17.

Group Theory

1. Introduction to Group Theory

2. Representation of Groups

3. Symmetry & Physics

4. Discrete Groups

5. Direct Products

6. Symmetric Groups

7. Continuous Groups

8. Lorentz Group

9. Lorentz Covariance of Maxwell’s Equations

10. Space Groups

 1. Introduction to Group Theory
Symmetry :

1. Spatial symmetry of crystals ~ X-ray diffraction patterns.

2. Spatial symmetry of molecules ~ Selection rules in vibrational spectra.

3. Symmetry of periodic systems ~ e-properties: energy bands, conductivity, …

Invariance under transformations :

1. Linear displacement ~ Conservation of (linear) momentum.

2. Rotation ~ Conservation of angular momentum.

3. Between (inertial) frames ~ General (special) relativity.

Theories of elementary particles begin with symmetries & conservation laws.

Group theory was invented to handle symmetries & invariance.

 Definition of a Group
Refs: W.K.Tung, “Group Theory in Physics” (85)
M.Tinkham, “Group Theory & QM” (64)

A group { G,  } is a set G with a multiplication  such that  a, b, c  G ,

1. a  b G Closure

2.  a  b  c  a   b  c   a  b  c Associativity

3.  unique I  G  I  a  a  I  a Identity

4.  a 1  G  a 1  a  a  a 1  I Inverse

Group { G,  } is usually called simply group G and a  b, ab.

Two easily proved theorems :

1. Every a1 is unique.

2. a G  G Rearrangement theorem
 More Definitions
Finite group : Group with a finite number n of elements.

n = order of the group.

Discrete group :  1-1 map between set G & a subset of the natural number.
( label of elements of G is discrete )

Continuous group with n-parameter :  1-1 map between set G & subset of Rn .
Abelian group :  is commutative, i.e., ab  ba  a, b  G

Cyclic group Cn of order n : Cn   a, a 2 , , an  I  Cn is abelian

Group {G,  } is homomorphic to group { H ,  } :

 a map f : G  H that preserves multiplications, i.e.,

a b  c  a, b, c  G  f  a   f  b  f  c 

If f is 1-1 onto ( f1 exists ), then {G,  } and { H ,  } are isomorphic.

Subgroup of group {G,  } : Subset of G that is closed under .

Example 17.1.1. D3 Symmetry of an Equilateral Triangle

Table of gi gj for D3
gj
gi

Subgroups :
C3   I , C3 , C32 
C2   I , C2 
 I , C2 
Mathematica Dihedral group  I , C2 
 Example 17.1.2. Rotation of a Circular Disk

Rotation in x-y plane by angle  :

 x   cos  sin    x 
r  R   r  y     sin 
   cos    y 

 I  R  0 R   R    R      R   R  

R1    R   

 
G  R       ,    1-D continuous abelian group.
 Example 17.1.3. An Abstarct Group
An abstract group is defined by its multiplication table alone.

Vierergruppe (4-group) :

I A B C
I I A B C
A A I C B
B B C I A
C C B A I
Example 17.1.4. Isomorphism & Homomorphism: C4
C4 = Group of symmetry operations of a square that can’t be flipped.

C4   I , C 4 , C  C 2 , C
4
2
4
3
 I C4 C2 C43
I I C4 C2 C43
G   1, i ,  1,  i 
abelian C4 C4 C2 C43 I
C2 C2 C43 I C4
C43 C43 I C4 C2
C4 & G are isomorphic.
1 i 1  i
1 1 i 1  i
Subgroup: C2   I , C2 
i i 1  i 1
 1,  1  1 1  i 1 i
i i 1 i 1
 2. Representation of Groups

A representation of a group is a set of linear transformations on a

vector space that obey the same multiplication table as the group.

Matrix representation : Representation in which the linear

transformations tak the form of invertible matrices
( done by choosing a particular basis for the vector space ).

Unitary representation : Representation by unitary matrices.

Every matrix representation is isomorphic to a unitary reprsentation.

 Example 17.2.1. A Unitary Representation
Unitary representations for D3   I, C 3 , C 3 , C 2 , C2 , C2  :
2
 

 1 3  1 3
 1 0      
U
E
  
I   U  E   C3    2 2  U  E   C32    2 2 
0 1  3 1  3 1 
      
 2 2  2 2 
 1 3  1 3
     
1 0  U  E   C2    2 2  U  E   C2   2 2 
U E
C2      3 1   1 
 0 1  3
   
 2 2   2 2 

 A1 
U g  1  g G

 A2   1 g  I , C 3 , C 32
U g  
 1 g  C2 , C 2 , C2
 More Definitions & Properties
A representation U(G) is faithful if U(G) is isomorphic to G.


