The Rotation and Lorentz Groups and Their Representations for Physicists K.N. Srinivasa Rao Professor of Theoretical Physics (Retd.) ‘University of Mysore ‘Mysore, India JOHN WILEY & SONS New York Chichester Brisbane Toronto SingaporePreface In the fiterature on the Rotation and Lorentz groups which are of primary interest to the physicist, there are excellent books like those of M.A. Naimark or LM. Gelfand et ai. which deal extensively with the repre- sentations and their applications of these groups while there do not appear to be books giving equally detailed expositions of the groups themselves and their elements which are rotation matrices and Lorentz transforma- tions. Although this observation is particularly true only of the Lorentz group and many results for the Rotation group are well known, they are presented here in a form suitable for comparison with the corresponding ones of the Lorentz group. This has become possible because of some new results on the structure and properties of an orthochronous proper Lorentz transformation now available and the circumstance that the multiplicative ‘group of unit complex quaternions provides a double-valued realisation of the orthochronous proper Lorentz. group SO(3, 1) in exactly the same way that the group of unit real quaternions provides one for the Rotation group SO(3). In fact one can define for SO(3, 1) complex quantities like complex Lie-Cartan parameters, complex angle, etc., which are the appropriate complex analogues of the corresponding real quantities definod for SO(3). Chapters 5 and 6 are devoted to a study of these two groups and some special properties like complex-orthogonality and symplecticity of their representations are also discussed. The first four chapters respectively onelements of Group Theory, Some Related Algebraic Structures, Linear Vector Space and Elements of Represent- ation Theory areincluded to make the book self-contained. Actually Group Theory and Linear Vector Spaces are discussed in somewhat greater detail than is necessary for an understanding of chapters 5 and 6 eo that the book may also be useful, as a general reference, to other physicist readers inter- ested in such fields like crystal syaumetries or Quantum Mechanics. It is hoped that the book will serve asa useful introductory text on the Rotation and Lorentz groups, being, in a sense, complementary to those specially devoted to the representations of these groups.vill Preface Acknowledgement It is a pleasure to acknowledge my indebtedness to the UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION for giving me financial support and to Prof. S. Ramaseshan, former Director, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Prof. P. S. Narayanan and Prof. M.A. Viswamitra of the Department of Physics, for providing me with the necessary facilities for writing this book. Lthank Prof. S. Chandrasekhar and Prof. C.V. Vishveshwara of the Raman Research Institute, and Prof. S. Sathyanarayana of the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, for their personal interest and for extending help in several ways. 1am happy to express my appreciation of my students D. Saroja, A.V. Gopala Rao and B.S. Narahari, research collaboration with whom has been pleasant and rewarding and which eventually resulted in the writing of this ‘book. My special thanks are due to Dr. A. V. Gopala Rao for assistance in the preparation of the last chapter and to Dr. U.D. Kini for help in proof- reading. I also thank my publishers Wiley Eastern Limited for their unfailing courtesy and cooperation in accommodating the several additions and alter- ations I made in the text after submitting it for publication. Most of all, I wish to express my deep sense of gratitude to my teacher, Prof. K. Venkatachaliengar who taught me whatever mathematics I know, initiated me into research and imparted to me the necessary training to write this book, which therefore is most gratefully dedicated to him. An equally pleasant duty is to acknowledge mny indebtedness to my Alma- Mater, the University of Mysore, where I received academic nourishment conti- nuously for a period of forty four years, initially as a student during the years 1938-1944 and thereafter as a staff member for the next thirty eight years. Bangalore K.N. Sriivasa Rao June 16, 1988Contents Preface vit CHAPTER 1: Elements of Group Theory 1 1.1 Set-theoretic notions and notations 1 1.2 Groups 2 1.3 Algebraic operations in a group 12 1.4 Some subgroups of a given