Lie Groups and Lie Algebras: Winter-2023
Practice Exercises 6 : Due Friday 2/17

  1. Dynkin diagrams S0 4613S The goal of this problem is to construct all possible Dynkin diagrams for simple Lie algebras. For the purposes of this problem, a Dynkin diagram has the following properties:
    • There are \(n\) points, representing simple roots.
    • Two points may be connected by 0, 1, 2, or 3 lines.
    • The diagram is connected, that is, there is a path from every point to every other point.
    Furthermore, Dynkin diagrams obey the following rules:
    • There exist at most \(k-1\) connections (each consisting of 1, 2, or 3 lines) among \(k\) points.
    • There exist at most 3 lines at any point.
    • If a simple chain (\(k\) points connected by single lines) in a valid diagram is replaced by a single point, the resulting diagram is also valid.
    • If a simple chain of length \(p\) is connected by a double line to a simple chain of length \(q\), then \((p-1)(q-1)<2\).
    • If three simple chains of lengths \(p\), \(q\), and \(r\) meet at a single point (which counts as belonging to all three chains), then \(\frac1p+\frac1q+\frac1r>1\).
    Find all Dynkin diagrams that satisfy these constraints.