The dual of a Lie algebra representation on acts on its dual space by . The minus sign makes this a Lie algebra homomorphism: taking transposes reverses the order in a commutator. It is the infinitesimal version of the dual representation of a group.
Free Lie algebra 2026-10-14
The Lie algebra over a commutative ring generated by a set subject only to bilinearity, alternation and the Jacobi identity. Every map from to the underlying set of an -Lie algebra extends uniquely to a Lie algebra homomorphism. It can be constructed from bracketed words by quotienting by those identities; elements are represented by Lie polynomials.
For a connected simply connected source Lie group, every Lie algebra homomorphism integrates uniquely to a Lie group homomorphism. Along a path from the identity, transport its left logarithmic velocity by and solve the corresponding left-invariant differential equation in the target. The Maurer-Cartan equation and preservation of brackets make the endpoint invariant under fixed-endpoint homotopies. Simple connectedness removes path dependence, and path concatenation proves multiplicativity.
Lie algebra representation Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A representation of on a vector space is a Lie algebra homomorphism .
A linear map between Lie algebra representations is a representation homomorphism when it commutes with the action of every element. Its kernel and image of a linear map are invariant subspaces. This is a map of modules, distinct from a Lie algebra homomorphism between the acting algebras themselves.
Lie polynomial 2026-10-14
A finite linear combination of iterated Lie brackets in formal variables. It evaluates naturally in every Lie algebra, and every Lie algebra homomorphism preserves its evaluation. The homogeneous terms of the Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula are rational Lie polynomials; this permits the group law to be reconstructed from the bracket wherever the series converges.
A Lie algebra homomorphism always defines a local group homomorphism near the identities by the exponential charts:
for sufficiently small . Preservation of the BCH multiplication law makes this a local homomorphism. The issue is extending it consistently around all paths and periods in the source.
Suppose first that is connected and simply connected. For a piecewise smooth path from to , let
be its left logarithmic velocity. Solve in the differential equation
The equation exists throughout the finite path interval: bounded smooth body velocity gives a uniform local existence interval at the identity, and left translation repeatedly continues the solution. Define the proposed map by the endpoint .
Bracket preservation makes this endpoint invariant under fixed-endpoint homotopy. To see the mechanism, for a two-parameter path write and , using the Maurer-Cartan form rather than literal multiplication for nonmatrix groups. The Maurer-Cartan equation gives
After applying , the same identity holds for and . If , the transport equation implies
Both have zero initial value because the path starts at a fixed identity. Uniqueness gives . At the fixed endpoint, , hence . The endpoint is therefore unchanged by the homotopy. Simple connectedness then makes it independent of the chosen path.
For paths to and , concatenate the first with the left translate by of the second. Its transported endpoint is , because left logarithmic velocity is unchanged by left translation. It follows that . Near the identity, choose ; transport yields . Thus is smooth near the identity and, by translation, everywhere, and its differential is . The uniqueness argument from the root solution gives
This is integration of a Lie algebra homomorphism.
For a connected source that is not simply connected, first integrate on its universal cover . The resulting map descends exactly when
Indeed two lifts of one element differ by a kernel element, so this condition is both necessary and sufficient for their images to agree. It is the period obstruction to integration of a Lie algebra homomorphism. For , identify the Lie algebras with and take . The integrated map on the cover is , which respects the source period precisely when . Therefore half-scaling is a valid Lie algebra homomorphism but does not integrate to a circle homomorphism. If both groups are written as simply connected covers modulo central subgroups, the equivalent descent condition is that the integrated cover map send into .
For disconnected , first solve this problem on , obtaining . One must then assign images to representatives of the component group. These assignments must satisfy the conjugation and multiplication relations. Explicitly, with and for , the conditions are
When these can be solved, is a smooth global homomorphism. They may prevent existence or allow several extensions with the same differential. Thus a bracket-preserving linear map gives local data; global integration requires the source's periods and, when present, its component relations to be respected.
The proof of the linearity of a uniform pro-p group has three distinct steps: pass to a finite-dimensional Lie algebra, integrate a faithful representation on a sufficiently small open subgroup, and extend it to the entire group. Working first on a small subgroup is essential because a faithful Lie algebra representation need not send the original integral lattice into the convergence domain of the matrix exponential.