groupG 13 15 Cosets 14 1.6 The class of conjugates of a complex K 16 1.7. The Direct product of two groups 20 1.8 Homomorphism and isomorphism 21 CHAPTER 2: Some Related Algebraic Structures 26 21 Ring 26 2.2 Division Ring 28 2.3 Field 29 2.4 Linear vector space 29 2.5 Linear associative algebra; hyper complex system 30 2.6 Lie-ring and Lie-algebra 32 CHAPTER 3: Linear Vector Space 3 3.1 Definition 33 3,2. Linear dependence and independence of vectors 34 Dimension of a vector space 35 Basis 37 3.3. Change of basis 40 3.4 Subspace 42 3.5 Isomorphism of vector spaces 46 3.6 On the matrix product rule 47 3.7. The rank of a matrix 49 ‘Homogeneous linear equations 52 3.8 Linear transformations 55 3.9 Sum and product of operators 61x Contents 3.10 Effect of change of basis 62 3.11 Active and passive points of view 64 3.12 The Range and Kernel of a linear transformation 65 3.13 Linear transformation of R* to S" 66 3.14 Invariant subspace—eigenvalues and eigenvectors 68 Characteristic equation 69 3.15 Euclidean space 75 The Schwarz inequality 77 ‘The Schmidt orthogonalisation procedure 78 3.16 The Schur canonical form 81 3.17 The direct product of two vector spaces—The Kronecker product space 85 3.18 The matrix exponential 91 3.19 Some properties of Hermitian and unitary matrices 96 3.20 The Dirac Bra-ket notation 101 APPENDIX: The Cayley-Hamilton Theorem 104 CHAPTER 4: Elements of Representation Theory 105 4.1 Definition of a representation 105 4.2 The Schur Lemma 110 4.3 Representations of the quaternion and Dirac algebras 113 4.4 Elements of representations of linear groups 120 4.5 Generalised Schur Lemma 127 CHAPTER 5: The Rotation Group and Its Representations 130 5.1 The Rotation matrix in terms of axis and angle 130 5.2 The angle and axis of an arbitrary proper orthogonal watrix 134 5.3. The eigenvalues of a rotation matrix 135 5.4 The canonical form of a rotation matrix 136 5.5 The Euler resolution of a rotation 139 The Euler-Brauer resolution 144 5.6 Quaternions and rotations 146 5.7 The stereographic projection and the SU(2) representation 152 5.8 Invariant integration 155 5.9. Inreps of the algebra sO(3) 157 5.10 Exponentiation of the infinitesimal operators 165 $.11 The character formula 172 5.12 The D/ representations through SU(2) 173 5.13 Orthogonality and completeness of the D-functions 177 5.14 Additional properties of the D’ itreps 180 5.15 Representation in function space: irreducible tensors 184 5.16 Differential operators for the Infinitesimal transformations — spherical functions 187Contents 5.17 Kronecker product Representation—Clebsch-Gordan Theorem 191 5.18 Clebsch-Gordan coefficients 195 5.19 The Wigner-Eckart Theorem 200 CHAPTER 6; The Lorentz Group and Its Representations 6.1 The Minkowski-space M 204 6.2 ‘Two-flats passing through the origin and their classification 208 6.3 The Lorentz transformation 210 The Lorenta group £ 212 ‘The four pieces of the Lorentz group {213 Subgroups of _£ 214 Canonical forms of four-vectors 217 ‘The Poincaré group 217 Eigenvalues and invariants 219 6.4 Planar Lorentz transformations 221 6-5 Canonical forms and an invariant classification of OPLT’s 230 6.6 Planar factorisation of an OPLT 240 The Enler-resolution of an OPLT 240 The Euler-Brauer resolution of an OPLT 243 The resolutinn of an OPLT into a product of a boost and arotation 245 Factorisation of an OPLT into a commuting product of two orthogonal planar OPLT’s 248 Resolution of an OPLT into a product of two involutions 250 6.7 Determination of the two blades of an OPLT 252 Non-exceptional non-null OPLT’s 255 Exceptional OPLT’s 259 Null OPLT’s 261 6.8 The Quaternion representation of SO(3, t) 267 Geometrical representation of SO(3,1) 273 6.9 Determination of the Lie-Cartan parameters of an OPLT in terms of the UCQ parameters 275 6.10 The SO(3, C) representation of SO(3, 1) 280 6.11 The SL{2, C) representation of SOG,1) 287 6.12 Spinors 291 Correspondence between spinors and four-tensors 294 6.13 The finite-dimensional irreps of SO(3,1) 297 ‘The D4" irreps through SL(2,C) 307 Special properties ofthe D4” irreps 309 The Clebsch-Gordan Theorem 311 The Character formula 312xii Contents 6.14 Irreps of SO(3, 1) in General—Finite and infinite dimensional 314 Some preliminaries 315 Definition of the infinitesimal operators of a representation of SOG, 1) 322 The D(j,, ¢) irreps of SO(3, 1) 327 Bilivear axid sesquilinear matrics 331 The bilinear metric G(jo, c) preserved by the irrep Dj, c) 337 The unitary and pseudo-unitary irreps of