Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2018/iii/paper-102/3/e/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 102 3 e Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The Dynkin diagram in part (b) is a three-node chain, hence . By the classification of complex semisimple Lie algebras by their root systems, this gives the Isomorphism between so6 and sl4:There is also a concrete realization. On , choose a nonzero alternating four-form . The six-dimensional exterior square carries the nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form specified byIt is symmetric because exchanging two pairs entails four transpositions, and it is nondegenerate because each basis bivector pairs nontrivially with its complementary pair. The special linear Lie algebra acts by . Its action on is multiplication by , so it preserves . We obtain a nonzero Lie algebra homomorphism . Its kernel is an ideal of a Lie algebra, hence zero because is a simple Lie algebra. Both sides have dimension , so this homomorphism is a Lie algebra isomorphism.
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