Rotation matrix Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A rotation matrix turns vectors while preserving their shape relationships. For column coordinate vectors in an orthonormal basis, its defining conditions are
where is the transpose and the identity matrix. In the usual Cartesian basis of the plane, an active counterclockwise planar rotation through an angle uses
Here the vector moves and the basis stays fixed: . Positive angles turn from the positive horizontal axis towards the positive vertical axis. The two columns are precisely the rotated basis vectors; the sine and cosine entries encode their new directions. Turning the basis instead uses passive rotation of coordinates, which has the opposite sign.
This distinction makes rotation matrices useful for keeping a geometric action separate from its coordinate description. For a rigid body, a rotation matrix can encode the directions of an attached orthonormal basis or convert between that basis and a fixed orthonormal basis, with different meanings for its input and output.[ref]
The orthogonal matrix condition preserves every dot product:
Consequently Euclidean norms and angles between nonzero vectors are preserved, as is the Euclidean norm of the difference between any two endpoints. The additional determinant condition preserves orientation of a vector space and oriented volume: for any square matrix whose columns are the input vectors, . An orthogonal matrix of determinant , such as a reflection matrix, preserves dot products but reverses orientation of a vector space. The matrix inverse is especially simple: .[ref]
For a finite-index subgroup , its projection to the first coordinate is and its intersection with the second axis is , with . Choose , reducing modulo . Together with it is a basis of this row lattice: subtracting a multiple of from any vector leaves a vector on the second axis. These parameters are unique, and reduction of the two coordinates shows . Consequently an integral matrix of positive determinant has a unique representative of this form under left multiplication by , with . This proves the lattice facts underlying determinant-n matrix representatives for Hecke operators.
The row lattice of an integer matrix with rows is the set of their integer linear combinations. It is an Euclidean lattice in its real span, since it is contained in the discrete set and spans that real vector space. For a nonsingular two-by-two integer matrix, the row Hermite normal form in rank two gives a canonical basis and proves that its index in is the absolute value of its determinant.
For inequivalent chosen unitary irreducible representations of a finite group, uniform expectation gives
The Kronecker deltas in the first case refer to entries in the same chosen basis. Averaging an intertwiner and applying the Schur lemma proves the formula; summing diagonal entries gives character orthogonality.
Sesquilinear form Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A sesquilinear form on a complex vector space is a map which, with the convention used throughout this article, is a linear map in its first argument and a conjugate-linear map in its second. For vectors and complex numbers , the defining identities are
The bars denote complex conjugation. No symmetry or positivity is required. Some authors choose the opposite convention; every formula here keeps the first argument linear.[ref]
For a basis of a finite-dimensional vector space, write , , and . Expanding by the two identities gives
Every complex matrix gives a sesquilinear form this way. The superscript means transpose, not conjugate transpose. Equivalently, the scalar is , where . This is the convention used for the matrix of a Hermitian form when symmetry is imposed. The coordinate formula follows directly by expanding the basis coefficients.[ref]
For a concrete example on , let . Its matrix is : but , so it is not a Hermitian form. Also , so even real diagonal values cannot be assumed for an arbitrary sesquilinear form. By comparison, the bilinear form satisfies and has ; it cannot supply positive squared lengths on this complex vector space.
The effect of changing the complex argument of a multiplier is particularly revealing. For real numbers , sesquilinear forms satisfy
Thus a common change of complex argument cancels from the diagonal, whereas the two arguments rotate the output in opposite directions. Conjugating one argument is what replaces the scaling of a bilinear form by the nonnegative scaling needed for a Hermitian inner product. This mechanism also works in function spaces: for complex continuous functions on , obeys the same identities, letting integration measure overlap rather than merely multiply coefficients.
Shape operator Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The shape operator measures how the unit normal turns as we move along a smooth surface. A plane has a constant unit normal, whereas the outward unit normal of a sphere turns in every direction in the tangent plane. Keeping the direction of this change, rather than just its magnitude, lets one recover the principal curvatures and their principal directions.
