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For a finite group, choose one unitary irreducible representation $\rho$ of degree $d_{\rho }$ from each equivalence class. One consistent normalized Fourier transform on a finite group convention is $\hat{f}(\rho )={\mathbb{E}}_{x}f(x)\rho (x)$. The Schur orthogonality relations giveThe normalized convolution on a finite group satisfies $\widehat{f\ast g}(\rho )=\hat{f}(\rho )\hat{g}(\rho )$ in this convention. Using $\rho (x{)}^{\ast }$ in the transform instead reverses that product order for scalar functions with the same normalized convolution on a finite group convention. The Fourier transform on a finite group has matrix-valued components even when the original function is scalar-valued.

The Fourier transform on a finite group convention $\hat{f}(\rho )={\mathbb{E}}_{x}f(x)\rho (x)$ has the displayed inversion formula. The sum is over one representative from each equivalence class of unitary irreducible representations. It follows from the Schur orthogonality relations and the regular representation decomposition, and holds at every group element without a limiting argument.

For a scalar function on a finite group, one normalized transform convention assigns the matrix ${\mathbb{E}}_{x}f(x)\rho (x)$ to each chosen unitary irreducible representation. This map is a weighted Hilbert space isomorphism by the Parseval identity on a finite group. Another common convention uses $\rho (x{)}^{\ast }$; the corresponding convolution theorem on a finite group then reverses the matrix product order for $(f\ast g)(x)={\mathbb{E}}_{y}f(y)g(y^{-1}x)$.

The little group of a momentum $p$ is its stabilizer in the Lorentz group. Its unitary irreducible representations label the internal degrees of freedom of one-particle states on the orbit of $p$.

These stabilizer representations are used in Wigner's classification of relativistic particle states.

For a massive positive-energy unitary irreducible representation of the Poincaré group with signature $(+---)$, choose a rest frame. The Pauli-Lubanski pseudovector has zero time component and spatial components $m{J}_i$, up to a common sign convention. Its square is therefore $-m^2{\mathbf{J}}^2$. The SU(2) little-group representation has spin $s$ and ${\mathbf{J}}^2=s(s+1)$, proving the invariant value. The mass and spin label the massive induced representation of the Poincare double cover.

A massive supermultiplet is a unitary irreducible representation of the Super-Poincaré algebra with positive timelike momentum. At rest, its nonzero supercharges become fermionic creation operators and fermionic annihilation operators. Without central charges in supersymmetry, four-dimensional extended supersymmetry has $2\mathcal{N}$ complex oscillators; a spin-$j$ Clifford vacuum gives $(2j+1)2^{2\mathcal{N}}$ states.

For a future null standard momentum $k$, choose Lorentz transformations $L(p)k=p$ and a unitary irreducible representation $d$ of its little group. The Wigner rotation $R(\Lambda ,p)=L(\Lambda p{)}^{-1}\Lambda L(p)$ acts on the internal state. The resulting induced representation acts on wavefunctions with invariant measure $d^{3}p/(2p^0)$. Trivial little-group translations give fixed helicity; nontrivial translations give a continuous-spin representation with infinitely many polarization states.

A massless supermultiplet is a positive-energy unitary irreducible representation of the Super-Poincaré algebra with null four-momentum. For finite helicity states in four dimensions, half the supercharges act trivially and the others form a fermionic Fock space.

A matrix coefficient of a finite-dimensional group representation is a scalar function obtained by applying a linear functional to the translate of a fixed vector. In a chosen basis these functions include $x\mapsto \rho (x{)}_{ij}$. For a finite group, the Schur orthogonality relations make the scaled coefficients of all inequivalent unitary irreducible representations an orthonormal basis of its scalar functions.

For $f:G\to M_n(\mathbb{C})$ and a degree-$d_{\rho }$ unitary irreducible representation, the matrix Fourier block is the operator $T_{\rho }$ on $M_{n\times d_{\rho }}(\mathbb{C})$ defined in the title. Its singular values ${\lambda }_{\rho ,j}$ satisfyPointwise operator norm at most one implies $\Vert T_{\rho }{\Vert }_{\mathrm{op}}\le 1$. These blocks are operators on a matrix space, rather than simply the entrywise scalar Fourier transform on a finite group without any reshaping.

