Questions tagged [lie-groups]

A Lie group is a group (in the sense of abstract algebra) that is also a differentiable manifold, such that the group operations (addition and inversion) are smooth, and so we can study them with differential calculus. They are a special type of topological group.

Consider using with the (group-theory) tag.

Lie groups are groups that are also differentiable manifolds that represent the best developed theory of continuous symmetry of mathematical objects.

Examples of lie groups are:

1) The Euclidean space $\mathbb{R}^n$ under addition is a lie group.

2) The special orthogonal group of real orthogonal matrices with determinant $1$ (note that $n=3$ is the rotation group in $\mathbb{R}^3$).

3) The spin group, which is the double cover of the special orthogonal group such that $\exists$ a sequence of lie groups:

\begin{equation*} 1\to Z_2\to~\text{Spin}(n)\to SO(n)\to 1. \end{equation*}

Note that it has dimension $\frac{n(n-1)}{2}.$

7686 questions
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What is a Lie Group in layman's terms?

I'm having trouble getting my head arround the concept. Can someone explain it to me?
user7293
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Is there a non-matrix Lie group?

I'm new to Lie Groups, but all the examples I found are matrix groups. Can someone show a non-matrix Lie group?
Léo
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Can we prove that there are countably many isomorphism classes of compact Lie groups without appealing to the classification of simple Lie algebras?

It is a nontrivial fact that there are only countably many isomorphism classes of compact Lie groups. One can prove this by a series of reductions: first to the connected case, then to the simply connected case, then by classifying simple Lie…
Qiaochu Yuan
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Description of SU(1, 1)

For a homework question, I am required to "describe the Lie group SU(1, 1)". This is a bit ambiguous, but I think what that means is I need to find a parametrisation of the elements of the group. I know that the general form of a matrix in…
saurs
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(non?)-surjectivity of the exponential map to $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$

I need help figuring out what is wrong with the following proof that the exponential map is not surjective onto $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$. I have an exercise to prove that it IS surjective. Given $M \in SL(2,\mathbb{C})$, assume $M = \exp(A)$ for some…
Carl
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The dimension of $SU(n)$

$SU(n)$ denotes the special unitary group. I know its dimension should be $n^2-1$. However, I am trying to prove it and get a wrong result. I have no idea what is wrong with my proof. Therefore, I am wondering if someone could point the mistake out.…
YYF
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Prove that the universal covering space of a Lie group is unique

This is a problem in Lee's book, introduction to smooth manifold. I am trying to show that the universal covering space of a connected Lie group is unique. Suppose $G$ is a Lie group, and $\tilde{G}$ and $\hat{G}$ are universal covering groups of…
YYF
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Embedded Lie subgroups are closed.

This is Exercise 2.1 from Kirillov's Lie theory book. Let $G$ be a Lie group and $H$ a closed Lie subgroup. Show that the closure $\overline{H}$ of $H$ in $G$ is a subgroup of $G$. Show that each coset $Hx$, $x\in\overline H$, is open and…
user59083
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Do all Lie groups admit deformation retracts onto compact subgroups?

The noncompact Lie group $SL(n, \mathbb{R})$ admits a deformation retract onto the compact Lie group $SO(n, \mathbb{R})$ via polar decomposition. Do all noncompact Lie groups admit deformation retracts onto compact subgroups? (This is motivated by…
Travis Willse
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Image of Matrix Exponential Map

It is known that every $A$ belongs to $GL(n,\mathbb C)$ equals to $\exp(B)$ for some $n \times n$ matrix $B$. How to show the following is true? Show that a matrix $M$ belonging to $GL_n(\mathbb R)$ is the exponential of a real matrix if, and only…
user39501
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Group of units of a Clifford algebra

Let $V$ be a finite dimensional vector space over $\mathbb{R}$ or $\mathbb{C}$, $Q$ a quadratic form on $V$ and $\mathrm{Cl}(V,Q)$ the corresponding Clifford algebra. Now consider the multiplicative group of units of this Clifford algebra,…
Benjamin
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The Symplectic group is connected

Let $K = \mathbb{R}, \mathbb{C}$ be a field and consider the skew-symmetric matrix $$ J = \left( \begin{matrix} 0 & I_n \\ -I_n & 0 \end{matrix} \right) $$ where $I_n$ is the unit matrix of order $n$. Then I define the symplectic group: $$…
LinAlgMan
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Among Lie groups, why study the semisimple ones?

I'm in the process of learning Lie theory. Simply connected Lie groups correspond to finite dimensional real Lie algebras. Finite dimensional semisimple real Lie algebras correspond to Satake diagrams. So, simply connected semisimple Lie groups…
Terry
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Is $O(2)$ really not isomorphic to $SO(2)\times \{-1,1\}$?

An exercise in a book I'm reading is to show that $O(2)$ is not isomorphic to $SO(2)\times \{-1,1\}$. The problem is, I don't believe the statement. Let me elaborate why: $O(2)$ consists of orthogonal matrices of either determinant $1$ or $-1$. The…
learner
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Does every connected Lie group have a dense torsion-free subgroup?

For $ SO_2(\mathbb{R}) $ it is possible to find a finite set of irrational rotations that generate a torsion-free dense subgroup. For $ SO_3(\mathbb{R}) $ it is also possible to find a finite set of irrational rotations that generate a torsion-free…
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