Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-lie-algebras-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2011/2/iii/solution

Every matrix has the unique decomposition
Both summands define invariant subspaces for the Adjoint representation of a Lie algebra. Scalar matrices commute with everything, so is . The traceless matrices form with basis of weights . Their brackets satisfy , , ; the raising and lowering operations connect all three weight lines. This is the simple module . Therefore
As a check, its zero-weight space has dimension two and its one-weight space is zero, agreeing with part (ii).

New to topics? Read the docs here!