Notes on compact Lie groups

Dietmar Salamon
ETH-Zürich
20 December 2002

Contents
1 Lie groups 1

2 Lie group homomorphisms 5

3 The Haar measure 7

4 Invariant inner products 11

5 Maximal toral subgroups 13

6 The center 16

7 Isotropy subgroups 22

8 Centralizers 23

9 Simple groups 24

10 Examples 27

1 Lie groups
A Lie Group is a smooth manifold G with a group structure such that the
multiplication and the inverse map are smooth (C ∞ ). The tangent space at

1
the identity element 1l ∈ G is called the Lie algebra of G and is denoted by

g = Lie(G) = T1l G.

For every g ∈ G the right and left multiplication maps Rg , Lg : G → G are

defined by
Rg (h) := hg, Lg (h) := gh
for h ∈ G. We shall denote the derivatives of these maps by

vg := dRg (h)v ∈ Thg G, gv := dLg (h)v ∈ Tgh G

for v ∈ Th G. In particular, for h = 1l and ξ ∈ T1l G = g, we have ξg, gξ ∈ Tg G

and hence ξ determines two vector fields g 7→ gξ and g 7→ ξg on G. These
are called the left-invariant respectively right-invariant vector fields gen-
erated by ξ. We shall prove in Lemma 1.2 below that the integral curves of
both vector fields through g0 = 1l agree.
Exercise 1.1. (i) Prove that

(v0 g1 )g2 = v0 (g1 g2 )

for v0 ∈ Tg0 G and g1 , g2 ∈ G. Similarly

(g0 v1 )g2 = g0 (v1 g2 ), (g0 g1 )v2 = g0 (g1 v2 ).

(ii) Prove that with the above notation the usual multiplication rule holds:
If α, β : R → G are smooth curves then
d
α(t)β(t) = α̇(t)β(t) + α(t)β̇(t).
dt
(Hint: Consider the partial derivatives of the map R2 → G : (s, t) 7→
α(s)β(t) and use the chain rule.)
(iii) Deduce that
d
γ(t)−1 = −γ(t)−1 γ̇(t)γ(t)−1
dt
for every curve γ : R → G.
(iv) Prove that the vector fields g 7→ gξ and g 7→ ξg are complete for every
ξ ∈ g. (Hint: Prove that the length of the existence interval is independent
of the initial condition.)

2
Lemma 1.2. Let ξ ∈ g and γ : R → G be a smooth function. Then the
following conditions are equivalent.

(i)
γ(t + s) = γ(s)γ(t), γ(0) = 1l, γ̇(0) = ξ. (1)

(ii)
γ̇(t) = ξγ(t), γ(0) = 1l. (2)

(iii)
γ̇(t) = γ(t)ξ, γ(0) = 1l. (3)

Moreover, for every ξ ∈ g there exists a unique smooth function γ : R → G

that satisfies either of these conditions.

Proof. That (i) implies (ii) follows by differentiating the identity (1) with re-
spect to s at s = 0. To prove that (ii) implies (i) note that, by Exercise 1.1 (i),
the curves α(t) = γ(t + s) and β(t) = γ(t)γ(s) are both integral curves of
the vector field g 7→ ξg such that α(0) = β(0) = γ(s). Hence they are equal.
This shows that (i) is equivalent to (ii). That (i) is equivalent to (iii) follows
by analogous arguments, interchanging s and t. The last assertion about the
existence of γ follows from Exercise 1.1 (iv).
The exponential map exp : g → G is defined by

exp(ξ) := γξ (1),

where γξ : R → G is the unique solution of (1). With this definition the path
γξ is given by
γξ (t) = exp(tξ).
To see this note that the curve α(s) = γξ (ts) satisfies α̇(s) = tξα(s). Hence
the exponential map satisfies
d
exp(tξ) = ξ exp(tξ) = exp(tξ)ξ.
dt
The adjoint representation of G on its Lie algebra g is defined by

d 
Ad(g)η := gηg :=  g exp(tη)g −1 .
−1
dt t=0

3
In other words the linear map Ad(g) : g → g is the differential of the map
G → G : h 7→ ghg −1 at h = 1l. The map G → Aut(g) : g 7→ Ad(g) is a group
homomorphism

Ad(gh) = Ad(g)Ad(h), Ad(1l) = id,

and is called the adjoint action of G on its Lie algebra. The differential
of this map at g = 1l in the direction ξ ∈ g is denoted by ad(ξ). The Lie
bracket of two elements ξ, η ∈ g is defined by

d 
[ξ, η] := ad(ξ)η =  exp(tξ)η exp(−tξ).
dt t=0
Lemma 1.3. For all ξ, η, ζ ∈ g we have

[ξ, η] = −[η, ξ],

[[ξ, η], ζ] + [[η, ζ], ξ] + [[ζ, ξ], η] = 0.

Proof. We prove that the map g → Vect(G) : ξ 7→ Xξ defined by Xξ (g) = ξg
is a Lie algebra homomorphism. To see this denote by ψt ∈ Diff(G) the flow
generated by Xξ , that is
ψt (g) = exp(tξ)g.
Then, by definition of the Lie bracket of vector fields,

d 
[Xξ , Xη ](g) = dψt (ψ−t (g))Xη (ψ−t (g))
dt t=0

d 
= exp(tξ)η exp(−tξ)g
dt t=0
= [ξ, η]g

Here we have used Exercise 1.1 (i). Now the statement follows from the
properties of the Lie bracket for vector fields.
Lemma 1.4. Let ξ, η ∈ g and define γ : R → G by

γ(t) = exp(tξ) exp(tη) exp(−tξ) exp(−tη).

