Jacobi sign test for supercharge components Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
Let , with numerical coefficient matrices and . The Jacobi identity then gives , so component coefficient matrices obey the opposite bracket to state-representation matrices. Thus is consistent for an upper-column spinor, whereas in that same component prescription is not. Inverse adjoint actions and dual row conventions must be compared with their index contractions intact.
Writing a transformation as with the odd parameter on the left defines this graded derivation convention. For Yang-Mills fields, , , , and . The Jacobi identity supplies nilpotence; the placement of the odd parameter controls signs in a Noether current.
Lie algebra Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A Lie algebra over a field is a vector space with a bilinear map , called the Lie bracket, that is alternating and satisfies the Jacobi identity. Explicitly, for all ,
This definition applies in every characteristic of a field, including characteristic two; the distinction between an Alternating Lie bracket and antisymmetry of a Lie bracket matters there. See Pavel Etingof, Lie Groups and Lie Algebras, Definition 8.4 and Remark 8.5.
The motivating question is how to describe very small symmetries. For a real Matrix Lie group , the Lie algebra of a matrix Lie group is its tangent space at the identity element. An element specifies the initial velocity of the one-parameter subgroup , using the matrix exponential. The Lie bracket records the first nonzero effect of changing the order of two small transformations. Even when first-order motions cancel, a second-order motion can remain: the small rotation commutator below leaves a rotation about a third axis.
This turns local symmetry questions into computations with linear maps. A basis and its structure constants of a Lie algebra determine every Lie bracket by bilinearity. For example, three matrices suffice for the sl2 matrix commutator example, while the familiar cross product describes the SO(3) Lie algebra. These descriptions help calculate rotations in three dimensions and build Lie algebra representations; the same bracket structure underlies angular momentum commutation relations. The striking feature is that a nonlinear family of motions has a local description by a vector space and one product. Global information still needs care: the Lie algebra alone does not distinguish the circle group from the additive real line.
Historically, the connection with differential equations is visible in Sophus Lie's Theorie der Transformationsgruppen, volume I (1888), prepared with Friedrich Engel. Chapter 6 interprets first-order differential operators as infinitesimal transformations, linking their action on functions to the transformations those functions admit. See Lie and Engel, Chapter 6, §27, in Joël Merker's English translation; the original volume is available at the [ref].
Lie bracket Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
The Lie bracket is the product in a Lie algebra: a bilinear map with an Alternating Lie bracket and the Jacobi identity. Bilinearity means, for ,
Unlike matrix multiplication, a Lie bracket need not satisfy associativity. In the sl2 matrix commutator example, but . The replacement compatibility law is the Jacobi identity, which makes bracketing with a fixed element a derivation of a Lie algebra.
For Matrix Lie groups, the Lie bracket is the matrix commutator on their tangent space. For the cross-product Lie algebra, it is . Both products measure a failure of infinitesimal motions to commute. In a real Lie group, a zero Lie bracket means that the two corresponding one-parameter subgroups commute for all real parameters.
In a local exponential chart, the mixed second differential of the group commutator defines a bilinear map on the tangent space at the identity. Inversion after swapping the two group elements proves antisymmetry. Differentiating conjugation gives ; applying naturality of the Lie bracket to the Adjoint representation of a Lie group then proves the Jacobi identity. For a matrix group this recovers by expanding through the mixed term.
Lie-Poisson bracket Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
The dual space of a finite-dimensional Lie algebra has this canonical Poisson bracket. For a basis , linear coordinates give . The Lie algebra's Jacobi identity is precisely the coordinate Jacobi condition for a Poisson bivector. This construction is intrinsic on the dual space; writing the same formula in an arbitrary manifold chart does not by itself provide a compatible global atlas.
Loop algebra 2026-10-14
The algebraic loop algebra of a Lie algebra over a field consists of finite Laurent polynomials with coefficients in . Its Lie bracket is , extended bilinearly. Alternation and the Jacobi identity follow from those of , since the Laurent polynomial ring is commutative. Appropriate smooth or formal completions give other loop-algebra variants; the affine current algebra adds a central extension to these Fourier modes. For the affine extension, see Kac and Wakimoto, Section 0.2.
