Group representation Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
A group representation is a group homomorphism from a group to the general linear group of a vector space. It realizes abstract group elements as invertible linear transformations.
The defining identities are and , so an inverse element is represented by a matrix inverse. A choice of basis gives a matrix representation, but the underlying action does not depend on that choice. The action need not distinguish every group element: the trivial representation sends all of them to .
Using the Levi-Civita symbol and the contraction of two Levi-Civita symbols, the th component of the vector triple product is
Thus the triple-product identity is .
Apply this with the unit vector to obtain . Dot products and scalar multiplication are linear in , so . Its matrix representation is
The fixed-vector equation is equivalent to . Since , all its solutions are . Also . Every vector decomposes as , with orthogonal to . Hence is the orthogonal projection onto the plane through the origin normal to : it fixes that plane and removes the perpendicular component.
We give the detailed norm-index argument for a cyclic extension of p-adic fields; thus is a finite extension of . Write , . For an additive -module , put and . The two periodic Tate cohomology of a cyclic group groups and the Herbrand quotient are
when these groups are finite. For multiplicative modules, is the product of conjugates and .
The periodic complex alternating and gives a six-term exact sequence for every short exact sequence of modules. Taking the alternating product of the finite group orders in that exact sequence proves
For a finite module, the counting fibers gives and , so the two Tate groups have equal order. This proves the Herbrand quotient of a finite module is one. It follows that replacing a module by a finite-index submodule does not change its quotient, whenever the cohomology groups are finite.
Two basic calculations drive the norm computation. For the trivial module , and is multiplication by , so . For a regular lattice , with , invariants are constant coefficient vectors and every such vector is a norm: put its constant coefficient in just one coordinate before applying . The group kernel of consists of the coefficient vectors of sum zero. Successively taking partial sums solves the cyclic difference equation for every such vector . Thus both Tate groups vanish and . This is cyclic cohomology of a regular lattice.
Let and . For sufficiently large , the p-adic logarithm and p-adic exponential are inverse -equivariant isomorphisms
To make the range explicit, suffices: the higher terms in the logarithm and exponential have greater valuation than their leading terms, their series converge there, and the identities and remain valid. Thus a deep multiplicative unit group becomes an additive -lattice in .
By the normal basis theorem, as a -module. As a -module it is therefore . Transport the regular lattice into . Both and are full -stable -lattices, so their intersection has finite index in each. The exact sequences with finite quotients show that the Tate groups of are finite and that
Since is finite, the exact-sequence formula for the Herbrand quotient gives . Finally, the valuation sequence
has trivial -action on . Hence the Herbrand quotient of the local multiplicative group is
For completeness, the denominator vanishes by Hilbert theorem 90. If , put and . Independence of distinct field automorphisms lets us choose with . Since , shifting the sum gives . Thus , a multiplicative coboundary. Therefore . The invariant subgroup of is , so
This proves the cyclic local norm index without assuming local reciprocity. If the extension has ramification index and residue degree , the valuation formula shows that the valuation contribution to the index is . A norm is a unit only when is a unit, so the remaining contribution is
In particular, unit norms are surjective in an unramified cyclic extension. The norm subgroup is open: on deep units its logarithm is , a nonzero full lattice in , and therefore contains a sufficiently deep principal-unit group. This connects the index calculation to the open finite-index norm subgroups classified by local class field theory.
To finish, the Hasse norm theorem for a cyclic extension of number fields states that a nonzero element is a global norm if and only if it is a norm at every finite and infinite completion. Here is its Brauer-theoretic proof outline. Associate to the cyclic algebra , with relations and . The splitting criterion for a cyclic algebra says that it splits exactly when : if , multiplication by and the operator realize it as ; conversely, in a split matrix representation, the underlying -dimensional space is one-dimensional over , so must act as and .
Apply this criterion at every completion, using the restricted cyclic character and any one completion of above that place. If is a local norm everywhere, every localized Brauer class is zero. Injectivity in the Albert-Brauer-Hasse-Noether theorem forces in ; the global splitting criterion gives . Conversely, a global norm is a local norm after completion, since the norm on is the product of the component norms, whose images coincide in the Galois case. The cyclic hypothesis is essential; the stated local-global principle does not hold for arbitrary extensions.
For a Matrix Lie group , the left Maurer-Cartan form identifies tangent vectors with the Lie algebra by translating them to the identity:
It is a Lie algebra-valued differential form of degree one. For a fixed , replacing by gives , so it is a left-invariant differential form.
Differentiate to get . The exterior derivative then gives
Here the exterior product of matrix-valued differential forms includes matrix multiplication; the order of the matrices matters. Hence the Maurer-Cartan equation is
Write . Antisymmetry of the exterior product implies
Comparison of the Lie algebra components yields the Maurer-Cartan equation in a Lie-algebra basis:
Thus the canonical antisymmetric choice is . The factor one half is required because the sum includes both ordered pairs and . If only is summed, its coefficient is . Strictly, the equality of differential forms determines only the antisymmetric part of : one may add any tensor symmetric in without changing it. This is the symmetric-part ambiguity in Maurer-Cartan coefficients.
A faithful matrix representation of the orientation-preserving real affine group is
Its action on has first component . The group operation and inverse are
Different transformations have different matrix entries, proving faithfulness. With the Lie algebra basis
the left Maurer-Cartan form is
The requested left-invariant differential forms therefore form the Maurer-Cartan coframe of the real affine group:
For a direct invariance check, left translation by sends to , and the pullbacks of the two displayed differential forms are unchanged. Their dual left-invariant vector fields are and , whose bracket is , in agreement with .
The columns of are the coordinates of the vectors , so they form a basis exactly when
For a linear transformation , define its matrix representation in the standard basis by
The change-of-basis matrix satisfies . Therefore
and multiplication by gives the similar matrix relation
The characteristic polynomial of the displayed is
Eigenvectors , , and give
Indeed, and
so . Finally, the diagonalization of a matrix gives
The spin raising operator and spin lowering operator are
The angular momentum commutation relations imply
so is proportional to . Since
its squared norm is
Choosing the conventional positive phase gives
Using the spin ladder operators,
and therefore
In the ordered product basis of the tensor product of quantum systems
the matrix representation is
The two parallel-spin states are already eigenvectors. Diagonalizing the central block gives the four energy eigenvalues
This is the spectrum of the Two-spin Heisenberg Hamiltonian in an opposing longitudinal field.
The asserted ground-state ordering requires the antiferromagnetic case . As ,
The corresponding state at is the unique spin-one-half singlet state
whereas the three states at the first excited energy form the spin-one-half triplet state.
Indeed, for the total angular momentum operator
one has at
The Hamiltonian then has rotational symmetry, so energy depends only on the total-spin sector. The singlet has total spin and multiplicity one; the triplet has and multiplicity . This rotational symmetry explains why the triplet energy eigenspace has dimension three.
Write in a matrix representation and . Direct multiplication gives
so
The cancellation of the constant and linear terms explains why the group commutator first detects the Lie bracket at quadratic order.