MATH 5143: Homeworks

Tianyi Zhang

October 25, 2023

Homework No. 3
1. Let (E, Φ = {ei − e j : i, j}) be the root system of type Al and ∆ = {ei − ei+1 : i} be the simple
roots w.r.t.
Φ+ = {ei − e j : i < j}.
(1) The maximal root β turns out to be the sum of all simple roots which equals to e1 − el+1 .
Indeed,
(ei − e j ) − (e1 − el+1 ) ∈ Φ+
would imply either i = 1, j > l + 1 or i < 1, j = l + 1, which are all impossible.
(2) Let σ (e j ) = el+1−( j−1) , 1 ≤ j ≤ l + 1. This could be seen as a permutation on the indices,
hence σ ∈ W .
(3) By Lemma 10.3(A) and σ Φ+ = Φ− , l(σ ) = |Φ+ | = 12 l(l + 1).
(4) It suffices to compute, for i < j,

(ei − e j , ek − ek+1 ), ∀k.

The key observation is that,

(ei − e j , e j − e j+1 ) = −1, ∀1 ≤ i < j ≤ l.

So we only need to consider the case j = l + 1. In this case,

(ei − el+1 , ei−1 − ei ) = −1, ∀i ≥ 2.

But
(e1 − el+1 , ek − ek+1 ) ≥ 0, ∀k,
Therefore,
C0 ∩ Φ+ = {e1 − el+1 } = {β }.
(5) By definition,
1 1 1
δ= ∑
2 1≤i< j≤l+1
(ei − e j ) = ∑
2 1≤k≤l+1
(l + 1 − k − (k − 1))ek = ∑ ( l + 1 − k)ek
1≤k≤l+1 2

1
2. Recall the definition of o(2n) as a linear Lie algebra by the symmetric nondegenerate form
asscociated with ( )
0 In
J= .
In 0
(1) We want to prove A ∈ o(2n) ⇐⇒ JA + A⊺ J = 0.
P ROOF.By definition,
(Au, v) + (u, Av) = (Au)⊺ Jv + u⊺ J(Av) = 0.
Upon further expansion, we get

u⊺ A⊺ Jv + u⊺ J(Av) = u⊺ (A⊺ J + JA)v = 0, ∀u, v.

This proves one direction.

By taking u = v, and by the fact that the only self-adjoint operator that satisfies hv, T vi = 0 is
T = 0, we get
A⊺ J + JA = 0
as desired.
(2) We want to prove

H = {diag(h1 , · · · , hn , −h1 , · · · , −hn ) : h1 , · · · , hn ∈ F} .

is a maximal toral subalgebra.

P ROOF.Since a toral subalgebra is abelian, any toral subalgebra containing the set of diagonal
matrices in o(2n) must contain only diagonal matrices because commuting semisimple matrices
are simultaneously diagonalizable. Therefore, H is a maximal toral subalgebra.
(3) We compute, for h ∈ H,

[h, Ei, j − E− j,−i ] = (hi − h j )(Ei j − E− j,−i )

[h, −E−i,− j + E j,i ] = (−hi + h j )(−E−i,− j + E j,i )
[h, Ei,− j − E j,−i ] = (hi + h j )(Ei,− j − E j,−i )
[h, −E−i, j − E− j,i ] = (−hi − h j )(−E−i, j − E− j,i )

Here −k-entry means k + n-entry.

These matrices span the lie algebra o(2n), therefore we have sorted out all α 6= 0 : gα 6= 0.
(4) This is because

εi − ε j = (εi − εi+1 ) + · · · + (ε j−1 − ε j )

εi + ε j = εi − ε j + 2(ε j − εn−1 ) + (εn−1 − εn ) + (εn−1 + εn ).

(5) We consider the fundamental reflections. Denote the simple roots as α1 , · · · , αn−1 , αn . Then
for i ≤ n − 1 we have, by computation,

si (εi ) = εi+1 , si (εi+1 ) = εi , si (ε j ) = ε j , ∀ j 6= i, i + 1.

And for i = n, we have

sn (εn ) = −εn−1 , sn (εn−1 ) = −εn , sn (ε j ) = ε j , ∀ j 6= n − 1, n.

2
For σ ∈ W , it permutes ε ’s, with an even number of sign changes. Conversely for any permutation
of ε ’s satisfying that the number all sign changes is even has a σ ∈ W acting the same way by
simply ignoring the sign changes.
3. Let (E, Φ) be the root system for o(2n).
(1) β = ε1 + ε2 . The same reasoning as 1(1).
(2) σ : εi 7→ −εi when n is even. This changes the signs of even number of ε 0 s, therefore σ ∈ W .
For n odd, we choose −1 composite with ε that swaps αn−1 = εn−1 − εn , αn = εn−1 + εn . This
gives n + 1 sign changes, therefore σ ∈ W . This is the longest element for the exact reason why
−1 is the longest element when n even.
(3) l(σ ) = 21 · 2n(n − 1) = n(n − 1).
(4) Similar procedure gives C0 ∩ Φ+ = {β }.
(5) δ = ∑1≤k≤n (n − k)εk