A uniform magnetic field defines a constant Poisson bivector on momentum space by the displayed components. For the Hamiltonian and convention , it gives . Constancy makes every term in the coordinate Jacobi identity vanish. If , the symplectic leaves are the planes , and energy is conserved along the flow. The whole three-dimensional momentum space is not symplectic, and an energy surface need not itself be a Poisson submanifold.
Use the Levi-Civita connection of the Riemannian metric and fix the convention
The Leibniz rule shows that this expression is linear over smooth functions in all three arguments: the differentiated coefficient terms in the first two derivatives cancel those in the bracket term. Thus is a section of , the Riemann curvature tensor, and is a covariant tensor field. This convention gives positive sectional curvature on the round sphere.
Its algebraic symmetries are
The first identity follows immediately from the definition. For the second, apply to and use compatibility of the Levi-Civita connection with the Riemannian metric. The left side is zero and the differentiated terms combine to
For the first Bianchi identity, use normal coordinates at a point , so the Christoffel symbols vanish there. Torsion-freeness gives , and
The cyclic sum over cancels term by term. Since this is a tensor identity, it holds for arbitrary tangent vectors everywhere.
To prove pair interchange rather than assume it, abbreviate to and put , . The first Bianchi identity and the two antisymmetries give
The first Bianchi identity applied to with final argument gives . Hence , proving .
There is also the differential second Bianchi identity,
For its proof take commuting coordinate fields, normal at . The Jacobi identity for operator commutators says . On these commuting fields, ; at , the covariant derivatives of the coordinate arguments vanish. The commutator identity is therefore the displayed covariant derivative identity at , and tensoriality establishes it everywhere.
For a two-dimensional plane , define the sectional curvature by
The denominator is the squared area of . Under an invertible change of plane basis, the alternating pairs in the numerator and the area in the denominator both acquire the square of the change-of-basis determinant. Thus the quotient depends only on . For an orthonormal basis of , it is simply .
The Ricci curvature is the trace
where is any orthonormal basis of . This is independent of the basis because it is a trace. Applying the first Bianchi identity to and pairing with proves that the summand difference for vanishes; the middle term is zero by the last-pair antisymmetry. Hence Ricci curvature is a symmetric bilinear form. For a unit vector extended to an orthonormal basis,
For nonzero , take and multiply the right side by . This determines the entire Ricci curvature by the polarization identity:
Finally, the scalar curvature is the metric trace of Ricci curvature. Taking its diagonal entries in an orthonormal basis and pairing the equal contributions from and yields
In particular, constant sectional curvature gives and . In dimension one the traces are zero; there are no two-dimensional tangent planes and the sums are empty.
Choose a basis of the Lie algebra and filter its universal enveloping algebra by word length: and is spanned by products of at most basis elements. The relations replace a degree-two commutator by degree one, so the degree-one symbols commute.
The Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt theorem says the ordered monomials are a basis. Its relevant proof can be seen by reordering an inverted neighboring pair using the displayed relation. Reordering terminates because same-length terms have fewer inversions and bracket terms have smaller word length. Disjoint swaps commute; the only overlapping three-letter reorderings differ by . The Jacobi identity therefore makes the reduced ordered expression independent of the reordering path. Ordered monomials have no remaining relations and form the basis. Their degree- symbols give
For generators of the finitely generated module , put . This is a good filtration, and is finite over the three-variable polynomial ring. Define the dimension of a filtered module as the Krull dimension of its associated graded module, equivalently the degree of the eventual cumulative polynomial , or the Gelfand–Kirillov dimension of a module. Two good filtrations have bounded shifts, so the growth degree is independent of the generators. Since
its polynomial degree is at most three. Therefore every nonzero finitely generated -module has dimension at most . The zero module may be assigned the usual separate empty-support convention. This bound also follows immediately from its support of a module inside affine three-space.
