Lie Groups and Lie Algebras: Winter-2023
HW 1 : Due Wednesday 1/18

  1. Bilinear forms S0 4604S
    1. Suppose \(G\) is an \(n\times n\) matrix. Define a “dot product” on \({\mathbb R}^n\) by \[ \boldsymbol{\vec v}\cdot\boldsymbol{\vec w} = \boldsymbol{\vec v}^T G \boldsymbol{\vec w}\ \]
      1. What conditions on \(G\) guarantee that this dot product is a symmetric, non-degenerate bilinear form on \({\mathbb R}^n\)?
      2. Are your conditions necessary as well as sufficient?
      3. Suppose \(T:{\mathbb R}^n\to{\mathbb R}^n\) is a linear transformation with matrix \(M\). What condition on \(M\) is equivalent to \(T(\boldsymbol{\vec v})\cdot T(\boldsymbol{\vec w})=\boldsymbol{\vec v}\cdot\boldsymbol{\vec w}\) for all \(\boldsymbol{\vec v},\boldsymbol{\vec w}\in{\mathbb R}^n\)?
    2. Suppose \(G\) is an \(n\times n\) matrix. Define a “dot product” on \({\mathbb R}^n\) by \[ \boldsymbol{\vec v}\cdot\boldsymbol{\vec w} = \boldsymbol{\vec v}^T G \boldsymbol{\vec w} \]
      1. What conditions on \(G\) guarantee that this dot product is an anti-symmetric, non-degenerate bilinear form on \({\mathbb R}^n\)?
      2. Are your conditions necessary as well as sufficient?
      3. Show that your conditions imply that \(n\) is even.
  2. Vector Fields on $\mathbb{S}^3$ S0 4604S Show that the vector fields \begin{align*} r_z &= \partial_\phi ,\\ r_x &= -\sin\phi \,\partial_\theta - \cot\theta\cos\phi \,\partial_\phi + \csc\theta\cos\phi \,\partial_\psi ,\\ r_y &= \cos\phi \,\partial_\theta - \cot\theta\sin\phi \,\partial_\phi + \csc\theta\sin\phi \,\partial_\psi \end{align*} satisfy the expected commutation relations, that is, \begin{equation*} [r_x,r_y] = -r_z , \qquad [r_y,r_z] = -r_x , \qquad [r_z,r_x] = -r_y . \end{equation*}