Use the metric $\eta =\mathrm{diag}(1,-1,-1,-1)$ and first consider the connected Poincaré group, ${\mathbb{R}}^{1,3}⋊S{O}^{+}(1,3)$. Physical half-integer spins require unitary representations of its double cover ${\mathbb{R}}^{1,3}⋊SL(2,\mathbb{C})$; genuine representations of the group without this cover permit only integer spin. Write $P^{\mu }=d(P^{\mu })$ and $M^{\mu \nu }=d(M^{\mu \nu })$. Strong continuity gives self-adjoint generators, with commutators understood on a common invariant dense domain.

The commuting translation generators have a joint spectral resolution. Lorentz transformations carry the spectral four-momentum $p$ to $\Lambda p$, so an irreducible representation has its momentum spectral measure concentrated on a single Lorentz orbit. For positive-energy particles the orbits of interest are the future mass shells $p^2=m^2>0$, or $p^2=0$ with $p\ne 0$ and $p^0>0$. The zero-momentum orbit and spacelike or negative-energy orbits are outside these two particle cases.

Choose ${ϵ}^{0123}=1$ and define the Pauli-Lubanski pseudovector with the overall sign conventionThis sign makes the spatial rest-frame vector equal to $m\mathbf{J}$. The generators' Hermiticity and the antisymmetric epsilon contraction make $W^{\mu }$ Hermitian: the ordering correction from commuting $P$ through $M$ contracts metric tensors into epsilon and vanishes. The same antisymmetry proves Pauli-Lubanski orthogonality, $W^{\mu }{P}_{\mu }=0$.

The assumed commutators say that $P^{\mu }$ and $W^{\mu }$ transform as four-vectors and that $W$ commutes with all translations. Consequentlycommute with the entire Poincare algebra. For instance the two terms in the Lorentz commutator with a contracted vector square cancel. The Casimir operators therefore have fixed spectral values in a unitary irreducible representation, by the Schur lemma applied to their spectral projections. A second ingredient, the little group, distinguishes the internal states.

Fix a standard momentum $k$ on the orbit. Its little group is the subgroup of Lorentz transformations leaving $k$ fixed. Choose $L(p)$ with $L(p)k=p$. A Lorentz transformation acts on the internal fibre by the Wigner rotationIf $d_K$ is a unitary irreducible representation of this stabilizer, the induced representation acts on wavefunctions asThe measure $d^{3}p/(2p^0)$ on either future mass shell is Lorentz invariant, so this action is unitary. The identityproves the group multiplication law. Conversely, covariance of the translation spectral resolution supplies precisely these fibres and their stabilizer action. A commuting operator acts fibrewise; transitivity relates its fibre values, and irreducibility of $d_K$ makes it scalar. This explains why the construction gives, and classifies, the unitary irreducible representations on each orbit.

For a timelike momentum choose $k=(m,0,0,0)$. A Lorentz transformation fixing it acts only as a rotation of its spatial orthogonal complement, so the massive particle little group is $SO(3)$, or $SU(2)$ in the double cover. PutThe Poincare algebra gives $[J_i,J_j]=i{ϵ}_{ijk}{J}_k$. The unitary irreducible representations of $SU(2)$ are labelled by $j=0,\frac{1}{2},1,\dots$, with ${\mathbf{J}}^2=j(j+1)$ and $J_3$ eigenvalues $-j,-j+1,\dots ,j$. Evaluation of the Pauli-Lubanski pseudovector at $k$ gives $W^0=0$, $\mathbf{W}=m\mathbf{J}$. Thus the massive Pauli-Lubanski Casimir and particle labels areThe full massive induced representation of the Poincare double cover is infinite-dimensional because momentum ranges continuously over the orbit; its finite internal multiplicity is $2j+1$.

For a null momentum choose $k=(E,0,0,E)$ with $E>0$. The infinitesimal stabilizer generators areTheir commutators with momentum, evaluated at $k$, vanish. From the rotation and boost commutators of the Poincare algebra one obtainsThese are the massless little-group generators of $ISO(2)$: a planar rotation and two commuting null rotations, which act like translations in the little-group algebra. Hence the massless particle little group is the Euclidean plane group, with the appropriate double cover for half-integer spin.

