Kings College London

University Of London
This paper is part of an examination of the College counting towards the award of a degree.
Examinations are governed by the College Regulations under the authority of the Academic
Board.
ATTACH this paper to your script USING THE STRING PROVIDED

Candidate No: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Desk No: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

MSc Examination
7CCMMS01 (CMMS01) Lie groups and Lie algebras
Summer 2010
Time Allowed: Two Hours
This paper consists of two sections, Section A and Section B.
Section A contributes half the total marks for the paper.
Answer all questions in Section A.
All questions in Section B carry equal marks, but if more than two are
attempted, then only the best two will count.

NO calculators are permitted.

TURN OVER WHEN INSTRUCTED

c
2010 Kings
College London

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A 1.

7CCMMS01 (CMMS01)

20 points
(i) Define: a) group homomorphism, b) group isomorphism, and c) group
automorphism.
(ii) Show that the set of automorphisms of any group G is itself a group
under the operation of composition. This is the automorphism group of
G, Aut(G).
(iii) State the definition of the property simple of a Lie algebra. Show that
if g is simple, then [gg] = g.
(iv) Let L be a Lie algebra and let x L be a fixed element of L. Prove that
the subspace of L spanned by the eigenvectors of ad x is a Lie subalgebra.

A 2.

15 points
(i) State the definition of a matrix Lie group.
(ii) Show that the set of matrices U (n) = {A Mat(n; C) | A A = 1} is
a matrix Lie group for any positive integer n (dont forget to show, in
particular, that it is a group).
(iii) Is U (n) compact? Is it connected? Prove one of those two claims. Hint:
recall that any unitary matrix has an orthonormal basis of eigenvectors.

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A 3.

7CCMMS01 (CMMS01)

15 points
(i) State the definition of the Lie algebra g associated to a matrix Lie group
G.
(ii) The group SO(3) is the group of all 3 3 orthogonal matrices. Using the
definition you stated in (i), show that the Lie algebra of SO(3) is
so(3) = {A Mat(3; C) : AT = A},
i.e. it is the set of all 3 3 anti-symmetric matrices (you can use without
proof the properties of the exponential).
(iii) Consider so(3; C) (this is the complexification of so(3) the algebra that
we get from so(3), but as a vector space over the complex numbers). Let
h so(3; C) be the subalgebra

0 a 0

h = a 0 0 , a C .

0 0 0
Given that h is a Cartan subalgebra of so(3; C), find the roots and the
corresponding root space decomposition.

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B 4.

7CCMMS01 (CMMS01)

Consider the matrix Lie group SL(2; R) of real 2 2 matrices of determinant

one, and its Lie algebra
sl(2; R) = {X Mat(2; R) | Tr(X) = 0}.
(i) Show that SL(2; R) is a normal subgroup of GL(2; R) (in particular, it
is a subgroup). Knowing that the determinant is a surjective Lie group
homomorphism det : GL(2; R) G for some Lie group G, describe G
and show that SL(2; R) = ker det. Describe the quotient group H =
GL(2; R)/SL(2; R), and its relation to G. Show that an appropriate semidirect product H n SL(2; R) is isomorphic to GL(2; R).
(ii) Show that the image of the exponential mapping exp : sl(2; R) SL(2; R)
is a subset of T = {A SL(2; R) : Tr(A) 2}. Hint: analyse the eigenvalues (the roots of the characteristic polynomial), assume that they are
different so that the matrix in sl(2; R) can be diagonalised, and get to the
non-diagonalisable cases by discussing the limit towards equal eigenvalues.
(iii) Describe SL(2; R) as a subset of R3 (recall that the matrices have 4 parameters with one constraint), and from this argue that it is connected.

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B 5.

7CCMMS01 (CMMS01)

(i) The Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff (BCH) formula tells us that if X and Y

are two elements of the Lie algebra associated to the matrix Lie group G,
then log(eX eY ) can be expressed purely in terms of multiple commutators
of X and Y . Using this, explain in words (with simple formulas) how a
representation of a Lie algebra may give rise to a representation of a Lie
group.
(ii) Show that the BCH formula
Z

X Y

log(e e ) = X +

dt
0

log(ead X etad Y )
(Y )
1 (ead X etad Y )1

reduces to

1
log(eX eY ) = X + Y + [X, Y ]
2
in the case where [X, Y ] commutes with both X and Y .
(iii) Consider an algebra H over C with basis elements an : n Z {0} and
c, and with bilinear bracket defined by the relations
[cc] = [can ] = [an c] = 0,

[am an ] =

Consider the linear combinations

X
+ (z) =
an z n ,

1
m+n,0 c
m

(z) =

n>0

m, n Z {0}.

an z n

n<0

where z C. For |z2 | < |z1 |, show that

[+ (z1 ) (z2 )] = log(1 z2 /z1 )c
and hence commutes with both + (z1 ) and (z2 ). Using this result and
the simplified formula displayed in (ii), show that
i+ (z1 ) i (z2 )

i(+ (z1 )+ (z2 ))

=e

z2
1
z1

 22 c
.

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B 6.

7CCMMS01 (CMMS01)

Consider a Lie algebra g over C with Lie bracket denoted by []. A central
extension g of g by C is a new Lie algebra g = g CC (as a vector space),
where C is a central element, and with Lie bracket {} otherwise defined by
{XY } = [XY ] + hX, Y iC

X, Y g g

for some bilinear form h, i : g g C.

(i) Show that in order for g to be a Lie algebra, hX, Y i must be anti-symmetric,
and it must satisfy
h[XY ], Zi + h[Y Z], Xi + h[ZX], Y i = 0.
(ii) Consider : g g such that (X) = X + a(X)C for all X g, where
a : g C is linear. Show that is a homomorphism if and only if
a([XY ]) = hX, Y i X, Y g.
(iii) Consider the Killing form : g g C. A non-trivial fact is that if
D GL(g; C) is a derivation, then (X, D(Y )) = (Y, D(X)) for all
X, Y g. Using this fact and other properties of the Killing form seen in
the lectures, show that hX, Y i = (X, D(Y )) defines an anti-symmmetric
bilinear form which satisfies the equation displayed in (i). Show that if g
is semi-simple and if we define g using hX, Y i = (X, D(Y )), then there
exists a homomorphism as in (ii) (that is, find the function a(X)). Hint:
for g semi-simple, any derivation is of the form D = ad Z for some Z g.

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