Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2008 / iii / Paper 19 / 1 / Solution

A smooth vector field on a smooth manifold $M$ is a smooth section $X:M\to TM$ of its tangent bundle. It acts on smooth functions by $Xh(p)=d{h}_p(X_p)$. In a manifold chart, $X={\sum }_i{X}^i{\partial }_i$. The Lie bracket of vector fields is the commutator of their actions on functions:Expanding in coordinates makes all second derivatives cancel and givesThus the commutator is again a smooth vector field, not a second-order operator. The coordinate expression represents the intrinsic derivation on functions, so agrees on overlaps.

For a diffeomorphism $f:M\to N$, its pushforward of a vector field isFor every smooth function $h$ on $N$, the chain rule gives $((f_{\ast }X)h)\circ f=X(h\circ f)$. Applying this twice yieldsSmooth functions determine a tangent vector, and $f$ is surjective, so

On a Lie group, a left-invariant vector field satisfies $(L_g{)}_{\ast }X=X$ for every left translation $L_g(h)=gh$. Given $\xi \in T_{e}G$, setThis field is smooth by smoothness of multiplication. The equality $L_a{L}_g=L_{ag}$ proves left invariance. Conversely, left invariance forces $X(g)=(d{L}_g{)}_{e}X(e)$, so $X_{\xi }$ is the unique left-invariant field with value $\xi$ at $e$. This is a linear isomorphism between $T_{e}G$ and the space of left-invariant vector fields.

The pushforward identity applied to $L_g$ shows that $[X_{\xi },X_{\eta }]$ is again left invariant. Consequentlydefines a Lie bracket on $T_{e}G$. Bilinearity and antisymmetry follow from the operator commutator. Its Jacobi identity follows by expanding the three nested commutators: the six triple compositions cancel in pairs. These properties transfer through the linear isomorphism, making $T_{e}G$ the Lie algebra of $G$.

For the general linear group $G=\mathrm{GL}(n,\mathbb{R})$, use matrix-entry coordinates $x_{pq}$. It is an open subset of $M_n(\mathbb{R})$, so every tangent space is naturally $M_n(\mathbb{R})$. Since $L_g(h)=gh$, its differential sends $A$ to $gA$, and henceFor $A,B\in M_n(\mathbb{R})$,and reversing $A,B$ gives $(gBA{)}_{pq}$. Thus $[X_A,X_B]=X_{AB-BA}$; evaluating at the identity gives the matrix commutator