Let be a uniform pro-p group and let be its intrinsic powerful Lie lattice. Then
is a finite-dimensional Lie algebra over a field of characteristic zero. The Ado theorem, the classical Lie-theoretic ingredient in this proof, supplies a faithful finite-dimensional Lie algebra representation
One must use a faithful representation rather than just the Adjoint representation, which annihilates the center of a Lie algebra.
Choose a p-adic lattice . Since is finitely generated as a module, the entries of the representing matrices of a module basis have bounded denominators. Hence for sufficiently large ,
For odd , the matrix exponential and p-adic logarithm converge and are inverse between and . Put ; under the uniform pro-p group and powerful Lie lattice correspondence it is the BCH group on . Define
Here denotes the inverse of the intrinsic logarithm identification, not an assumed matrix representation of . The Lie algebra homomorphism respects the convergent Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula, so
Thus is a continuous group homomorphism. If , taking the matrix logarithm gives , whence . Therefore is faithful and all its matrices preserve . This proves linearity of the open normal subgroup .
To finish, use the extension of a faithful representation from an open normal subgroup. Choose representatives of the finite left cosets , where . On the finite free module , define the action of by writing uniquely
and mapping the -th block to the -th block by . If and , then ; this proves the representation identity because . Each block matrix is invertible over , and the map is continuous because the finite coset permutation is locally constant and the remaining matrix entries are obtained continuously from .
If , its permutation of moves the identity coset, so its block representation is not the identity. If and its block representation is the identity, the block corresponding to is , and faithfulness of gives . Thus this induced representation is faithful. Choosing a basis of proves
The continuous injection is a topological embedding, since is compact and the target is Hausdorff. The trivial group is immediate. For uniform groups at , the same proof uses the usual stronger powerfulness condition and the convergence ball instead; the preceding questions concern odd .
Use the degree-one convention implicit in this enveloping-algebra assertion: a degree-one almost commutative algebra has , a finite-dimensional containing which generates , and commutative associated graded ring. Taking the leading symbol of a commutator gives
in particular . Thus , equipped with , is a finite-dimensional Lie algebra. Bilinearity and antisymmetry are immediate, and expanding the three nested commutators proves the Jacobi identity.
Its inclusion into the associative algebra is a Lie algebra homomorphism. The universal enveloping algebra is modulo the relations . Sending the tensor generators to their elements of kills these relations and gives an algebra homomorphism . It is surjective because generates . Therefore
The vector is retained as a central Lie algebra generator and maps to the associative identity; its corresponding relation in the kernel is that generator minus . One should not first replace by , since commutators of generators can be nonzero scalars.
Terminology is important here. Merely requiring a commutative finitely generated associated graded ring for an arbitrary weighted filtration is a broader definition of almost commutative algebra; it does not supply the finite-dimensional bracket-closed first step used in this argument. The degree-one assumptions make the requested enveloping presentation precise. The Noetherianity in part (b) also follows directly under the broader finite-generation convention.
For a pro-p group, the lower p-series is the descending sequence of closed characteristic subgroups
The bar means closure of the subgroup generated by the displayed powers and group commutators. Throughout this question is odd. For a finitely generated powerful pro-p group, group commutator collection gives , each is powerful, and . All these subgroups are open. A uniform pro-p group is such a group with all subgroup indices equal to . We use the standard powerful-group torsion criterion: a finitely generated powerful pro-p group is uniform exactly when it is a torsion-free group. For a uniform group of generator number , the indices are , and is a homeomorphism from onto .
We record explicitly the collection facts used for the operations below. With , one has
The second statement is the power-congruence property: the th-power map is an isomorphism on adjacent uniform layers, and collection gives for . Thus the first nonzero layer of a difference moves down exactly one step under a th power. Iterating gives the asserted equivalence and also justifies taking roots of congruences. These facts follow from powerful-group group commutator collection, using divisibility by of and the successive-layer power isomorphisms; they are the uniform-group structure results being used here.