The definition of $W$ gives $W^0=\mathbf{P}\cdot \mathbf{J}$ and $\mathbf{W}=P^0\mathbf{J}-\mathbf{P}\times \mathbf{K}$. At the standard null momentum,Suppose the little-group representation has finite dimension, as for particles with finitely many polarizations. The commuting Hermitian $N_1,N_2$ have a finite joint spectrum. Conjugation by $e^{-i\varphi R}$ rotates this spectrum through every planar angle. The only finite set invariant under all these rotations is the origin. Thus both $N_i$ vanish, proving that finite-dimensional unitary representations of the massless little group have trivial translations. Irreducibility then leaves a one-dimensional rotation character, $R=hI$. The massless longitudinal Pauli-Lubanski eigenvalues arefor the double cover, with $h\in \mathbb{Z}$ for a genuine $SO(2)$ character. The number $h$ is helicity. Different helicities have the same two Casimir eigenvalues, so the little group is indispensable for the classification. A connected-group irreducible representation has one helicity; if parity is also implemented, it exchanges $h$ and $-h$ and normally requires their pair.

Unitarity alone also permits nontrivial null-rotation generators. The rotation-invariant operator $N_1^2+N_2^2$ is scalar in an irreducible little-group representation; if it has value $(\rho /E{)}^2>0$, one obtains a continuous-spin representation. A concrete realization on angular wavefunctions isThese operators satisfy the same commutators. Periodic or antiperiodic angular wavefunctions give integer or half-integer rotation modes, and the translation generators connect infinitely many such modes. The invariant labels areThese are the additional infinite-polarization massless unitary irreducible representations. Restricting to finitely many particle polarizations excludes them; they must not be ruled out merely by assuming unitarity. This completes the timelike and null cases of the Wigner classification.

Consider positive-energy unitary irreducible representations of the proper orthochronous Poincaré group, allowing its double cover for physical half-integer spin. Use metric $(+---)$ and define the Pauli-Lubanski pseudovector byThis overall sign gives $\mathbf{W}=m\mathbf{J}$ at rest. The antisymmetric tensor and commuting translation generators give $P_{\mu }{W}^{\mu }=0$. The given commutators say $W$ commutes with translations and transforms as a Lorentz vector. Hence both $P^2$ and $W^2$ commute with the Poincare algebra; they are Casimir operators.

The commuting Hermitian translation generators admit generalized joint momentum eigenstates. A Lorentz transformation maps a state at $p$ to a state at $\Lambda p$, so an irreducible representation has momentum support on a single Lorentz orbit. Choose a standard momentum $k$. Its little group consists of the transformations fixing $k$ and acts on the internal states there. Transport those internal states over the orbit by chosen transformations $L(p)k=p$. This gives the construction underlying Wigner's classification.

For timelike future-directed momenta, $P^2=m^2$ with $m>0$ and $k=(m,0,0,0)$. The massive particle little group is SO(3), or SU(2) on the double cover. Write $J_i={ϵ}_{ijk}d(M^{jk})/2$. The rotation commutators give $[J_i,J_j]=i{ϵ}_{ijk}{J}_k$, so the irreducible little-group representation hasAt rest, $W^0=0$ and $\mathbf{W}=m\mathbf{J}$. Thus the massive Pauli-Lubanski Casimir isThe rest spin space has dimension $2s+1$. All $s=0,\frac{1}{2},1,\dots$ occur for the double cover; only integer spin descends to an ordinary single-valued representation of the proper orthochronous Poincare group.

