W6,1 {K1 , K2 , L3 , D, P1 , P2 } aff(2, R)
W6,2 {K1 − D/2, P2 , R2 , K1 + D/6, K2 − L3 , P2 } aff(2, R)
5 W5,1 {K1 , K2 , L3 , P1 , P2 } s aff(2, R)
W5,2 {K1 − D/2, P2 , R2 , K2 − L3 , P2 } s aff(2, R)
W5,3 {K1 , D, K2 − L3 , P1 , P2 } Borel subalgebra
4 W4,1 {L3 , K1 , K2 } ⊕ {D} gl(2, R)
W4,2 {D, P1 } ⊕ {K1 − D/6, K2 − L3 } A2,1 ⊕ A2,1
W4,3 {K1 + D/6, P1 } ⊕ {K1 − D/6, P2 } A2,1 ⊕ A2,1
W4,4 {L3 , D, P1 , P2 } solvable, NR(L) ∼ 2A1
W4,5 {P2 − R2 , K1 + D/6, K2 − L3 , P1 } solvable, NR(L) ∼ 2A1
W4,6 {cos α(2K1 ) + sin α(D/3), K2 − L3 , P1 , P2 }, 0 ≤ α ≤ π solvable, NR(L) ∼ A3,1
3 W3,1 {K1 .L2 − L3 } ⊕ {D} A2,1 ⊕ A1
W3,2 {D, P1 } ⊕ {K2 − L3 } A2,1 ⊕ A1
W3,3 {K1 + D/6, P1 } ⊕ {P2 } A2,1 ⊕ A1
W3,4 {K2 − L3 , P1 , P2 } A3,1 , nilpotent
(a) 1 1 1
W3,5 {K1 + aD, K2 − L3 , P1 }, 2 ≤ a ≤ 6 , a 6= − 6 A3,2 ( 21 + 3a)
(α)
W3,6 {cos α(2K1 ) + sin α(D/3), P1 , P2 }, 0 ≤ α ≤ π/2, α 6= π/4 A3,2 ([sin α − cos α]/[sin α + cos α])
W3,7 {K1 + D/2, K2 − L3 + P2 , P1 } A3,2 ( 21 )
(a)
W3,8 {L3 + aD, P1 , P2 }, 0 ≤ a A3,3 (a)
(a)
SUBALGEBRAS OF LIE ALGEBRAS. EXAMPLE OF sl(3, R)

W3,9 {P2 − R2 + aD, K2 − L3 , P1 }, 0 ≤ a A3,3 (a)

W3,10 {D + K2 − L3 , P1 , P2 } A3,4
W3,11 {K1 + D/3 + P2 , K2 − L3 , P1 } A3,4
W3,12 {K1 , K2 , L3 } sl(2, R)
W3,13 {L3 , P1 + R1 , P2 + R2 } o(2, 1),
225
 Table 1. (continued)
226

Dim Name Basis Isomorphism class

and comments
W3,14 {L3 , P1 − R1 , P2 − R2 } o(3),
2 W2,1 {L3 , D} 2A1 , Cartan, semicompact
W2,2 {K1 , D} 2A1 , Cartan, noncompact
W2,3 {K2 − L3 , D} not Cartan, decomposable
W2,4 {K2 − L3 , P1 } MANS, (102)
W2,5 {P1 , P2 } MANS, (201)
W2,6 {K2 − L3 + P2 , P1 } MANS, (111)
(a)
W2,7 {K1 + aD, K2 − L3 }, a ∈ R A2,1
W2,8 {K1 − D/6 + P1 , K2 − L3 } A2,1
W2,9 {K1 + D/6 + P2 , P1 } A2,1
W2,10 {K1 + D/2, K2 − L3 + P2 } A2,1
1 W1,1 cos α(2K1 ) + sin α(3D), 0 ≤ α < π
W1,2 L3 + aD, a ≥ 0
W1,3 D + K2 − L3
PAVEL WINTERNITZ

W1,4 K2 − L3
W1,5 K2 − L3 + P 2
View publication stats

SUBALGEBRAS OF LIE ALGEBRAS. EXAMPLE OF sl(3, R) 227

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Centre de recherches mathématiques and Département de mathématiques et de

statistique, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal,
Qc, Canada H3C 3J7
E-mail address: wintern@crm.umontreal.ca