SO(3, 1) 342 (i) Unitary irreps 342 ii) Pseudo-unitary representations 344 Index 3531 Elements of Group Theory L1_ Set-theoretic Notions and Notations A set S is a collection of abstract or concrete entities called efements of the set. If ais an element belonging to the set S, we write a & S (read a be- longs to S or is contained in S). If it does not we write a ¢ S. Equivalently one also writes S 5 a or S 4 a, respectively for these relations. A set S’ is called a subset of S if every clement of S’ is also an element of S and one writes S’< S, or equivalently SDS’. Observe that the rela- tion S‘C S, called a relation of inclusion, does not preclude the possibility that S’ may coincide with S. If, on the other hand, there exist elements of S that do not belong to S’, we say that S’ isa proper subset of S. Forexam- ple, if S’ is a proper subset of S, there must exist elements a such that @& S’C S and at least one element b such that b & S but b ¢ S’. If we know of two sets A and B that relations AC Band BC A hold simultaneouly, the only conclusion that one can draw is evidently A = B in the sense that the sets are identical. Given two sets A and B, the set of all elements common to both of them is called the intersection of the sets A and B and is denoted by ANB. ‘On the other band, the set of all elements that are contained cither in A or in B or in both (in which case each of these elements is reckoned only once) is called the union of the sets A and B and is denoted by AUB. If there are no elements at all common to 4 and B, we say that the sets arc disjoint or that the intersection AQ) B = ¢, the null set having no clements, Incidentally, the null set ¢ is regarded as a subset of every set. Mappings Let S and S’ be two seta, A prescription or correspondence that assigns to each element a of the set S exactly one element a’ of the set S’ is called a mapping of the set S to the set S*. If we denote the mapping by p, we write a —“-» a’, We also use the functional notation and write a’ = p(a). One may say that p maps a to a’. The element a’ & S" is called the image of a & S under the mapping p. In general more than one element of S may be mapped to the same element a’ of S’. Any element of S mapped to a’ is called an inverse image of a’ under the mapping » which isiteelf called2. THE ROTATION AND LORENTZ GROUPS a many-to-one mapping. If under a mapping y every element a’ € S’ has only one inverse image, the mapping is evidently one-to-one and is called an injection. Thus, an injection » maps different elements of S to different elements of S*. Not every element a’ of S’ need be the image of some element of S. In other words the set of all images a of the elements a of S may, in goneral, be only a subset of S’. One then says that set S'is mapped into the set S’. If the image set which we denote by 4(S) coincides with S’, i. if u(S) = 5’, the mapping p is called a surjection or an onto mapping and every element a’ © S’ comes out as the image of one or more elements of S. A mapping » which is both an injection and a surjection is called a bijection. In this case, the whole of S' is mapped onto the whole of S’ with different elements of S' mapped into different elements of S’. That is to say, every aS” has a unique inverse image aS. Thus one can map a’ into ain an unambiguous manner and this mapping may be denoted by u-t; a’ "> a; 2-1) = a; yw is then called the inverse of p. Even in the case of a many-to-one surjective mapping, it is sometimes convenient to denote the set of all elements a © S mapped by yp into an element a’ © S’ by -"(a). Here, however, u-! is not a mapping and #@)C S is simply a notation to denote the set of all inverse images of @ ES ie. wa) = 4 = {alu@) =ajcs. Here the bracket {-|-} is to be read ‘the set of all a such that (a) =a’. 1,2 Groups Let G be a set. If we can define in G, a composition law, denoted for the moment by ©, which associates with each ordered pair of clements a,b a unique element ¢ of G, we say that the sct is a groupoid. We may thus write a © G,b € G = a© b= c & G where the symbol = stands for the word ‘implies’. We say ordered because b©a may, in general, be different from a © 5 and we say that a and b do not commute. The group- oid G is said to be closed with respect to the composition law denoted by the symbol ©. EXAMPLE 1 Let W be the set of natural numbers (the positive integers) 1, 2, 3,... Clearly N is closed with respect to the composition law 4 @ 6 = a® since @ is also a positive integer