The displayed matrices describe the orientation-preserving component of the full Euclidean group . Both have the same Lie algebra, so this naming convention does not affect the calculation. Choose the translation generators and rotation generator in the Lie algebra of this Matrix Lie group as
Taking matrix commutators gives
All remaining brackets follow from antisymmetry. The corresponding left-invariant vector fields in coordinates are
Their Lie brackets of vector fields obey the same relations. This also fixes which sign of the rotation generator is being used.
There is an important qualification to the printed connection prescription. For an arbitrary vector field and smooth function , its literal right-hand side obeys
An affine connection instead requires . Thus the formula for arbitrary defines a connection only when . For example, at , take , and : the erroneous formula gives , whereas the Leibniz rule requires .
The intended one-parameter family is the bracket connection on a Lie group: prescribe the rule for left-invariant , then extend it by the Leibniz rule. If , this means
Extend linearly over functions in the first slot. This is a well-defined affine connection for every real . The following Ricci tensor calculation applies to this intended family; under the literal arbitrary- reading only its member exists.
Use the curvature convention
For left-invariant vector fields the structure constants of a Lie algebra are constant. The Jacobi identity gives
Writing , the only nonzero curvature actions, apart from antisymmetry in the first two slots, are
For instance, . Contracting the first and output slots gives , while every other component vanishes. Equivalently, , so
This is the Killing form. Here rotates the two-dimensional translation space and vanishes on , so ; translation generators give all other components zero. Therefore
Since the coframe component dual to is , the same Ricci tensor is in these coordinates. Reversing the curvature convention reverses this sign.
At both and , the full curvature vanishes. At , the left-invariant vector fields form a global parallel frame. At , every right-invariant vector field is parallel because left- and right-invariant vector fields commute; the connection is flat in that global parallel frame. Flatness does not imply zero torsion: for left-invariant arguments the torsion tensor is
Thus the two endpoint connections are flat, with opposite nonzero torsion. For comparison, is torsion-free but has nonzero curvature, with . No metric has been specified, so these connections should not automatically be identified with a Levi-Civita connection.
For a Cartan-Weyl basis, the Jacobi identity gives
Thus the bracket has joint Cartan weight . If , it belongs to the zero-weight space, which is the Cartan subalgebra, and so is a linear combination . If is a nonzero root, its root space is one-dimensional and the bracket is proportional to . If that nonzero sum is not a root, the bracket vanishes. This proves the asserted forms without assuming every pair of roots has a root sum.
With the stated normalization, put . The commutators become
The adjoint relations make , , the usual SU(2) Lie algebra generators. Hence every finite-dimensional SU(2) irreducible component has eigenvalues , with an integer. Therefore has integer eigenvalues , including in the finite-dimensional Adjoint representation. Algebraically this is the sl2 subalgebra associated with a root.
If , another use of the Jacobi identity gives
The bracket is therefore zero or lies in the eigenvalue- space. Within one irreducible SU(2) ladder it is proportional to the next chosen vector . If the full eigenspace has multiplicity, the weight statement is the general one; proportionality to one named vector presupposes the ladder choice. Similarly lowers this eigenvalue by two, and the ladder weights run from to in steps of two.
For a root vector , its weight is
The adjoint SU(2) ladder therefore proves
For nonparallel , raising and lowering move its joint Cartan weight through the root string . The finite irreducible ladder has weights symmetric about zero. Starting at , reaching its partner requires . The corresponding nonzero vector lies in the root space of , proving the Weyl reflection property:
There is no zero joint root in this string when are nonparallel. Its one-dimensional root spaces prevent two irreducible ladders with the same weight parity from overlapping, so the ladder argument applies to the entire string. For , reflection simply interchanges the two opposite roots, which already exist by the adjoint relation.
For angle and length restrictions, set and . These Cartan integers have the same sign when nonzero and obey
For nonparallel, nonorthogonal roots, is an integer strictly between zero and four. The possibilities are consequently:
  • : , equal lengths, and or .
  • : , squared-length ratio or , and or .
  • : , squared-length ratio or , and or .
