2007-05-18

Home Assignment nr 5 Group Theory 07

Lie Algebras
a) Consider the rotationgroup SO(2).
à !
0 −i
Show that the infinitesimal generator is given by X = when the rotation
i 0
à !
cos θ sin θ
matrix is written as D(a(θ)) = .
− sin θ cos θ
Compare D(a(θ)) with the expansion of the exponential function exp(iθX) =
X (iθX)n

n n!
In wave mechanics the generator X is a differential operator X̂ which acts on the
wave function ψ.
∂ ∂
Show that X̂ = iy − ix = L̂z starting from the transformation of the wave
∂x ∂y
function, ψ 0 (x0 , y 0 ) = eiθX̂ ψ(x0 , y 0 ) = ψ(x, y) which can be written as eiθX̂ ψ(x, y) =
ψ(x cos θ − y sin θ, y cos θ + x sin θ) since R2−1 = R2T , by Taylor expanding both sides
for small θ.
Note: in case L̂z is integer a rotation with 2π gives back the original wave function.
Compare with spin that can also be half integer.
l
b) Show that the commutation relation [Xj , Xk ] = iCjk Xl follows from
~ ~ ~ −1 ~ −1 ~
D(a(φ))D(a(θ))D(a(φ) )D(a(θ) ) = D(a(ξ)) by Taylor expanding the defining
~ = 1+iφk Xk − 1 φ2 X 2
representations of the group elements to second order, D(a(φ)) 2 k k
etc on the LHS and to first order on the RHS, and taking into account the boundary
conditions of the mapping ξ~ = g(φ,~ θ).
~ Note that from the commutation relation it
l l
follows that Cjk = −Ckj .