for any two elements aand 6 of the set N. Since, however, @ # °, Nis a non-commutative groupoid with respect to this composition law. Since a © b and b © c are elements of the groupoid G, for any a, b, cc G, a ©(b © o) and (a © b) © c must also be elements since the pro- perty of cfosure holds in the groupoid G. In general, these two need not be equal, as for instance in Example I, ¢ © (6 © c)= at whereas (@@b)@e (@y = a 50 that a © (6Oc)# GOHOGElements of Group Theory 3 If in a groupoid G, one always bas a@(b@ c)=(@@b)@c for any three elements a, 5, c, we say that associativity holds in G and that G isa semi-group. Thus, a semi-group is an associative groupoid. For example, if we take ordinary multiplication ab for the composition law in the set V of natural numbers, we certainly have a©(b@ c) =(@©4) Oc since a(bc) = (ab)e for any three natural numbers. The set Nis thus a semi-group with respect to ordinary multiplication as the composition law. Whatever be the composition law defined in a set G, it is termed multi- plication and the element ¢ = a © b is called the product of the elements a and 5. One then adopts the simplified notation ab for a © 6, although ab may not mean ordinary multiplication. Let G be a semi-group so that it is both closed and associative with tespect tothe ‘multiplication’ defined init. We call G a group if the follow- ing two additional conditions also hold in it: (2) There exists in G an element ¢ called the right identity (or right unit) such that ae = a for every a © G; (b) Corresponding to each element a & G, there exists an element, denoted by a, and called the right inverse of a, such that aq =e. Observe that we are already using the simplified notation ae for a @e and aa~ for a@ a. In summary, we say that a set G consisting of the elements e, a, 5, ¢,. is a group if we can defiae in it a composition law called multiplication which associates with each ordered pair of elements, a unique element called their product. such that the following conditions called group axtoms are satisfied: (i) Closure aEG,bEGoc=abeG. (ii) Assoctativity For any three elements a, b,c, a abc) = (ab)e. (iii) Existence of the identity There exists an element e called theright identity such that ae = a for every a € G. (iv) Existence of the inverse Corresponding to each a & G there exists an element denoted by a~! and called the right inverse of a, such that aa = e forevery a € G. (1-2.1) Of course, ab # ba in general. A group is said to be finite if the number of elements it this number is called the order af the group. Otherwise, i infinite group. Abelian Group A group G is said to be abelian or commutative if in addition to the group is finite and is said to be an4 THE ROTATION AND LORENTZ GROUPS axioms (1-2.1) we also bave ab = ba for any pair of elements a, b & G. It ig usual, in this case, to call the composition law addition and write a+b for ab which is then called the swn of the elements a and 6. The identity is denoted by 0 and is called the zero element while the inverse of a is called the negative of a and denoted by —a, Thus for an abelian group, the axioms (1-2.1) take the form @ cE€G,bEGaa+b=cEGatb=bia at+b+Q=@+)+e Gil) a+ 0 = a for every a & G. “(@v) a + (—a) = Ofor every a € G. (1-2.4a) A commutative group written with the additive notation, is called an additive abelian group or a module, ‘We now proceed to deduce the consequences of the group axioms {1-2.1). We show first of all that the right inverse is also a left inverse and that the right identity is also a left identity, i.e. we show that aa = e and ea = a for every a € G. We have from the axioms (1-2.1) (4a) = a-Xaa-t) = ate = +, ‘Multiplying on the right by the right inverse (@~*)-* of «1 and using axioms Gi) and (iv) we get ang = e, i.e. a is also a left inverse of a. Again a = (aa~)a = a-'a) = ae = 4 or ¢ is as well a left identity. ‘These results imply that the equations xa=b and ay=b for arbitrary a and b have unique solutions, for, multiplying the first equa- tion on the right by a? we get xb and similarly multiplying the second equation on the left by a, we obtain y = a-% as the unique solutions. In particular, taking 6 = a we infer that e is unique whereas taking b = e, yields that the inverse a of a is unique It also follows from aa-! = ¢ that (2~)~1 = a on multiplying both sides on the right by (a7), We also note the following: @ The associativity axiom in (1-2.1) shows that the brackets in a (bc) = (ab)c are irrelevant and one can simply write a, 4,4, ... a, for the product of elements as long as the order of the elements is not disturbed. Gi) We have 4, 0%" of" = ay ea)" = aya? so that we have (a4) = az" a5"Elements of Group Theory 5 In the same manner, one has, in general, (044 43...0,) > = ar gaz" 5 iLe., the inverse of a product of elements is the product of the in- verses in the reverse order. Examples of Groups L. The simplest example of a group is the set of elements (+1, — 1) with ordinary multiplication as the composition law. Closure and associa- tivity evidently hold ia the set; + 1 is the identity and cach element is its own inverse; the order of the group is 2. 