The transported addition on a uniform pro-p group is
The product is in and has a unique th root in . For the comparison at define . The numbered proofs below establish associativity, approximate commutativity and compatibility of these operations.
The intrinsic Lie algebra of a uniform pro-p group has underlying set , zero equal to the group identity, additive inverse , and operations
Here the group commutator is . For , is the limit of for integers ; the pro- topology makes it well defined. The addition sequence is Cauchy by the compatibility proved below. The group commutator estimate puts in , so its displayed root exists and lies in . Collection of group commutators shows that successive bracket approximants differ in layers tending to the identity, giving the other limit. The group commutator identities give additivity of the limiting bracket, and the Hall-Witt identity gives its Jacobi identity. Approximate commutativity makes limiting addition commutative. The resulting lattice is a free module over of rank , and .
A powerful Lie algebra over p-adic integers, in the convention relevant here, is a Lie algebra whose underlying module is finite free over and whose bracket satisfies . For the condition is instead . For odd , define multiplication on its underlying set by the convergent Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula
An iterated bracket of degree lies in . The BCH coefficient bound loses at most powers of , so all higher-degree terms are integral, and their valuations tend to infinity. This explains both convergence and why multiplying a lattice with small bracket stays inside the lattice. Formal associativity of BCH passes to the convergent series, the identity is , the inverse is , and every group power satisfies . The quotients by are finite p-groups. Hence the resulting compact group is a finitely generated torsion-free group and a pro-p group, and its group commutator lies in . Thus is a uniform pro-p group, with and successive index .
The standard uniform-group/Lie-lattice correspondence identifies these constructions as mutually inverse: and . To see why the inverse limits recover the lattice operations, the addition approximant for a BCH group is : its linear term is and every higher term tends to zero. Similarly its group commutator approximant has limiting term . In the other direction, a local logarithm in the complete normed group algebra identifies the intrinsic operations with algebra addition and commutator and identifies group multiplication with BCH; the uniform power maps extend the identification from a sufficiently small power subgroup to all of . Continuous group homomorphisms respect powers, unique roots and limits, while Lie algebra homomorphisms respect every BCH term, so the equivalence also preserves morphisms.
The correspondence concerns uniform pro-p groups and powerful Lie lattices, with their natural morphisms. Put for odd and for . A powerful pro-p group is a pro-p group whose closed commutator subgroup lies in its closed -power subgroup. It is uniform when it is topologically finitely generated and all successive indices in its lower p-series are equal. Equivalently, a finitely generated powerful pro-p group is uniform precisely when it is a torsion-free group. A powerful Lie algebra over p-adic integers means a Lie algebra over that is free of finite rank as a module and satisfies
Here a Lie algebra over a ring is a module with an alternating bilinear Lie bracket satisfying the Jacobi identity. Finite freeness is an essential part of the lattice convention. The zero-bracket module satisfies the bracket inclusion but has torsion, and its additive group is not uniform. Thus allowing arbitrary torsion modules would make the categorical assertion false.
The basic structural facts behind the construction can be seen from the power layers. Write with . Collection for a powerful pro-p group gives
For odd , the power lifting is exactly the successive-correction argument of Question 3, followed by compactness; at the stronger fourth-power commutator condition makes the corresponding collection corrections work. The maps between successive layers are surjective linear maps. Uniformity makes their finite dimensions equal, so these maps are isomorphisms. Comparing the first layer in which two elements differ now shows that the power map is injective, while the power-set formula makes it surjective. Thus all the roots used below exist uniquely in the indicated layer. If lift a basis of , the images of form a basis of . Successively choosing their coefficients modulo gives the unique ordered expression
Existence follows by lifting one layer at a time and taking a limit; uniqueness follows by comparing the first nonzero coefficient layer. In particular and these layers form a neighbourhood basis. These are the power-layer and coordinate facts needed in the proof, rather than an assumption that an arbitrary pro-p group has unique roots.
On the underlying set of , set the additive zero to , the additive negative of to , and define
The p-adic integers act through limits of integer powers in the closed cyclic subgroup generated by . In the second formula the product belongs to ; in the third the group commutator belongs to . The symbols and denote the unique group roots, not unrestricted division in a group. We next justify convergence and the Lie algebra laws together.