Choose an orientation of a surface , with Gauss map . The shape operator at is the linear map
Here is the differential of the Gauss map. Its output belongs to , identified with because both are the vector plane perpendicular to . The minus sign is our convention throughout this branch. [ref]
The shape operator packages the second fundamental form as an operator using the inner product supplied by the first fundamental form:
The symmetry of the second fundamental form makes the shape operator a self-adjoint operator for this inner product. Thus an orthonormal basis of principal directions diagonalizes it. In a coordinate basis of a parametric surface, write
The matrix need not be a symmetric matrix in this coordinate basis: its self-adjointness means . Using the eigenvalues of alone gives the principal curvatures only when is the identity matrix. [ref]
For a worked example, parametrize the lateral surface of an outward-oriented circular cylinder of radius using circumferential arc length and axial coordinate :
The coordinate tangent vectors are an orthonormal basis. Since and , the shape operator satisfies
Changing to angular coordinate gives and ; still has eigenvalues . This is why the first fundamental form must participate in the calculation.
For a sphere of radius centered at the origin, the outward unit normal is . Hence , so both principal curvatures are . For a plane, and the shape operator vanishes. Reversing the unit normal negates the shape operator and both principal curvatures; the Gaussian curvature remains unchanged while the mean curvature changes sign, as in orientation reversal of surface curvature.
For any field , a projective linear group element is uniquely determined by its images of three distinct points of the projective line, and any ordered distinct target triple is attainable. Given representatives forming a basis and , the matrix with columns sends to . Distinctness forces . The matrices realizing one projective map differ by a nonzero scalar; over there are such matrices.
Simple coroot 2026-10-05
For chosen simple roots, the corresponding coroots are the simple coroots. They form the simple system of the dual root system. The fundamental weights are defined by , so pairings with simple coroots record coordinates in the fundamental-weight basis.
Simultaneous triangularization of a Lie algebra representation Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-07
A Lie algebra representation is simultaneously upper triangular precisely when it preserves a complete flag, with . A basis adapted to the invariant flag makes every representing matrix upper triangular. For a complex finite-dimensional representation of a solvable Lie algebra, the Lie theorem provides a common eigenvector; iteration on the quotient representations constructs the flag.
For a positively oriented basis , put . The center of an interior sphere at distance from each of the three tetrahedron face planes through the origin has the displayed expression. The three inward unit vectors are the normalized cross products , , . Taking inner products with these vectors solves three independent signed-distance equations. Reversing some signs instead produces centers on exterior sides. Existence of a sphere contained in the full tetrahedron also requires clearance from the fourth face.
A squarefree polynomial discriminant does not ensure that the polynomial defines a field of its stated degree. For example, has discriminant five. Its roots have degrees one or two, so no root generates a cubic number field. In particular cannot be a field basis for any of its roots. The squarefree discriminant certifies an integral basis argument assumes that the polynomial is the minimal polynomial: then the discriminant of its power basis is the field discriminant times the square of the order index. For a reducible squarefree polynomial the analogous rank belongs instead to its quotient algebra, which is a product of fields, not to one root field.
Choose of the basis vectors and require their images in the quotient to be a basis. Normalize those columns to the identity; the remaining entries are arbitrary affine coordinates. Between column sets , the overlap is the principal open subset where is a unit, and the new normalized matrix is . These matrix transformations satisfy the cocycle identity. Locally every surjective matrix has an invertible maximal minor, so the charts cover all rank- locally free quotients. The normalized matrices glue the universal quotient and give the natural identification with its functor of points.
// Target: ringed-space.bigb
Standard basis Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
The standard basis of the vector space consists of the vectors whose th coordinate is one and whose other coordinates are zero. Every vector has the unique expression in this basis.
Standard Young tableau Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-07
A standard Young tableau fills a Young diagram bijectively with , increasing along rows and down columns. The cells occupied by the first entries form a diagram, so a tableau is equivalently a path formed by adjoining one addable node of a Young diagram at each step. The number of standard tableaux of shape is the dimension of the complex Specht module .