Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2001 / iii / Paper 5 / 2

The complex Special orthogonal Lie algebra ${\mathfrak{so}}_5$ consists of endomorphisms preserving a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form infinitesimally:In an orthonormal basis this is $\{X\in M_5(\mathbb{C}):X^T+X=0\}$, with the commutator bracket and dimension $\left(\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{5}{2}\right)=10$. Its compact real form is obtained by taking real skew-symmetric matrices. For diagonal root calculations it is more convenient to use an isotropic basis $v_1,v_2,v_0,v_{-2},v_{-1}$ with $B(v_i,v_j)={\delta }_{i,-j}$, including $B(v_0,v_0)=1$.

A maximal torus of the complex special orthogonal group isIts Lie algebra is the Cartan subalgebraIn the compact real form the corresponding torus consists of independent rotations in two orthogonal coordinate planes, fixing the remaining direction. Define ${\epsilon }_i(H)=h_i$ for $i=1,2$, and ${\epsilon }_{-i}=-{\epsilon }_i$, ${\epsilon }_0=0$.

Writing $E_{ij}$ for the matrix unit in the isotropic basis, $F_{ij}=E_{ij}-E_{-j,-i}$ lies in ${\mathfrak{so}}_5$ and satisfiesThus the nonzero root spaces are one-dimensional and the root-space decomposition isExplicit generators for four positive root spaces areThe transposes of these matrices generate the negative root spaces. Each transpose still satisfies the bilinear-form condition and reverses the displayed diagonal weight. These eight root vectors and the two independent Cartan matrices exhaust the dimension ten; a matrix commuting with every $H$ is diagonal and the form condition makes it lie in $\mathfrak{h}$. This also proves that the torus has maximal dimension.

Give the real root span an inner product with ${\epsilon }_1,{\epsilon }_2$ orthonormal. The B2 root system consists of four short roots on the coordinate axes and four long roots on the diagonals. Choose the long-first simple rootsThe positive roots are ${\alpha }_1,{\alpha }_2,{\alpha }_1+{\alpha }_2={\epsilon }_1$, and ${\alpha }_1+2{\alpha }_2={\epsilon }_1+{\epsilon }_2$. The corresponding simple reflections areThey generate every signed permutation of the two coordinates. Thus the Weyl group has order eight and is the symmetry group of a square; every element sends $(x,y)$ to $(\pm x,\pm y)$ or $(\pm y,\pm x)$, with independent signs.

Since ${\alpha }_1,{\alpha }_2$ form an integral basis of ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$, the root lattice is $Q=\mathbb{Z}{\epsilon }_1\oplus \mathbb{Z}{\epsilon }_2$. The simple coroots are ${\alpha }_1^{\vee }={\epsilon }_1-{\epsilon }_2$ and ${\alpha }_2^{\vee }=2{\epsilon }_2$. Therefore the weight lattice isSolving $⟨{\Lambda }_i,{\alpha }_j^{\vee }⟩={\delta }_{ij}$ gives the fundamental weightsThe cone of dominant weights isIndeed $a=x-y$ and $b=2y$ are exactly the two simple-coroot pairings. This describes representations of the Lie algebra, or of its simply connected Spin group; half-integral weights are allowed. For representations descending to $\mathrm{SO}(5)$ itself, the weight must lie in ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$, equivalently $b$ must be even.

Every finite-dimensional irreducible Lie algebra representation has highest weight $\lambda =a{\Lambda }_1+b{\Lambda }_2$ for unique integers $a,b\ge 0$. The Weyl vector isso $\lambda +\rho =(a+b/2+3/2,b/2+1/2)$. In the Weyl dimension formula, the factors for the four positive roots, ordered as ${\epsilon }_1-{\epsilon }_2,{\epsilon }_2,{\epsilon }_1,{\epsilon }_1+{\epsilon }_2$, are respectivelyHenceIn particular the two fundamental representations have dimensions five and four. The highest root is $\theta ={\epsilon }_1+{\epsilon }_2=2{\Lambda }_2$, so the Adjoint representation has dimension ten. These also fix the dimensions of the crystals below. Our numbering places the long root first; interchanging a B2/C2 numbering without interchanging the associated fundamental-weight labels would give the wrong dimension formula.

Use directed color-$i$ edges $u\stackrel{i}{\to }v$ for the Kashiwara operator ${\tilde{f}}_i$, so every edge subtracts ${\alpha }_i$ from the weight. The defining crystal of the defining odd-orthogonal representation isThe defining module has highest weight ${\Lambda }_1$ and precisely these five weights, all of multiplicity one. The color-two string through zero has length two, since $⟨{\epsilon }_2,{\alpha }_2^{\vee }⟩=2$. The other indicated strings have length one. Restriction to each simple-root sl2 Lie algebra and the root-string property of a crystal justify the edges; no other weight difference is the relevant simple root.

For the B2 spin crystal $B({\Lambda }_2)$, denote the four weights $\frac{1}{2}(\pm {\epsilon }_1\pm {\epsilon }_2)$ by their sign pairs. Its graph isThe fundamental weight ${\Lambda }_2$ is a minuscule weight: its pairings with all positive coroots are zero or one. Its Weyl orbit has four weights, and the dimension formula gives four, so each occurs once and there are no additional weights. All simple-root strings have length one. Subtracting ${\alpha }_1$ or ${\alpha }_2$ where another weight is present gives exactly this graph.

For the B2 adjoint crystal, write $x_{\beta }$ for the vertex of root weight $\beta$, and use two distinct zero-weight vertices $z_1,z_2$. There are eight root vertices and two zero vertices because the zero-weight space is the two-dimensional Cartan subalgebra. The complete lists of colored strings areEvery arrow in a given row has that row's color; the reverse arrows are the raising operators, and all unlisted lowering operations vanish. In particular the two zero vertices must not be merged.

For a constructive justification, let $V={\mathbb{C}}^5$ with the invariant symmetric form from part(a). The mapis an equivariant isomorphism ${\Lambda }^{2}V\cong {\mathfrak{so}}_5$, identifying the highest weight as ${\epsilon }_1+{\epsilon }_2$. Compute its crystal as the highest-weight component starting at $1\otimes 2$ in $B({\Lambda }_1)\otimes B({\Lambda }_1)$, with labels $1,2,0,\bar{2},\bar{1}$ for the defining chain. The crystal tensor-product rule iswhere ${\epsilon }_i$ counts available raising steps and ${\phi }_i$ counts lowering steps in the color-$i$ string. It generates the following ten vertices:Applying the displayed rule to these labels gives precisely the listed strings, proving the entire diagram rather than only its weight multiplicities. Tensor labels here are crystal vertices in the combinatorial limit, not an assertion that a bare ordinary tensor such as $v_0\otimes v_0$ lies in ${\Lambda }^{2}V$.