Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-groups-and-representations-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2018/3/a/solution
Past exam of the groups and representations course of the University of Oxford 2018 3 a Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Differentiate the defining relation at . The linear term gives the Lie algebraSolving this equation between matrices yieldswhere a convenient basis isThe first two generate Lorentz boosts and the last a spatial rotation. Direct commutators giveThere are three independent real coefficients, so . A Cartan subalgebra is , and the rank of a semisimple Lie algebra is one. Explicitly, if and , their commutator vanishes exactly whenFor nonzero , these equations force to be proportional to , so there is no two-dimensional commuting subalgebra. The split real rank is also one, realized by the semisimple Lorentz boost generator . ThusFor this Lorentz algebra in three spacetime dimensions, disconnected components of the full Lorentz group do not change its tangent Lie algebra at the identity.
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