A useful concrete tool is a complete normed group algebra containing . In its completed group algebra, put . Ordered-coordinate uniqueness gives unique expansions with . To see why, first work modulo and : the ordered products of the with exponents below form the regular basis, and the change to the corresponding products of is triangular with diagonal entries one. Take inverse limits and then lift the coefficient digits successively in powers of . Define the weight
It is a genuine separated, submultiplicative weight. Indeed reordering produces a group-commutator correction in ; the binomial expansion of a th power gives that correction weight at least , so collection never decreases total weight. Also . Inverting and completing therefore gives a Banach algebra over . For , ordered coordinates show
with value infinity at . Thus the induced topology on is exactly its original topology. This construction supplies the ambient algebra without presupposing the uniform pro-p group and powerful Lie lattice correspondence. The weighted construction, including the case , is described in Equivariant D-modules on rigid analytic spaces, Section 6.5.
Since , the p-adic logarithm and p-adic exponential converge on the relevant balls in :
The estimates and show that term weights tend to infinity. Formal substitution is legitimate there and proves that the two maps are inverse. They preserve the leading weight. In particular embeds the compact set homeomorphically into , and .
Put and . Expanding the convergent Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula in gives
The first expansion has linear part and all other terms have degree at least two in . The second has leading term and all remaining terms have degree at least three. After division by the displayed powers of , the extra factor of forces those errors to zero. The normalized expressions are logarithms of the unique roots already specified. Since is compact and closed in , both limits belong to . Scalar multiplication also remains in by continuity of powers. Consequently is a module over , closed under the associative-algebra Lie bracket . Bilinearity, alternation and the Jacobi identity follow by expanding products in the associative algebra . Transporting these operations back gives exactly above.
The commutator-layer inclusion places every normalized bracket root in . Since and this set is compact, passage to the limit proves . Addition modulo is the original multiplication modulo : collection shows , as the nonlinear errors lie at least one layer deeper. Thus has dimension , with basis . Given , write its residue as and repeat on . This iterative digit lifting converges because the remainders stay in the bounded compact set . It gives with . A nontrivial relation among the could be divided by the smallest power of among its coefficients, contradicting their independence modulo . Hence is free of rank , proving that it is a powerful Lie lattice.
Conversely, let be a powerful Lie lattice. In , define
The formal Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula and its coefficient estimate are the algebraic ingredients used here. More precisely, the degree- component can be expressed as an integral Lie polynomial divided by a number of -adic valuation at most . One way to obtain this estimate is to bound the associative coefficients of and use an integral ordered basis of the free Lie algebra. The denominator bound , where is the base- digit sum, is at most . A precise primary reference for that denominator estimate is Smallest common denominators for the homogeneous components of the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff series. A length- Lie bracket in lies in . Thus the degree- term belongs to
These exponents are nonnegative and tend to infinity; for they are at least one. This proves integral convergence, continuity and . Associativity follows from the formal identity in the completed universal enveloping algebra. Substitution of three elements is justified by the same valuation estimates, so the two associative expressions agree. The identity is , the inverse is , and because every nonlinear term involving only vanishes.
For powerfulness, formal conjugation gives
The difference lies in : its th term has valuation at least for . The group commutator is therefore . Its linear term is . Every nonlinear Lie term contains , since it vanishes when , and the extra divisibility makes all those terms lie in too. Hence . The ideals are open normal subgroups for , and their finite quotients have order . The group is consequently a pro-p group. Its power sets are exactly , its lower-series indices are constantly , and a basis of topologically generates it by the same successive digit lifting. The BCH group is uniform.
To check the inverse constructions, powers in the Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula group are ordinary multiples in . Therefore
and the similarly normalized group commutator tends to . The limit constructions recover the original Lie algebra exactly. In the other direction, the ambient Banach algebra construction gives , so the recovered operation is the original multiplication of .
