Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2001/iii/paper-1/2/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 1 2 a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The Lie algebra of SL2R is the space of traceless real two-by-two matrices. For in this space, the Cayley-Hamilton theorem gives , where . Expanding the matrix exponential, if thenIf , then and its trace is . If , thenIn every case . Buthas determinant one and trace . Thus is not an exponential, and the exponential map is not surjective.
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