Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2005/ii/paper-4/19g/i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 ii Paper 4 19G i Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
Normalize Haar measure on to total mass one. For a continuous class function , the Weyl integration formula for SU2 isEquivalently it is . For arbitrary continuous , replace on the right by its conjugacy average .
Here is a direct proof. Identify with unit quaternions, the sphere . Multiplication by a unit quaternion is a transformation given by an orthogonal matrix of , so normalized round volume is bi-invariant and is Haar measure. Write a quaternion as , , . The round volume element is , and the total volume is . Conjugation rotates the unit imaginary vector , so a class function depends only on . Integrating over the sphere of area gives the factor . The endpoint degeneracies have measure zero. Conjugacy averaging and Haar invariance prove the more general version.
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