Finally a continuous group homomorphism between uniform pro-p groups preserves integer powers and powers with exponents in the p-adic integers, preserves the unique roots in the power layers, and commutes with their limits. It therefore becomes a linear Lie algebra homomorphism. Conversely a linear Lie algebra homomorphism between finite free modules is continuous and preserves every term of the convergent Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff formula, hence is a continuous group homomorphism for . The constructions preserve identity maps and composition, and the inverse identifications are natural. They are mutually inverse functors, giving the stated category correspondence with the finite-free lattice convention.
Let be a four-dimensional symplectic vector space, with a symplectic basis . Its invariant inverse-form bivector may be chosen as . Put , so . Define a symmetric bilinear form on the six-dimensional exterior square by
It is symmetric because both factors have degree two. It is nondegenerate: in the six-element wedge basis, every pairs nontrivially with the wedge of the complementary pair and with no other basis vector. Since , the orthogonal complement
has dimension five and inherits a nondegenerate bilinear form. It is the primitive exterior square, equivalently the kernel of the symplectic contraction of an exterior square.
The symplectic Lie algebra preserves . It also preserves , since its elements have trace zero and the induced action on is multiplication by that trace. The exterior-power Lie algebra representation therefore preserves and , giving a Lie algebra homomorphism
To show injectivity, suppose acts as zero on . It already acts as zero on the invariant line , so it kills all of . For any basis , this means
If , choose distinct from ; the coefficient of forces . Thus is diagonal. The same identity gives for every pair. Applying this to three distinct indices forces each diagonal entry to vanish. Hence and is injective.
Finally and . Injectivity between these equal-dimensional vector spaces gives surjectivity. Every nondegenerate complex symmetric bilinear form on a five-dimensional space is equivalent to the standard one. We have therefore constructed the exceptional isomorphism between sp4 and so5:
The defining rule for a derivation of a Lie algebra is linear in the operator, so is a vector subspace of the general linear Lie algebra . Its Lie bracket is the operator commutator. If are derivations of a Lie algebra, expand both compositions:
Subtracting cancels the mixed terms and gives
Thus is again a derivation of a Lie algebra, proving that the derivation Lie algebra is a Lie subalgebra of . This calculation works in every characteristic of a field.
The Jacobi identity states . It first shows that is a derivation of a Lie algebra, and then gives
The map is linear, so this identity proves it is a Lie algebra homomorphism.
Finally, for any derivation of a Lie algebra ,
Consequently
This proves that the inner derivations of a Lie algebra form an ideal of a Lie algebra in .
Let with its nondegenerate alternating bilinear form. Its inverse-form bivector is invariant under the symplectic Lie algebra, and . Choose . The exterior product defines a symmetric bilinear form on by
It is symmetric because two-forms commute under the wedge product. It is nondegenerate because each basis wedge pairs with its complementary basis wedge. Since , the five-dimensional orthogonal complement
also has a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form. This is the primitive exterior square, equivalently the kernel of symplectic contraction of an exterior square.
Every element of fixes and preserves volume, since its trace is zero. The induced exterior-power Lie algebra representation consequently preserves and satisfies . Thus it gives a Lie algebra homomorphism
We check injectivity explicitly. If acts as zero on , it also kills , and therefore acts as zero on all of . For three distinct indices , the coefficient of in is , so all off-diagonal entries of vanish. Its action on is then . All these sums vanish, which in characteristic zero forces every diagonal entry to vanish. Hence .
Finally,
The injective Lie algebra homomorphism is therefore surjective. Over , every nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form admits a basis in which its matrix is the identity, so this constructs the exceptional isomorphism between sp4 and so5:
Assume , as required for a connected chain and the supplied divisions. The single-excitation subspace has dimension three, so its Dynamical Lie algebra is contained in . The intended conclusion from nine independent skew-Hermitian directions is , giving unitary operator controllability, density operator controllability and pure-state controllability on this sector. Here is a direct generation argument that does not assume an independent identity control or rely on the normalization of the printed intermediate matrices.
Here denotes the hopping entry of the supplied reduced . With the stated Pauli matrices, restricting instead gives hopping ; absorbing that common factor into the reduced coupling does not change the Dynamical Lie algebra.
