Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford / 2017 / Prelims / Mathematics I / 7 / b / i / Solution

For $X\in {\mathrm{SO}}_3(\mathbb{R})$, the defining identity $X^{T}X=I$ givesThus an orthogonal transformation preserves the Euclidean norm and sends the unit sphere to itself. Restricting the given group action to this invariant set preserves both action axioms.

If $XN=N$, the first column of $X$ is $N=e_1$. The other columns are unit vectors perpendicular to it, so the first row is also $(1,0,0)$. Hence $X=\mathrm{diag}(1,B)$ with $B^{T}B=I_2$ and $\det B=1$. Conversely, every such matrix lies in $G$ and fixes $N$. Since every element of the special orthogonal group in two dimensions has the planar rotation matrix form, the stabilizer subgroup isGeometrically these are exactly the rotations in three dimensions about the first coordinate axis.