Semistable infinite chain from a toric fan 2026-10-14
Take rays and cones generated by consecutive rays in . Their dual generators and give , . Adjacent charts glue by , . The fibre is a chain of projective lines: each component has two affine-line charts joined by reciprocal coordinates, and consecutive components meet at one node. Inverting identifies all charts with the multiplicative group scheme over . The local node algebra is free over , with basis for , so the morphism is flat.
// Target: toric-geometry.bigb
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 areThe 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 givesEvery 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]
https://sites.math.washington.edu/~burke/crs/554/lectures/b-lecture4.pdf. Burke, Linear Analysis, Lecture 4, coordinate expansion for sesquilinear forms
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 satisfyThus 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 mapHere 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]
https://ghomi.math.gatech.edu/Classes/Math497C/LectureNotes9.pdf. Ghomi, Lecture Notes 9, §2.2: Gauss map and shape operator
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, writeThe 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 satisfiesChanging 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.
Sharp three-transitivity 2026-10-14
If , every vector splits as in . On these summands is respectively zero and the identity. Its matrix in an adapted basis is therefore , where is its rank of a linear map. Two idempotent linear maps on the same finite-dimensional vector space are similar matrices exactly when their ranks agree.
Similarity transformation Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A similarity transformation replaces a square matrix by a similar matrix. With the change-of-basis matrix convention , it sends to : reconstruct the input in old coordinates, apply , then extract the output's new coordinates. These three operations explain the order of the factors.
The equivalent formula uses as the conversion from old to new coordinates, reversing the role assigned to above. For the opening example's numerical , this opposite conversion gives . If the old basis is , the new basis vectors in that convention are the columns of , namely and . Both formulas are similarity transformations; the direction of the coordinate conversion decides which one describes a specified basis.
An especially useful form is the intertwining operator equationIt says that applying before reconstruction by gives the same physical output as reconstructing first and applying . Given an invertible matrix , multiplying this equation by proves matrix similarity. Without invertibility, the equation alone does not prove matrix similarity.
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 2026-10-14
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.
sl2 matrix commutator example 2026-10-14
Over a field , the trace-zero matrices form the special linear Lie algebra . The matrix trace of a commutator is zero, so this is a Lie subalgebra of the general linear Lie algebra. A basis isIn fact , uniquely. The individual products areSubtracting in the stated order givesFor characteristic different from two, this is the standard sl2 triple; see Etingof, Section 11.4. The products remain valid in characteristic two, but there is central and , so the familiar characteristic zero structure changes.
The following table gives all nine basis brackets. Each entry is ; the diagonal vanishes by alternation, and exchanging row and column reverses the sign.
Bilinearity now computes any commutator, for exampleThe three structure constants of a Lie algebra relations encode all of this multiplication. They also show why the sl2 triple is useful in Lie algebra representations: the actions of and move between eigenvalues of the action of in steps of two.
Sphere center from three tetrahedron face distances Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
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.
Spline quasi-interpolation 2026-10-14
A spline quasi-interpolant synthesizes a B-spline expansion from local bounded linear functionals, instead of solving a global interpolation system. Suppose each functional is bounded by and the operator reproduces every spline. On a knot cell , only indices contribute. Their supports lie in , and subpartition of unity for B-splines proves local operator norm at most . Reproduction of degree- polynomials and a local Taylor theorem remainder then give error at most , on the basic knot domain with the usual completed boundary basis.
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.
Square matrix Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
A matrix with the same number of rows and columns represents an endomorphism of a finite-dimensional vector space after choosing a basis. Square matrices support trace, determinant, powers and the matrix exponential.
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