2. A slightly larger and equally trivial example is the set (+ 1, +4) where i = 4/—I and the composition law is the same as in Example 1. Here + 1 and — | are their own inverses while + i and — é are inverses of each other. Observe that the subset + 1 is itself a group as shown in Example 1. In general, a subset H of a group G is said to be a subgroup if it forms a group by itself with the composition law as defined in G. Thus {4 1) is a subgroup of (+ 1, + i) which fs evidently of order 4. These are commutative (abelian) groups withordinary multiplication as the composition law. We shall now give two examples of modules or additive abelian groups. 3. Consider the set of all positive and negative integers..., — 1, == Dus 2, — 1,0, +, +2, «y+ 7, «.. with addition as thecom- position law. The zero element is 0 and corresponding to each integer 1, the negative clement is —n. The group is, of course, an infinite group. Observe that this cannot be a group with ordinary multiplication as the composition law, as the multiplicative inverse of an integer is not an integer. 4. Another example of a module is the set of ali rectangular matrices = (ay) of m rows and columns—as we shall say, the set of all mxn aa where ay (f= 1, 2,...m,j = 1,2,...m) are complex numbers. th columa Cr ee Aa an | ay ay way |e ith row om Gg ny vss ne Here the sum A +} B of two matrices A = (a) and 8 = (b,)is the matrix whose (if) element is ay + by. If we introduce the notation ary = (A)iy, the i element of matrix A, then (4 + Boy = a + by = (Ay + (By The negative — A of A is defined by (— A) Gy = —(A)yy 80 that At (A= G+ - a= OQ =O.6 THE ROTATION AND LORENTZ GROUPS where O = (0), the null matrix all of whose elements are zero, is the zero element of the group. ‘We next consider some examples of non-abelian groups which will be of interest to us in the sequel. 5. The group of symmetries of an equilateral triangle Let ABC be an equilateral triangle which we may conveniently assumeto be in the form of a thin plate. Suppose we rotate the triangle about an axis passing through O the centre of the triangle and perpendicular to the plane of the plate through an angle 2/3 as shown in the diagram. This operation takes the vertex at C to the position occupied earlier by A, A to the earlier position of B and Fig. 1.1 Bto that of C. If there were no distinguishing marks on the triangle, its new position after the rotation would be indistinguishable from the old and we say that this operation is a symmetry operation of the triangle and that the triangle is sent into itself by this operation, Denoting this operation by &, we may symbolically write g(A) = A. to mean that g, acting on the triangle A sends it into itscif. If g, is the rotation by 4/3 in the same sense, £o( A) = A as well since under gy, C goes to the earlier position of B, B to that of A and A to that of C. The set of operations like g,,g, which send the triangle into itself, form a group if we define the composition law 8,81 by successive operations, i.c., we define (g,24) (A) = £(8x(4)) = 8:(A) = A showing that g,g, is also a symmetry operation. The unit element (identity) is evidently to leave the triangle unaltered (equivalently rotation by zero or 2n) and the inverse gi? of g, is a rotation through —2n/3. Defin- ing g2 = £4-p i-e., a rotation by 2n/3 followed by another rotation by 2n/3 we see that ¢? = gy. It is clear that another symmetry clement of the group is a rotation through = about the line AA’ which leaves the position of A unaltered, but interchanges those of B and C. Denoting this element by @ and similar rotations through x about the lines BB’ and CC’ respec- tively by B and y, the elements of the group are e, 21, 8». a B, y- It is easy to see that a! = e = §* = 5, since, performing « twice over (similarly BEiements of Group Theory 7 and y), B and C are restored to their