U G   U  g   g  G 
Every group has a trivial representation with U  g   1  g G

Let U(G) be a representation of G, then W G   V U G  V 1 is also a representation.

W(G) & U(G) are equivalent representations : W ~U

A representation U(G) is reducible if every U(g) is equivalent to the same block

diagonal form, i.e., W  g   W1  g   W2  g   for some W ~ U
 
We then write : U  U1  U2   W1 
 
 
A representation U(G) is irreducible if it is not reducible.  
W g   
W2
Commuting matrices can be simultaneously digonalized  
 
  
All irreducible representations (IRs)  
  
of an abelian group are 1-D.
 Example 17.2.2. A Reducible Representation
A reducible representation for D3   I , C3 , C 32 , C 2 , C2 , C2  :
1 0 0  0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0  0 1 0
U  I    0 1 0  U  C3    0 0 1  U  C    1 0 0 
3
2
U  C2    0 1 0  U  C2    0 0 1  U  C2   1 0 0 
0 0 1  1 0 0  0 1 0 1 0 0  0 1 0 0 0 1
           
 1 1 1 
 3 3 3 
 
Using  1 2 1  & U   V U V 1 ,
V   
 6 3 6 
 1 1 
 0 
 2 2 

we get the equivalent block diagonal form

   
1 0 0  1 0 0 
1 0 0    
U   C3   0 
 3
U   I    0 1 0 
1
U   C3    0 
1 3 2

 2   2 2 
0 0 1 2
 
   
0  3 1 0 3
 
1 
   
 2 2  2 2   
  1 0 0 
1 0 0   
 
U   C2   0 
1 0 0  1 3
 1 3 
U   C2   0   2 
U   C2    0 1 0   2 2  
2

 0 0 1   0  3 1 
  0 3 1   
   2 2 
 2 2 
 Example 17.2.3. Representations of a Continuous Group
 cos  sin  

Symmetry of a circular disk : G  R       ,    R    
cos  
  sin 

G is abelian  R is reducible.

1  1 i 
Let V   & U     V R   V 1
2 1 i 

  cos   i sin  0   ei 0 

U        
 0 cos   i sin    0 e i  

Independent IRs :

Un    ei n  n  0,  1,  2,  3,

Only U1 & U1 are faithful.

 H  r   E r 
3. Symmetry & Physics H  T V

Let R be a tranformation operator such as rotation or translation.

 R  H    R  E   R H R 1 R  ER

i.e., R H R 1 is the tranformed hamiltonian

& R is the transformed wave function

If H is invariant under R : R H R 1  H  R , H   0  H R  ER

i.e., R  is also an eigenfunction with eigenvalue E.

 possibility of degeneracy.

Actual degeneracy depends on the symmetry group of H & can be calculated,

without solving the Schrodinger eq., by means of the representation theory .
 Starting with any function , we can generate a set
nG  order of G

S  Ri  ; Ri  G  with R1  I  , i  1,2, , nG  G  symm. group of H

Next, we orthonormalize S using, say, the Gram-Schmidt scheme, to get

   i ; i  1,2, , d  nG 
  = basis that spans an d –D space.
d
 R i   j U ji  R   R G
j 1
d d d d
 S G S R i   S j U ji  R     k U k j  S  U ji  R     k U k i  S R 
j 1 j 1 k 1 k 1
d
 U k i  SR    U k j  S  U ji  R 
j 1

Or, in matrix form : U  SR   U  S   U  R  U  R i j  U i j  R 

i.e., U   U  R  ; R  G  is a representation of G on the space spanned by .

 Starting with any function , we can generate a basis

   Ri  ; Ri  G    i ; i  1,2, ,d 
orthnormalized

for a d-D representation U   U  R  ; R  G  for G.

U is in general reducible, i.e., U   m U   


where m = number of blocks equivalent to the same IR U ( ).

H , R   0  R G  HEI w.r.t. a basis for an IR of G.

( Shur’s lemma )

 If  is an eigenfunction of H, then U is an IR.

