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A Dynkin diagram has one vertex for each simple root. Vertices $i,j$ are joined by $a_{ij}{a}_{ji}$ bonds, where $a_{ij}$ are the off-diagonal Cartan integers. No bond means orthogonality; one, two and three bonds mean angles $2\pi /3,3\pi /4,5\pi /6$. A multiple-bond arrow points to the shorter root. Thus the Dynkin diagram determines the Cartan matrix, including the relative lengths inside each connected component.

An irreducible root system corresponds to a connected Dynkin diagram. The classification of finite crystallographic Dynkin diagrams givesHere $C_2$ is already represented by $B_2$, and $B_1,C_1$ by $A_1$. General systems are orthogonal direct sums of these, with separate component scales. The following diagrams specify all the types; dots denote a continued chain, not additional vertices.

For orientation, the An Dynkin diagram is a single chain, the Bn Dynkin diagram has a terminal double bond pointing to its terminal short root, and the Cn Dynkin diagram reverses that arrow. The Dn Dynkin diagram has arm lengths $1,1,l-3$. The En Dynkin diagram has arm lengths $1,2,2$; $1,2,3$; or $1,2,4$. The F4 Dynkin diagram has a central double bond and the G2 Dynkin diagram a triple bond.

The positivity behind this finite list is the positive-definite Gram matrix of the simple roots. In particular the underlying graph is a tree: if it contained a cycle, the sum of its normalized roots would have squared norm at most zero, since each bonded inner product is at most $-1/2$. This contradicts linear independence. Restricting the possible bonds and branches by positive definiteness gives precisely the listed chains and trees. Conversely their Cartan matrices are positive definite after symmetrization and their reflection-generated root sets give the indicated finite root systems.

Here root systems are finite, reduced and crystallographic, as for complex semisimple Lie algebras. For a base of a root system $\Delta =\{{\alpha }_1,\dots ,{\alpha }_r\}$, the Dynkin diagram has one vertex for each simple root. Two distinct vertices have $a_{ij}{a}_{ji}$ bonds, with the arrow on a multiple bond pointing toward the shorter root. The classification of finite crystallographic Dynkin diagrams consists of the following connected diagrams; the integers describing arms count vertices away from the unique branching vertex.

This is classification up to diagram isomorphism and overall rescaling of the root system. It includes the conventional identifications $D_3\cong A_3$ and $B_1\cong A_1$ when those low-rank notations are used. The weighting here encodes root lengths and bonds; it is not the separate theory of vertex labels attached to nilpotent orbits. Dropping the crystallographic or reduced hypothesis changes the classification.

Precisely, a base of a root system is a vector-space basis $\Delta \subset \Phi$ such that each root has a unique expansion $\beta ={\sum }_i{n}_i{\alpha }_i$, with integer coefficients all nonnegative or all nonpositive. This defines the positive and negative roots. We use the column-coroot convention for the Cartan matrix:Some conventions transpose this matrix; specifying which index labels the coroot resolves that difference. The Weyl group is the subgroup of orthogonal transformations generated by the Weyl reflections

For the C3 root system, take an orthonormal basis $e_1,e_2,e_3$ of ${\mathbb{R}}^3$ andThere are six long roots of squared length $4$ and twelve short roots of squared length $2$. A base is ${\alpha }_1=e_1-e_2$, ${\alpha }_2=e_2-e_3$, ${\alpha }_3=2e_3$. The Cartan matrix convention for C3 above givesThus the double bond connects ${\alpha }_2$ to ${\alpha }_3$, with its arrow directed toward ${\alpha }_2$.

An explicit complex Lie algebra realizing this root system is the symplectic Lie algebraIt is closed under commutators, since the two identities $X^{T}J=-JX$, $Y^{T}J=-JY$ imply $[X,Y{]}^{T}J=-J[X,Y]$. Equivalently,so its dimension is $9+6+6=21$. A Cartan subalgebra isWith $E_{ab}$ denoting a matrix unit, the root spaces have generators $E_{ij}-E_{3+j,3+i}$ for $e_i-e_j$ ($i\ne j$), $E_{i,3+j}+E_{j,3+i}$ for $e_i+e_j$ ($i<j$), and $E_{i,3+i}$ for $2e_i$; the analogous lower-left generators give the negative roots. These are all eighteen root spaces, each one-dimensional, and together with $H$ they exhaust the algebra.

For an explicit semisimplicity check, let $I\ne 0$ be an ideal. Simultaneous diagonalization of $\mathrm{ad}H$ makes $I$ a sum of its intersections with $H$ and these root spaces. If it contains a nonzero $h\in H$, some root has $\alpha (h)\ne 0$, and $[h,L_{\alpha }]$ supplies a root vector in $I$. Thus $I$ always contains a root vector. Bracket it with its opposite root vector to obtain a nonzero coroot $h_{\alpha }\in I$. Whenever $(\alpha ,\beta )\ne 0$, bracketing $h_{\alpha }$ with either $L_{\beta }$ or $L_{-\beta }$ puts both root spaces into $I$. The graph of the roots with edges for nonzero inner products is connected: $2e_i$ connects to $e_i+e_j$, which connects to $2e_j$, and every short root connects to an axis root. Repeating the argument yields all root spaces and then all of $H$ from their brackets. Hence $I=L$: the constructed algebra is simple, and therefore semisimple.

The reflections in $e_1-e_2$ and $e_2-e_3$ exchange adjacent coordinates, while reflection in $2e_3$ changes the sign of the third coordinate. They generate every signed permutation. Conversely reflection in any displayed root is a signed permutation. ThusThe reflecting hyperplanes are $x_i=0$ and $x_i=\pm x_j$. A fundamental open Weyl chamber is $x_1>x_2>x_3>0$. Every regular point has three nonzero coordinates of distinct absolute values; its signs and the ordering of those absolute values specify exactly one of the $2^3\cdot 3!=48$ chambers. The closure of this chamber is generated by the rays through $(1,0,0)$, $(1,1,0)$ and $(1,1,1)$. This is the Weyl chamber geometry of C3.

The left panel retains the actual long and short root lengths. The right panel radially projects a hemisphere of the unit sphere, draws every visible reflecting great-circle arc, and highlights the chamber $x_1>x_2>x_3>0$. Each spherical triangle is the section of a three-dimensional chamber by the sphere; opposite triangles on the rear hemisphere supply the remaining chambers. Roots of a root system are normal to the chamber walls, rather than generally lying along their edges.