For the detailed representation, choose a Lorentz boost $L(p)$ from $k$ to every point of the positive-energy mass shell. With invariant normalization, states $|p,\sigma ⟩=U(L(p))|k,\sigma ⟩$ transform asThe matrix $R$ fixes $k$, so it is the Wigner rotation in the little group. Its cocycle identityproves the representation law. Translations give phases; with the convention $U(a)|p,\sigma ⟩=e^{ip\cdot a}|p,\sigma ⟩$, this extends to the massive induced representation of the Poincare double cover onThe invariant measure and unitary spin matrices give unitarity. A closed invariant subspace restricts at fixed momentum to a little-group invariant spin subspace; irreducibility of that spin representation and transitivity over the mass shell force the full representation to be irreducible. Conversely the momentum-orbit construction recovers every massive positive-energy irreducible representation. The labels are therefore $(m,s)$.

For a nonzero future null momentum choose $k=(E,0,0,E)$. The massless particle little group is $ISO(2)$. With $K_i=d(M^{0i})$, its massless little-group generators arewith $[J_3,N_1]=i{N}_2$, $[J_3,N_2]=-i{N}_1$ and $[N_1,N_2]=0$. Evaluating the Pauli-Lubanski vector gives $W^2=-E^2(N_1^2+N_2^2)$.

In a finite-dimensional unitary little-group representation, the joint spectrum of the commuting Hermitian $N_1,N_2$ is finite and invariant under continuous planar rotations. Its only possible values are zero. Thus finite-dimensional unitary representations of the massless little group have trivial translations. Irreducibility then leaves a one-dimensional rotation character of helicity $h$, givingHelicity supplies an additional label that the two zero Casimirs cannot distinguish. It is integer for the ordinary group and may be half-integer on its physical double cover. Nontrivial little-group translations instead lead to an infinite-dimensional continuous-spin representation with $W^2<0$; the Poincare algebra by itself allows these too. This completes the timelike and nonzero null cases of physical interest.

Use the following normalization for Fourier analysis on a finite group. Choose one unitary irreducible representation $\rho :G\to U(d_{\rho })$ from each equivalence class, including the trivial representation. For a scalar function $f:G\to \mathbb{C}$, putThis convention uses $\rho (x)$, rather than $\rho (x{)}^{\ast }$, in the Fourier transform on a finite group; it makes the normalized convolution on a finite group preserve multiplication order.

The needed representation theory consists of Maschke's theorem and unitarization of a finite-group representation, together with the Schur orthogonality relations:The regular representation contains $d_{\rho }$ copies of each $\rho$, so ${\sum }_{\rho }{d}_{\rho }^2=|G|$. Thus the scaled matrix coefficients $\sqrt{d_{\rho }}\rho (x{)}_{ij}$, and also their complex conjugates, form an orthonormal basis of all scalar functions on $G$. These facts imply Fourier inversion on a finite group and the Parseval identity on a finite group in the formsand henceIn particular, the transform is an isomorphism onto the direct sum of the matrix algebras $M_{d_{\rho }}(\mathbb{C})$, with the displayed weighted Hilbert-Schmidt inner product.

Define the normalized convolution on a finite group bySubstituting $x=yz$ and using the group representation identity yields the convolution theorem on a finite groupUnlike normalized convolution on a finite group on an abelian group, this product need not commute. If $\tilde{f}(x)=\overline{f(x^{-1})}$, then $\hat{\tilde{f}}(\rho )=\hat{f}(\rho {)}^{\ast }$. For left translation of a group function and right translation of a group function $L_{a}f(x)=f(a^{-1}x)$ and $R_{a}f(x)=f(xa)$,For an abelian group, every irreducible representation is one-dimensional; this reduces to Fourier analysis on a finite abelian group with characters relabelled by their inverses. These formulas establish the basic scalar theory, with all normalizations and multiplication orders fixed.

Now suppose every nontrivial irreducible representation has $d_{\rho }\ge m$. If $f$ is a mean-zero function, its component at the trivial representation is zero. The Parseval identity on a finite group gives, for each other $\rho$,Using the convolution theorem on a finite group, the Hilbert-Schmidt norm inequality $\Vert AB{\Vert }_{\mathrm{HS}}\le \Vert A{\Vert }_{\mathrm{op}}\Vert B{\Vert }_{\mathrm{HS}}$, and the Parseval identity on a finite group once more gives the product mixing in a quasirandom group estimateWrite $a,b,c$ for the subset density values of $A,B,C$, respectively, and let $f=1_A-a$, $g=1_B-b$ be balanced subset indicators. Since both are mean-zero functions, $1_A\ast 1_B=ab+f\ast g$. Their squared norms are $a(1-a)$ and $b(1-b)$. Also $\mathbb{E}(f\ast g)=0$, so the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality yieldsIf $abc>1/m$, the final bound is strictly smaller than $abc$. Thus the normalized number of pairs $(x,y)\in A\times B$ with $xy\in C$ is positive. Equivalently,This is the desired conclusion for a quasirandom group; the strict inequality ensures positivity rather than merely a nonnegative lower bound.

