For a Matrix Lie group, the exponential map of a matrix Lie group is the convergent matrix exponential
Its domain is the Lie algebra , and for every real when . Because multiples of the same matrix commute, and . Thus take to obtain the image of a one-parameter subgroup.
Here is the precise classification of nontrivial one-parameter subgroups. For , the smooth group homomorphism has a closed kernel . A closed subgroup of is zero, for some , or all of . Indeed, if positive elements have infimum zero, their integer multiples approximate every real number, so closedness makes the subgroup all of ; otherwise the infimum is attained and is its least positive generator. The last possibility is excluded by . Give the image the quotient topology and smooth structure from . Its inclusion in is an injective immersion, since never vanishes. Consequently it is a Lie subgroup, with
In the periodic case is also a parameter interval covering the image, with endpoints understood modulo .
Two qualifications matter. If , the image is the trivial group, a third possibility omitted by the wording “two”. Also, a general one-parameter subgroup need not be closed or embedded: an irrational winding in a two-torus is an example, where is a planar rotation. The classification uses the intrinsic immersed Lie subgroup structure, rather than assuming that the matrix subspace topology is the topology of .
For the real special linear group, differentiating at the identity shows that its Lie algebra consists of traceless matrices. Conversely for a traceless matrix. Hence
Choose the standard basis of the real sl2 Lie algebra,
Their squares have the required values. Direct matrix multiplication gives the Lie brackets
Writing , these specify all the nonzero Lie algebra structure constants: , , , together with their negatives on reversing the lower indices.
The three requested exponentials are
Thus the first two images are isomorphic to the additive real group, while the last is , the circle group. The PDF gives here; the local TeX's is a transcription error.
For a general generator, put . Direct multiplication gives . If , the eigenvalues give an unbounded exponential image. If but , it is a nilpotent linear map with exponential , again unbounded. If , the power series instead gives
with least positive period . Its image is a continuous image of a circle and is compact. Equivalently, is a real complex structure and is similar over to the rotation generator. Therefore the exact criterion for compact one-parameter subgroups of SL2R is
For a nonzero generator only the strict inequality remains.
A Lie group is a group that is also a smooth manifold, with differentiable multiplication and inversion. A Lie algebra is a vector space with a bilinear alternating Lie bracket satisfying the Jacobi identity.
For a Matrix Lie group , put . If , the matrix commutator again lies in : the group commutator lies in , and the coefficient of in its matrix logarithm is . Bilinearity and antisymmetry are immediate, while associativity of matrix multiplication gives the Jacobi identity. Thus , with the commutator bracket, is the Lie algebra of a matrix Lie group .
The special linear group is the inverse image of the regular value under the smooth determinant map, and multiplication and inversion are smooth. Differentiating shows that
The Cayley-Hamilton theorem applied to a trace-zero two-by-two matrix gives
The exponential map of a matrix Lie group is the matrix exponential
Since , its image lies in . Put . The identity sums the series explicitly. If , with ,
If , the trace is , while if , with ,
Hence
But has trace . It is therefore outside the image, so the exponential map is not surjective.