Write and using matrix units. The physical generators give
Next isolate the second transition and generate its other direction:
Finally and . The three , three and two diagonal differences are eight independent traceless skew-Hermitian matrices, hence span . Because , subtracting the traceless part of also supplies , completing . This is the trace-direction step in identity augmentation in quantum controllability and the three-site instance of Endpoint control of an XX spin chain. If a coupling vanishes, the chain disconnects and the full-sector conclusion fails.
There is a redundant direction in the printed final pair of commutators: with the printed intermediate definitions, both are proportional to . Thus that pair cannot itself establish the stated independence. The mixed commutator above provides the missing direction and establishes the required conclusion independently.
Let be the algebra on the full eight-dimensional space. Restriction to the invariant single-excitation sector is a surjective Lie algebra homomorphism . If , the rank-nullity theorem gives , so
This is an abstract algebra isomorphism; on the full Hilbert space it is a reducible eight-dimensional representation preserving sectors of dimensions . The sector actions are linked by the same nine generators, rather than independently controllable blocks. In particular, this is not or , so it does not imply full-system controllability. The full spin Hamiltonians are traceless, so their algebra is embedded in even though its abstract type is ; its central direction is not an unrestricted overall phase on the full space.
The Lie algebra of a Lie group is the vector space equipped with the bracket transferred from left-invariant vector fields. For , write . A field is left-invariant when for all . Given , define
This is smooth and left-invariant, because and the chain rule applies. Conversely a left-invariant field is determined by its value at , through this formula. Thus
is a vector-space isomorphism, whose inverse is evaluation at the identity.
The Lie bracket of vector fields is preserved by diffeomorphisms: on functions this follows by transporting the commutator of derivations. Therefore the bracket of two left-invariant fields is again left-invariant. Define . Bilinearity, antisymmetry and the Jacobi identity follow from the same properties of commutators of derivations. This supplies the asserted Lie algebra structure.
For the general linear group , invertible matrices form an open subset of , so . The left-invariant field determined by is . Its ambient derivative is . Therefore differentiating left-invariant matrix fields gives
Hence
This is the general linear Lie algebra, with the ordinary matrix commutator; right invariance with the same identification would give the opposite sign.
Now let be a smooth Lie group homomorphism. It sends the identity to the identity and induces the linear map
Since , differentiation gives
These fields are -related; no injectivity or surjectivity of is needed. For every smooth function on ,
Apply this first with and then with , and subtract the reversed order. The result is
At , smooth functions detect tangent vectors, so
This proves that the differential of a Lie group homomorphism preserves Lie brackets, and hence that is a Lie algebra homomorphism.
For the exponential identity, let be the integral curve of through . Left invariance and uniqueness show for small times: translating the curve through gives the curve through . Repeating this identity extends the curve to all real times. This proves completeness of left-invariant vector fields without assuming that an arbitrary smooth field is complete. Rescaling the parameter also gives . By the definition of the Exponential map of a Lie group, .
The field-related identity shows that is an integral curve of starting at . By uniqueness it equals for all times. At time one,
This is the naturality of the Lie group exponential.
Apply this to the determinant homomorphism . The derivative of the determinant at is
since the permutation formula gives . The left-invariant field on with initial tangent is ; its curve through one solves , hence is . The matrix exponential determinant identity therefore follows from naturality:
This argument uses only the flow definition of the exponential and the scalar exponential, not an unproved matrix formula.
To identify it explicitly with the usual matrix exponential, the series converges in operator norm, uniformly with its differentiated series on bounded intervals. Termwise differentiation gives and . The series commutes with , and differentiating gives zero, so . Thus stays in and, by uniqueness, is the integral curve of through . The matrix series is exactly the flow-defined exponential, justifying either notation in the determinant identity.
A two-dimensional Lie algebra representation already provides a counterexample. In the basis of , define
The commutator is zero, agreeing with ; the other defining Lie brackets also map to zero. Thus is a Lie algebra homomorphism, although it is not a Faithful Lie algebra representation.
The line is an invariant subspace. Any complementary line has the form for some . But
so no complementary line is an invariant subspace. Equivalently, every invariant line is killed by : its restriction to a line is a scalar, and its square is zero, forcing that scalar to be zero. A decomposition into two invariant lines would then force , a contradiction. This representation is therefore not a semisimple representation. Thus