Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 1 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Use the derived series of a Lie algebraA solvable Lie algebra has for some . For a two-dimensional algebra with basis , alternating bilinearity shows that is contained in the line spanned by . A one-dimensional Lie algebra is abelian, so . Every two-dimensional complex Lie algebra is solvable, with derived length at most two. This dimension argument actually works over any field with the alternating definition of a Lie bracket.
There is a genuine qualification in the last request: the assertion about all Irreducible Lie algebra representations is true for finite-dimensional representations. Without that restriction, the infinite-dimensional simple module for the two-dimensional affine Lie algebra is a counterexample. Take , with , and let it act on byThen , so this is a Lie algebra representation. Any nonzero submodule is stable under multiplication by , hence is an ideal . Stability under implies . The two polynomials have the same degree; their leading coefficients also agree, so . In characteristic zero this forces to be constant. Thus is infinite-dimensional and irreducible, while is solvable. The literal unrestricted assertion is false.
Here is a proof of the intended finite-dimensional assertion, including the essential Lie theorem argument. We prove that a nonzero finite-dimensional representation of a complex solvable algebra has a common eigenvector, by induction on . If , any nonzero vector works. Otherwise ; choose a hyperplane containing . It is a solvable ideal, and . Induction gives and with for all . Write and suppress on elements of .
Let and let be the first index for which lies in the span of . The space is -invariant. Repeatedly using and proves inductively thatThus is -invariant, and every has constant diagonal in this basis. The trace of a commutator is zero, soSince we work over , for all . Therefore the nonzero simultaneous eigenspaceis -invariant: . A complex linear operator on a nonzero finite-dimensional space has an eigenvector. An eigenvector of is consequently a common eigenvector for .
Its span is a one-dimensional submodule. If is irreducible, that span must be all of . Hence every finite-dimensional irreducible representation of a finite-dimensional complex solvable Lie algebra has dimension one. Conversely a one-dimensional representation is given by a linear functional on , because every commutator acts by zero. Passing repeatedly to quotients also gives the simultaneous triangularization of a Lie algebra representation. Neither the eigenvector step nor the trace argument extends to the infinite-dimensional counterexample above.