Use $c>0$, the necessary parameter range for the bounds involving $1/c$. The construction comes from the singular value decomposition of matrix Fourier blocks. For each inequivalent unitary irreducible representation $\rho$ of dimension $d_{\rho }$, consider the Hilbert space ${\mathcal{H}}_{\rho }=M_{n\times d_{\rho }}(\mathbb{C})$ with the Hilbert-Schmidt inner product $⟨A,B⟩=\mathrm{tr}(A^{\ast }B)$ and the operatorIts operator norm is at most one, since $\rho (x)$ is a unitary matrix and $\Vert f(x){\Vert }_{\mathrm{op}}\le 1$. Thus all its singular values ${\lambda }_{\rho ,j}$ lie in $[0,1]$.

Two identities control their weighted moments:Here the expectation in $S_4$ is uniform on the $|G{|}^3$ solutions of the constraint, and the trace on ${\mathcal{H}}_{\rho }$ used to compute each moment is the ordinary operator trace. We justify the identities explicitly to fix their normalizations and the noncommutative order.

The adjoint operator is $T_{\rho }^{\ast }(A)={\mathbb{E}}_{y}f(y{)}^{\ast }A\rho (y)$, soFor rectangular matrices, the operator $A\mapsto LAR$ has trace $\mathrm{tr}(L)\mathrm{tr}(R)$, as is seen on the matrix-unit basis. Squaring the previous operator therefore givesThe required representation theory consists of unitarization of a finite-group representation, the Schur orthogonality relations, and the regular representation decomposition. The last gives the character expansion of the identity deltaSumming the two operator traces with weights $d_{\rho }$ selects $x=y$ in the first, and $w=x{y}^{-1}z$ in the second. Multiplication by $|G|$ converts each independent-variable expectation to its conditional expectation. This proves $S_2,S_4$. In particular $S_4$ is real and nonnegative, despite the apparently complex summands in its original formula. Since $S_4\le S_2\le n$, the nonvacuous hypothesis has $0<c\le 1$.

Select every singular value satisfying ${\lambda }_{\rho ,j}\ge \sqrt{c/2}$. Index the selected pairs by $p=1,\dots ,r$, set ${\rho }_p=\rho$, $n_p=d_{\rho }$, and choose unit right singular vectors $A_p$ and unit left singular vectors $B_p$ with $T_{{\rho }_p}{A}_p={\lambda }_p{B}_p$. DefineBoth are $n\times n_p$ matrices, proving (i). Repeated group representations in this list are literally the same chosen representative, rather than different equivalent realizations.

Within each fixed unitary irreducible representation, choose the selected right singular vectors to be orthonormal. Their corresponding left singular vectors are also orthonormal, even when a singular value is repeated: choose an orthonormal basis in each eigenspace of $T_{\rho }^{\ast }{T}_{\rho }$ and put $B_p=T_{\rho }{A}_p/{\lambda }_p$. Therefore, when ${\rho }_p={\rho }_q$,This is (iv), with the unnormalized Hilbert-Schmidt inner product and the Kronecker delta. No orthogonality of differently shaped matrices is being asserted.

For the unheaded continuation, partition $b\in {\mathbb{C}}^m$ into blocks $b_p\in {\mathbb{C}}^{n_p}$. ThenThe Schur averaging of rectangular matrices formula isfor any $n_p\times n_q$ matrix $M$. The average is an intertwiner; the Schur lemma makes it zero for inequivalent irreducible representations, and a scalar multiple of the identity for the same representative. The trace determines that scalar in the latter case.

