Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-year-2-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2021/paper-2/8/c/solution

Direct multiplication gives , , and
Thus conjugation by each generator of preserves ; so does conjugation by every product of the generators. Therefore .
Using and its analogue for , every group word can be reduced to with . Consequently the quotient has at most four cosets. They are distinct: a nonidentity diagonal matrix among cannot equal , since a diagonal requires and hence . Therefore
The three nonidentity cosets all square to , and and commute because commute. Hence
Equivalently, is the full real group and its identity component. This is the component quotient of the real Lorentz group in two dimensions; the quotient records the four components, not the continuous boost parameter.

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