Orthogonal roots have and . Parallel roots have ; the integer pairs would allow only length multiples . The stated reducedness condition excludes the latter two, so parallel roots are equal or opposite, with angles zero or and equal lengths. Thus
Not every root system realizes every listed angle.
The orthogonal pair alone gives no ratio through . To finish the length restriction for a simple Lie algebra, use irreducibility of its root system. Let span the Weyl group orbit of . Both and are invariant under the orthogonal root reflections. If a root had nonzero projections in both, reflection of its projection in would have a nonzero component, violating invariance. Hence every root is entirely in one of these subspaces. A proper nonzero would split the root system into two orthogonal parts, contradicting irreducibility. This proves that the Weyl orbit spans an irreducible root space.
In particular, some orbit root is nonorthogonal to any chosen , and . Applying the previous integer-pair restriction to therefore also handles orthogonal :
There can be at most two different root lengths: three lengths would have ratios two and three relative to the shortest, but then the longest-to-middle squared-length ratio would be , which is forbidden. A reducible collection of orthogonal rank-one factors could have independently chosen scales; the simple-algebra assumption excludes that exception.
Choose a generic linear functional to define positive roots. The simple roots are those positive roots which cannot be written as sums of two positive roots; they form a basis in which all root coefficients are integers of one sign. Distinct simple roots have nonpositive inner product: if their inner product were positive, their root string would contain their difference, and whichever difference is positive would decompose one of them. In rank two, irreducibility excludes the orthogonal case. The allowed simple-root angles are therefore , giving the three irreducible diagrams in the classification of rank-two root systems: A2 root system, B2 root system and G2 root system. Reflections in the two simple roots generate their respective six, eight and twelve roots.
Here are explicit simple-root choices and positive roots; adding their negatives gives each complete diagram.
  • For A2 root system, take and . The positive roots are ; all have squared length one.
  • For B2 root system, take the long and short . The positive roots are . These give the four axis roots and four diagonal roots, with squared lengths one and two. The rank-two Lie algebra is isomorphic to this one; changing the long/short ordering changes its Cartan presentation.
  • For G2 root system, take short and long . The positive roots are . They give two hexagons rotated by , with squared lengths one and three.
The nonnegative coefficients in each positive-root list verify the chosen simple roots explicitly. The orthogonal four-root system is rank two but reducible, so it is not a diagram for the simple algebra assumed here.
Define the Cartan matrix in the column-coroot convention:
Using the ordered roots above gives
The alternative row-coroot convention transposes these matrices. Stating the convention and root ordering avoids a spurious disagreement in the unequal-length cases.
Figure 1.
The irreducible rank-two root systems A2, B2 and G2, with long and short roots and explicit ordered simple roots highlighted
. Details.
The Adjoint representation of a Lie algebra acts on the algebra itself: . In the basis , its matrices are
For any algebra element , the Jacobi identity gives
Therefore the matrices satisfy the same Lie bracket relations:
This construction does not require that the algebra be simple or that the adjoint action be faithful.
For the field calculation, write and . In the derivative-plus-connection convention the Yang-Mills field strength is
The sign of the parameter here is the negative of the matter-field parameter in the usual gauge transformation in the derivative-plus-connection convention. Work with the stated throughout. Expanding the variation gives
The second derivatives cancel by commutativity of partial derivatives, and all remaining derivatives of cancel by antisymmetry of the Lie bracket. The Jacobi identity makes the last two terms . Hence
Unlike the connection, the curvature has no inhomogeneous derivative term: it transforms in the Adjoint representation.
The quadratic form is the Killing form. Its symmetry follows from cyclicity of the matrix trace. Using the just-proved adjoint commutators,
Thus
Equivalently, each adjoint generator is skew with respect to this invariant bilinear form. This invariance holds even when the Killing form is degenerate; no inverse form is needed here.
The spacetime metric used to raise Lorentz indices is unaffected by the internal gauge transformation. Since , invariance gives
Therefore the Killing-form contraction of the field strengths is gauge invariant, as required for the internal contraction in a Yang-Mills action.