Apply this with $M=U(p{)}^{\ast }U(q)$. The Hilbert-Schmidt inner product normalization just proved givesExpanding the squared Euclidean norm now yieldsThus the final identity follows from averaging, although $U^{\ast }U$ itself need not be the identity. The whole construction is the spectral inverse theorem for the matrix-valued U2 quantity.

Fix a positive-mass unitary irreducible representation at rest, $P^{\mu }=(M,0,0,0)$ with $M>0$. Use the central charge in supersymmetry conventionThe conjugate relation is $\{{\bar{Q}}_{\dot{\alpha }A},{\bar{Q}}_{\dot{\beta }B}\}={ϵ}_{\dot{\alpha }\dot{\beta }}\overline{Z^{AB}}$, with the dotted epsilon tensor the conjugate of the undotted one. The supercharges commute with $P_{\mu }$ and the central charges. Their Lorentz transformation is that of a Weyl spinor; together with the ordinary Poincare algebra, these relations specify the Super-Poincaré algebra. Take ${ϵ}_{12}=1$ and write $Z^{12}=2z$. This makes the normalization of the mass bound explicit: a convention that writes $2{ϵ}_{\alpha \beta }{Z}^{AB}$ instead has $z=Z^{12}$.

When $Z=0$, define four fermionic annihilation operators and their fermionic creation operators byIn the rest frame they obey the canonical anticommutation relations $\{a_i,a_j^{†}\}={\delta }_{ij}$ and $\{a_i,a_j\}=0$. Choose a spin-zero Clifford vacuum annihilated by all four $a_i$. Acting with each distinct creator at most once constructs the fermionic Fock spaceThe five levels have the binomial coefficient multiplicities $1,4,6,4,1$, so the massive supermultiplet contains $2^4=16$ states. The four creators are two copies of the spin-one-half SU(2) representation. Their second exterior power isHere the first factor carries physical spin and the second counts the two supersymmetries. Thus level two contains one spin-one triplet and three spin-zero singlets; levels one and three each contain two spin-one-half doublets. The final spin content isEven levels give eight boson states and odd levels eight fermion states, exhibiting boson-fermion degeneracy in a supermultiplet.

For nonzero $z=|z|e^{i\phi }$, pair the two supersymmetries before normalizing. DefineThe rest-frame algebra gives $\{q_{\alpha },r_{\beta }^{†}\}=2z{\delta }_{\alpha \beta }$ and consequentlyFor $M>|z|$, divide $b^{\pm }$ by $\sqrt{2(M\pm |z|)}$ to recover four normalized oscillators. Positivity of the Hilbert space norm proves the BPS bound in supersymmetry, sinceThereforeFor a BPS state saturating this bound, both $b_{\alpha }^{-}$ and their adjoints annihilate every state of the representation. Four of the eight real supercharges act trivially. Only the two $b^{+}$ oscillators remain, so a scalar Clifford vacuum gives a shortened massive supermultiplet with two spin-zero states and one spin-one-half doublet:This is the irreducible count at fixed central charge. A CPT completion of a supermultiplet can require the charge-conjugate multiplet as well, doubling it to eight states; the full hypermultiplet count must not be confused with this four-state count. Saturation is a representation-theoretic relation between mass and conserved charge: shortening persists while the state remains BPS, although its existence can change across parameter space.

For even $\mathcal{N}=2n$, unitary skew-diagonalization of an antisymmetric matrix brings the central-charge matrix to blocks $2z_r\left(\begin{array}{cc}0& 1\\ -1& 0\end{array}\right)$, $r=1,\dots ,n$. Repeat the oscillator construction separately for each block. Every block supplies two oscillators with norm $2(M+|z_r|)$ and two with norm $2(M-|z_r|)$, givingIf $k$ blocks saturate, $2k$ complex oscillators disappear, leaving $2\mathcal{N}-2k$. Starting with spin $j_0$, the irreducible state count and preserved fraction areThe largest massive shortening, $k=n$, preserves one-half. The ordinary massive representation has $k=0$. This rest-frame discussion excludes $M=0$, where the massless supermultiplet construction uses a null momentum instead.