original positions. The closure and other properties may be exhibited conveniently by means of @ square array called the group multiplicarton table whose rows and columns are indexed by the group clements themselves. This is shown as follows: ‘Table 1.1 Y e a 8 |» Y a i e a Y Y -|° &% | fs e The element at the intersection of some row and some column is the pro- duct of the clement labelling the row on the left, by the element labelling the column on the right. Thus, the element at the intersection of the a-row , Bod the B-column is of = g,. Similarly one can read from the table that #18, = e showing that g, and g, are inverses of each other. We also notice that any row or column contains cach clement exactly once. This means that if the group elements aro multiplied by sonte fixed element, one gets the same group elements in a possible different order. Note finally that this group known as the dihedral group D, is non-abelian; for example of = g, whereas Ba = gy. One may also look upon the group as an abstract group generated by the symbols g, and a satisfying the relations & at; ag, = gia, at Clearly gg? = ¢ > gi — gi" so that £4 = gi'; « is its own inverse. Since 2, = § and ag? = y, ourgroup consists of the elements e, 21, 82, &, 2g, ag? as the only possible distinct elements which arc power combina- tions of only these two symbols. Any other power combination reduces to8 THE ROTATION AND LORENTZ GROUPS one of these six as can be easily verified. For example agfa = (#8:)(6,0) = gytagia = gia? = gi? ~< g, since gt = e and at =e. 6. Example 5 admits of an immediate generalisation. The dihedral group Dz is generated by the symbols g and a satisfying the relations gi =e = oh ag — gta. It is easy to see that the only distinct power com- binations called words of the symbols g and a are ¢, g, g° ... g*-1, a, ag, ag" so that the group is of order 2n and may be interpreted as the group of symmetries of a reguiar polygon of n sides. It is, in general, non-abelian except when 7 = 2. In this case g* «= e » g = g“ and hence ag = ga = ga; Le., g and « commute and the elements of D, are e, £, a, ag. 7. The permutation (or the symmetric) group S, Consider an array of n cells numbered 1, 2, 3, ... n and n objects distributed one each in each of them, One knows that these objects may be permuted amongst themselves in nf ways. Any permutation which sends the object in cell 1 to some other cell which we denote by s,, the object in ccll 2 to cell s, etc. is denoted by 12.8 S= Sa Sy eee In where s, Sy --. S, are again the numbers 1,2, ... nin some other order. We also say 1 ‘goes to’ s,, 2 g0¢8 to s, ... n goes to s, under the permu- ik tation S, A compact notation is S -( } (=I, 2, ... n). Observe that S Sk, remeins the same on permuting its columns in any way. For example S may also be written as Ab 6... we m2 =( ) _ ...=.. for this states that 4 goes to 4, 1 to s,, 6 to $,, ... m to 5,and 2to s, which is preciscly what was said earlier. k Let r=( ) be another permutation that sends the object in cell k fe to cell t,, (k = 1, 2, ... 1), Since s is one of the numbers 1, 2, ... #, say k Se d, T sends the object in cell j = & to cell ty = tartan t= ( )-(; ) oi th If we first carry out the permutation S$ that sends the object in cell & to cell 5, and then follow it up by 7, the object first goes from cell k to cell s under S and then from 5, to f,, under 7. We may thus define the productElements of Group Theory 9 of two permutations J and S (first S and then 7) by, m(C)-C)ervs We note a mnemonic for writing down the product 7S: If we rearrange the columns of T (or of S) such that the top row entries of T are in the same order as the bottom row entries of S, theo the product 7S will have for its top row, the top row entries of S and for its bottom row, the bottom row entries of 7. Thus (Noa) (2Xn)~(.) Ke ke sree sr ( 154 ST in ren 118 = ( ) enone permuta- St Ph von- (HK) =C)=C) von-(Y0)-CY0)-() so that 7(SR) = (7S)R and associativity is satisfied. The permutation ke £~ (1) sic ee he object neal ia it or what is the same thing leaves the objects undisturbed is the unit clement, for, kN (ke ke (he) -()~§ eri \k, Sk, and the permutation that sends the object in cell s, back to cell k is evi- dently the inverse S+ of S, for, = ()-()-()- o-( 4)10 THE ROTATION AND LORENTZ GROUPS One may rearrange the columns of S-" such that its top row entries are in the standard order 1, 2, ... n. For example, if. 123456 416523 s= then St= 416523 12345 6 ( 23456 “\2 5 61 