 For arbitary  , we can take one state from each U (  ) block to get

a basis to set up a matrix eigen-equation of H to calculate E.

 multiplication table
Example 17.3.1. An Even H
Cs I 
H is even in x  H x  H  x I I 
  I
Let  be the operator x  x then G   I ,    Cs
IR
Cs is abelian  All IRs are 1-D. Cs I 
A1 1 1
For an arbitrary  (x) :
A2 1 1
S     x ,    x   x   

I   x    x 1 0 1 0
 UI     WI    
I  x   x 0 1 V
1 1  0 1
 
 1 1   Mathematica
   x   x 0 1 W  V U V 1 1 0 
 U      W     
  x    x 1 0  0 1

V     1 1     x      x      x    A1  Even
 1 1    x     x    x    
 = basis for W             A2  Odd

 Generation of IR Basis
Using Schur’s lemma, one can show that (Tung, §4.2)

n n

Pi j   Ui j   g  R  g 

P  

    g  R  g 
*

nG g G nG g G

where P ( ) = projector onto the space of unitary IR U ( ).

 ( ) (g) = Character (trace) of U ( ) (g) .
n = dimension of IR.
nG = order of G.
R(g) = operator corresponding to g.

For any f (x),

 P   f  x  ; j  1,
ij

, n  , if not empty, is the ith basis vector for the IR U ( ).

 P  f  x  ; j  1,

, n  , if not empty, is a basis vector for the IR U ( ).
 n
Pi j  

 U   g  R  g 
*

Example 17.3.2. nG g G
ij

 1 g  I , C 3 , C 32
QM: Triangular Symmetry U
 A1 
g  1  g G U
 A2 
 g   
 1 g  C2 , C 2 , C2
 1 3  1 3
     
3 atoms at vertices Ri of an equilaterial triangle :  1 0
U  I   
E

U E
 C3    2 2  U E
   2
C2
 2 
1 
3
0 1  3 1 3
     
 2 2 
G  D3 ri  r  Ri  1
 2 2
3  1 3
     
 1 0  U  C2    2
  2  U  E   C2   2 2 
Starting with atomic s-wave function  (r1) at R1 : U  C2   
E E

  3  1 
 0 1 1  3
   
 2 2   2 2 

    r     r1     r2     r3  
 A 1 2
3

    r     r1     r2     r3     r1     r2     r3    0
A 2 1
3
2  1 1 1 1 
 11 E   r    
 1 2r     r2     r3     r1     r3     r 
2 
3 2 2 2 
2
  2  r1     r2     r3  
3

2 3 3 3 3   2   r     r  
E
 12  r      r2     r3     r3     r2   3  2 3 
3 2 2 2 2 
 4. Discrete Groups

Classes :

For any a  G, the set C   g a g 1 ;  g  G  is called a class of G.

C is usually identified by one of its elements.

Rearrangement theorem 
A class can be generated by any one of its members.
( a can be any member of C ).
 Example 17.4.1. Classes of D3 D3   I , C3 , C 32 , C 2 , C2 , C2 

Table of g a g1 for D3

a
g
 Classes of D3 are :

 I , C3 , C 3  , C 2 , C2 , C2 
2
  
Usually denoted as
 I , 2C3 , 3C2 
Mathematica

Tr  g a g 1   Tr  a  g 
All members of a class have
the same character(trace).

Orthogonality    
 C    
 C   nG   
relations : C
nG
Dimensionality
 n  n
2
G

  C  
   
 C    C C

nC
theorem :
    
 C    
 C   nG   
C
nG    nG
n 2



 
C    
 C    C C 
nC


Normalized full representation table of D3 :

n
nG

Take each row (column) as vector :

They’re all orthonormalized.

Sum over column (row) then gives the completeness condition.

 Example 17.4.2. Orthogonality Relations: D3
D3
row
orthogonality
n
C
C   
C   C   nG   
 

A1 , E : 1  1  2   2  1   1   3  1  0   0 Character table of D3

Mathematica
E,E: 1   2  2   2   1   1   3   0  0   6
nG
Completeness    

 C    
 C  
nC
 C C

C3 , C2 : 1  1  1   1   1  0  0
6
C3 , C3 : 1 1  1 1   1   1  3 
2

 n  n
2
G
12  12  22  6
 Example 17.4.3. Counting IRs
multiplication table
C4   I , C4 , C 42 , C43  ~  I, a , a 2
, a3  C4

Table of g b g1 for C4

b
g

Character table
C4
Example 17.4.4. Decomposing a Reducible Representation
Other Discrete Groups
5. Direct Products
6. Symmetric Groups
7. Continuous Groups
8. Lorentz Group
9. Lorentz Covariance of Maxwell’s Equations
10. Space Groups