Use the index convention . For the left- and right-invariant coframes, the Maurer-Cartan equations are
Their dual invariant vector fields satisfy
For example, evaluating on two dual fields gives , since its invariant coefficient functions are constant. The opposite right-invariant bracket gives the other sign. The mixed bracket vanishes because left and right translations commute.
For a semisimple Lie algebra, the Killing form is nondegenerate. It is adjoint invariant: using and cyclicity of trace gives
Group conjugation preserves the trace as well, so this is invariant under the full group adjoint action. Translation supplies a bi-invariant pseudo-Riemannian metric.
Lower the indicated structure index by . Then
This changes sign under exchange of by the bracket and under exchange of by invariance. Hence .
Let at the identity and extend it as a left-invariant differential form. Its value is adjoint invariant, so the extended form is also right-invariant. The three-form in the question is with the index-lowering convention just specified, an irrelevant overall sign for these properties. To prove closedness rather than only invariance, apply the exterior derivative on four left-invariant fields. Its six bracket terms combine by invariance into
The final equality is the Jacobi identity. Therefore the Cartan three-form
is both bi-invariant and closed.
Define the raw Killing form by
For a finite-dimensional real or complex Lie algebra in characteristic zero, it is nondegenerate exactly when the algebra is a semisimple Lie algebra. For a real compact semisimple algebra it is negative definite. Consequently the positive compact Killing metric is : for example on with , and gives a Riemannian metric on . An overall minus sign in the term “Killing metric” is common here; raw trace itself is negative definite in this example.
For a Lorentzian metric use with , , . Direct traces give
whose metric signature is . For a non-Abelian degenerate example, the three-dimensional Heisenberg Lie algebra has central. Every product of two adjoint maps is zero, so .
For any adjoint-invariant nondegenerate metric on a Lie group, the Koszul formula on left-invariant fields simplifies to
Take . The Jacobi identity gives
Taking the trace of yields
Thus the metric is a Killing-form Einstein metric with Einstein constant . With the same connection has constant . This proves the Einstein manifold assertion for every semisimple group, including products when the unscaled Killing form is used on all factors.
There is also a different, flat metric-preserving connection. Declare the global left-invariant frame parallel:
Its curvature is zero because applying two derivatives to coefficient functions and subtracting their commutator gives zero. Its metric derivative vanishes since is constant in this frame. Its torsion tensor on invariant fields is
For each fixed , antisymmetry gives , so this is the matrix of . The torsion contractions of a left-parallel Lie-group connection therefore are
The zero trace follows because a semisimple algebra is perfect: every element is a sum of brackets, and the adjoint of a bracket is a matrix commutator with zero trace. If the metric convention is , the second contraction is . These flat translation connections on a Lie group are not the torsion-free Levi-Civita connection; nonzero torsion permits flatness alongside the curved Killing metric.
A Poisson manifold has a skew bilinear bracket on smooth functions which is a derivation in each argument and satisfies the Jacobi identity. Locally a Poisson bivector represents it by
The derivation property is automatic for this expression. On applying the Jacobi identity to coordinate functions, and then using the derivation property for arbitrary functions, the necessary and sufficient condition is
Equivalently its Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket vanishes.
A symplectic manifold has a closed nondegenerate two-form . Write its coefficient matrix as and set . It is skew and defines the bracket above. Differentiating gives . Substitution into the Jacobi condition gives
where the last equality is . Thus every symplectic manifold is Poisson. In this convention the Hamiltonian vector field satisfies , and ; this will also be the convention below.
The converse fails because a Poisson bivector need not be invertible. On , take . Its bracket is identically zero and satisfies every Poisson axiom, but it cannot be the inverse of any nondegenerate two-form. This is an even-dimensional counterexample, so odd dimension is not the only obstruction.
The Killing form is the bilinear form
The Adjoint representation is linear, giving bilinearity, and the cyclic property of trace gives symmetry. To prove invariance, abbreviate the adjoint matrices of by . The Jacobi identity gives , and cyclic trace then gives
Thus , equivalently . This is infinitesimal invariance of the Killing form, with no choice of basis affecting the trace.