4 3, This group of permutations of order nt ia also known as the Symmetric group S, 28 it is the group of symmetries of n identical objects, in the sense that any new arrangement of n identical objects after a permutation is indis- tinguishable from the old one. 8 The multiplicative group of complex matrices of order n—the group GL{n, C). Let A = (ay), ,j = 1, 2, ... m be a ‘square’ matrix of order n, i.e., a matrix with n rows and n columus, and with ‘elements’ a, which are, in generat, complex numbers. If B — (by) is another matrix, we define the product of the matrices by (ABys = 3 andes = anbe, + Oiby +... + aby where (48), is the element in the ith row and jth column of the product matrix AB. If thematricesare non-singular i.e., the determinants det A =|A|and det B= |B{are not zero, then det (AB) = det A, det BO. Thus, the set of all non-singular nth order matrices are closed under multi- plication. If C = (¢) is another matrix ABO = F Aub = 2 Mn E Ban Ons = EE Abu Bdea(Cms kent met, (ABYC )y = % (ABin Chomp = A AiB)ioO)ns = (ABD so that A(BC) = (AB)C for any three matrices and associativity holds good. Let E = (8y) where &) = 1 for i=f and 8) = 0 for i+ j (called Kronecker delta, i.e., the matrix all of whose diagonal elements are unity and ali the off-diagonal elements are zero). Then, 45n) = F AnB ws = 2 (Ady = (Ay ie, AE = 4.Elements of Group Theory 11 Let Ay, be the cofactor of the element ay, in the determinant of the matrix A= (ay). Note that An (Aly = aye From the theory of determinants we know that andy + Ody +. + anda = Fun =A=dtA and GnAsy + Og Ap +... + Op ye = 3 anAp = 0:1 fj. Thus we may write oi tedn = By. Define a matrix A> by (Ay = Auld; (A # 0). Then AM = FE Malus -= 3 andnld = Note that (Ain = an. Thus AA~ — E; that is, 4-1 is the inverse of A as the notation implies and E is the unit element. Thus, the set of all non-singular complex matrices of order n forms a group called the General Linear Group GL(n, C) over the complex number field. 9. The quaternion groups Qc and Qp Let €, ey e, be three symbols called the quaternion units satisfying the relations e7 = —1 (Fr and ey = 53 Clg = G5 Oylr ly Le, ees = ef HSK cyclic). Multiplying the relation ee, = ¢, on the left by e,, we get — so that we have eye, = €r = —e,e, (F, &, # cyclic). Because of these relations, the only distinct words are just the units ¢,; and any formal linear combi- nation A= Gy + Oey + Oly + Galy =H Oy + Oper where the a(a — 0, 1, 2,3) are complex numbers, is called a complex quaternion. We bave introduced here the usual dummy index notation where a repeated index like k represents a sum of terms over the range in ques- tion. If B —- by +1 byes is another quaternion, we define the product AB = (aq + anes )by + Byer) as the quaternion obtained by carrying out the multiplication on the right according to the rules of elementary algebra and using the relations satisfled by the e,, with due regard, however, to theanticommutativity ¢,e,= —e,e,.12 THE ROTATION AND LORENTZ GROUPS ‘The computation is straightforward although the expression for the pro- duct is somewhat lengthy. But it may be expressed in an elegant and com- pact form if we adopt the following convention, Looking upon 41, dy, dy as the components of a vector a, we denote the quaternion A= a, + axex simply as A = (a, a). It is then easy to see that AB = (Gy )(by. b) = (phy — 9°b, ab + bya + axb) where, as usual, a-b = ab, + aby + @,5, and aXb has components (Gybs ~ be» gb, — O,by, 0185 — a,5,). Evidently AB > BA, in general. The quaternion A = ay — aye, is called the Hamiltonian conjugate of A and is to be distinguished from the ordinary complex conjuage A* = a3 + af e where * denotes complex conjugation. If a = 0, 1, 2, 3) are real, A is called @ real quaternion and only the Hamiltonian conjugate J is then relevant and it is simply called the con- jugate of A. Observe that 4 = 4. It follows from (i) that AA=ah + af +at+ap=4A called the norm of A and is denoted by | 4], We also have GBA = (by —DYGq, —2) ~ (bate — boa; —bya—agb+ xa) = AB and Gi) | AB] = (4BYAB) = ABBA = |B| AA = |B) 4] = A[ 81. ‘A quateraion is aid to be non-singular if | A | # 0. Notice that this is always true for a real A if it is not identically zero. We then define the inverse A+ of A by A“ == A/| A] so that AA-t = AA = 5 an(1, 0). One can verify that A(BC) = (A&)C for any three quaternions, In this manner, the set of all non-singular complex quaternions forms a group Q’c—the multiplicative group of complex