Write . The generalized eigenspace decomposition of the linear map is
for any sufficiently large . Because is a derivation, the generalized-eigenspace bracket lemma gives
Consequently is a Lie subalgebra.
The set is the normalizer of a Lie subalgebra . Certainly . Conversely, if , then gives
On the direct sum of the nonzero generalized eigenspaces, is invertible. Hence the nonzero-eigenvalue component of vanishes, and
Now let be a Lie subalgebra containing . Since , the subspace is -invariant. The generalized zero eigenspace of the induced map on is the image of , hence is zero. If , then , so lies in that zero eigenspace. Thus and
A nilpotent Lie algebra is one whose lower central series
eventually reaches zero. Suppose is nilpotent and . Choose the least for which . Then , and any
satisfies . Therefore , proving the normalizer condition for a nilpotent Lie algebra
It remains to prove the converse needed here. The Engel lemma states that if a finite-dimensional Lie algebra of linear maps consists of nilpotent maps, then the maps have a common nonzero vector in their kernels. To prove it, induct on the dimension of the algebra. For a maximal proper subalgebra , induction applied to the action of on produces with . Thus is an ideal of codimension one. Induction also gives a nonzero common kernel
The ideal property makes invariant under ; a nilpotent representative of a basis of has a nonzero kernel on , yielding a vector killed by all of .
Apply the lemma to the Adjoint representation. It produces a nonzero element of the center of a Lie algebra. Induction on , followed by passage to the quotient by this center, proves Engel theorem: if every is nilpotent, then is nilpotent. The hypothesis says exactly that every is nilpotent, so
The radical of a bilinear form of the Killing form is the ideal of a Lie algebra . It is zero for a complex semisimple Lie algebra. Every element of the center of a Lie algebra lies in this radical.
Ricci curvature of a bi-invariant Riemannian metric Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
For a bi-invariant Riemannian metric on a Lie group, the induced inner product on its Lie algebra makes every adjoint operator skew-adjoint. The Levi-Civita connection of a bi-invariant metric gives . Thus for orthonormal , and
The nullspace of this quadratic form is exactly the center of a Lie algebra. A zero center therefore gives positive Ricci curvature, uniformly bounded below by a positive constant times the metric through left invariance and compactness of the unit sphere in the Lie algebra.
Each term is the preimage of the center of a Lie algebra after quotienting by the preceding term. Equivalently, . A Lie algebra is nilpotent exactly when this series reaches the whole algebra after finitely many steps. For the Heisenberg Lie algebra, the series is .