quaternions, A quatermion 4 for which | A | = 1, is called a writ quaternion. Clearly [A|= 11B| = 1 (| 4B] = 1 and the set of all unit complex quater- nions forms a subgroup Q, of Qc’ ani may be called the -ultiplicative group of complex unit quaternions, Similarly the set of all real quaternions forms a group Qg’. The subset of real quaternions for which | 4| = 1, forms the group Qz, the multipli= cative group of unit real quaternions. ‘The groups Qc and Qs are important in the study of the Lorentz and Rotation groups respectively, 13 Algebraic Operations in a Group Consider a group G. The result of the composition law on the clements a and 6 of G is another element c of G; ab = c © G. We write the result of the composition law of a on itself asa*. Indutively, we define a"! = a™-aElements of Group Theory 13 for integral m, where a" is the result of multiplying a by itself m times. Similarly, we define a™ = (a-)" and o° = e as the identity element. We clearly have a” a* = a"? and (ay! = a", Order of an Element Let G be a group of finite order. If we multiply an element a by itself a mumber of times we must obtain, after a finite number of steps, theidentity element e since the group is finite. The least integer r > 0 such that a =e is called the order of the element a. Cyclic group generated by an elementa Let a be an element of order r be- Jonging to a group G. Form the set 4, Byes Om ee The set contains the identity element e and is also closed with respect to the composition law, as the product of any two element a? and a? will again bean element of the set, For 1 < p thy? 3 tht}, This means that the order of a finite sub- group H is the same as that of its conjugate tHt-. If ris an element of H itself, then tHr- = H because of the property of closure in H. Normal subgroup A subgroup N of G which is such that tNr-’ = N for every t & G is called a normal subgroup or a self-conjugate subgroup. It is algo called an invariant subgroup as it remains invariant against the transformation tN‘, 15 Cosets Let H be a subgroup of G. The complex xH where x & G is called a deft coset of H by the element x. Similarly the complex Hx is called a right coset which, in general, is different from xH. For a normal subgroup, however, XNx-1 -= N > xN= Nx so that the left and right cosets are indentical. ‘We note the following properties of cosets. 1, The number of elements in a coset called its order is equal to the order of the subgroup. If not, some two elements at least of the coset xH must coincide reducing its order and we must have xh — xh’ for some h, &' © H, Bot this means h = A’ which is impossible. 2. Any element of the coset xH is of the form xh,(h © H) and the coset of H by xh is xh. H = xH only so that a coset is uniquely determined by any of its elements. 3. If y is an element not contained in the coset x, no element of the coset yH belongs to xH, for otherwise, xh = yh’ for some h, h’ CH and therefore y = xhh’* € xH contrary to assumption. Thus the cosets xT and yH are mutually disjoint. This would mean, in particular that if x ¢ 7/, the coset xH cannot contain e and is therefore not a group.Elements of Group Theory 15 ‘Theorem 1 Lagrange’s theorem The order of subgroup divides the order ofa group. PROOF Let G be a group of order # and H a subgroup of order m, If H =G then m-=nand the result is trivial. Let H be a proper subgroup of G so that m 5, 5 > 1 and the objects in cells 3 and 6 remain undisturbed. We denote this permutation by S;= (1 4 2 5). Similarly we sce that S, -- (3 6). In general, a permutation which sends the object in cell s, to celll s,, that in s to ,, ... the one in cell s,4 to se and finally that in 5 to s, leaving the objects in the other cells undisturbed is called a cyclic permutation or a cycle of length k and is denoted by 1 5_... 5). Thus S, is of length 4 and S, of leogth 2 and the product Sy can be written as S,=(1 42 58 §=@B OU 4 2 5). In this manoer, any permutation of S, can be written as a commuting pro- duct of cycles which do not contain common figures. r wr-( je = 1,2, ... n)is any permutation and S = (s: ... ss) is a oycle of length k, then TST-* — (t, fr, ... th) is also a cycle of the same length. To see this, we note that f,, goes to % under T-, s, to s, under S and 5, to fs, under 7. Thus, the successive operations T-1, S and 7 in that order from right to left, send t, into ts, t1,into tr, ... and fe, into fs, 80 that we have TST = (ty, ty, ... f,). If now R is a permutation written as a product of cycles,