Then γ̇(0) = 0 and 

d  √
γ( t) = [ξ, η].
dt t=0

4
Proof. As in the proof of Lemma 1.3, the flow of the vector field Xξ (g) = ξg
on G is given by t 7→ Lexp(tξ) and [Xξ , Xη ] = X[ξ,η] for ξ, η ∈ g. Hence the
result follows from the corresponding formula for general vector fields.
Lemma 1.5. Let R2 → G : (s, t) 7→ g(s, t) be a smooth function. Then


 
∂s g −1 ∂t g − ∂t g −1 ∂s g + g −1 ∂s g, g −1∂t g = 0.

Proof. If M is a smooth manifold, γ : R2 → M is a smooth function, and

X(s, t), Y (s, t) ∈ Vect(M ) are smooth families of vector fields such that

∂s γ = X ◦ γ, ∂t γ = Y ◦ γ,

then
(∂s Y − ∂t X − [X, Y ]) ◦ γ = 0.
To obtain the required formula, apply this to the manifold M = G, the
function g : R2 → G, and the vector fields X(s, t) = Xξ(s,t) , Y (s, t) = Xη(s,t) ,
where ξ = (∂s g)g −1 and η = (∂t g)g −1 .
Exercise 1.6. Prove that for every g ∈ G and every ξ ∈ g

g exp(ξ)g −1 = exp(Ad(g)ξ)

(Hint: Consider the curve γ(t) = g exp(tξ)g −1 and use Exercise 1.1.)
Exercise 1.7. Prove that any two elements ξ, η ∈ g satisfy [ξ, η] = 0 if and
only if exp(sξ) and exp(tη) commute for all s, t ∈ R.

2 Lie group homomorphisms

Let G and H be Lie groups with corresponding Lie algebras g and h. A Lie
group homomorphism is a smooth map φ : G → H which is a group homo-
morphism. A linear map Φ : g → h is called a Lie algebra homomorphism
if
[Φ(ξ), Φ(η)] = Φ([ξ, η]).
for all ξ, η ∈ g. The next lemma asserts that the differential of a Lie group
homomorphism at the identity is a Lie algebra homomorphism. An example
is the map g → Vect(G) : ξ 7→ Xξ in the proof of Lemma 1.3 above. In this
case the corresponding Lie group homomorphism is the map G 7→ Diff(G) :
g 7→ Lg . (See Example 10.14 below.)

5
Lemma 2.1. If φ : G → H is a Lie group homomorphism then Φ = dφ(1l) :
g → h is a Lie algebra homomorphism
Proof. We show first that Φ and φ intertwine the the exponential maps, i.e.

exp(Φ(ξ)) = φ(exp(ξ)) (4)

for all ξ ∈ g. To see consider the curve γ(t) := φ(exp(tξ)) ∈ H. This curve
satisfies γ(s + t) = γ(s)γ(t) for all s, t ∈ R and γ̇(0) = Φ(ξ). Hence, by
Lemma 1.2, γ(t) = exp(tΦ(ξ)). With t = 1 this proves (4).
Next we prove that

Φ(g −1 ξg) = φ(g)−1 Φ(ξ)φ(g) (5)

for ξ ∈ g and g ∈ G. To see this, consider the curve γ(t) := g exp(tξ)g −1 .

By (4),
φ(γ(t)) = φ(g) exp(tΦ(ξ))φ(g)−1 .
Differentiating this curve at t = 0 we obtain (5). It follows from (4) and (5)
that

d 
Φ([ξ, η]) = Φ(exp(tξ)η exp(−tξ))
dt t=0

d 
= exp(tΦ(ξ))Φ(η) exp(−tΦ(ξ))
dt t=0
= [Φ(ξ), Φ(η)]

for all ξ, η ∈ g. This proves the lemma.

A representation of G is a Lie group homomorphism ρ : G → Aut(V )
where V is a real or complex vector space. Differentiating such a map at
g = 1l gives a Lie algebra homomorphism ρ̇ : g → End(V ) defined by

d 
ρ̇(ξ) =  ρ(exp(tξ))
dt t=0

for ξ ∈ g. For example the map G → Aut(g) : g 7→ Ad(g) is the adjoint

representation of G on its Lie algebra with corresponding Lie algebra ho-
momorphism g 7→ End(g) : ξ 7→ ad(ξ). Also there is the obvious action of
U(n) on Cn and the induced actions on spaces of symmetric polynomials or
exterior forms.

6
3 The Haar measure
Let G be a compact Lie group and denote by C(G) the space of continuous
functions f : G → R with the norm

kf k := sup |f (g)| .
g∈G

The next theorem asserts the existence of a translation invariant measure on

every compact Lie group. The result and its proof extend to every compact
topological group that satisfies the second axiom of countability (i.e. it has
a finite or countable basis).

Theorem 3.1. Let G be a compact Lie group. Then there exists a bounded
linear functional M : C(G) → R that satisfies the following conditions.

(i) M (1) = 1.

(ii) M is left invariant, i.e. M (f ◦ Lg ) = M (f ) for f ∈ C(G) and g ∈ G.

(iii) M is right invariant, i.e. M (f ◦ Rg ) = M (f ) for f ∈ C(G) and g ∈ G.

(iv) If f ≥ 0 and f 6= 0 then M (f ) > 0.

(v) Let φ : G → G denote the diffeomorphism defined by φ(g) = g −1 . Then

M (f ◦ φ) = M (f ) for every f ∈ C(G).

M is uniquely determined by (i) and either (ii) or (iii). It is called the Haar
measure on G.

Proof. We follow notes by Moser which in turn are based on a proof by

Pontryagin. Let A denote the set of all measures on G of the form
k
X
A= α i δ ai
i=1

P P`
where αi ∈ Q and i αi = 1. If B = j=1 βj δbj is another such measure,
denote
k X̀
X
A · B := α i βj δ ai b j .
i=1 j=1

7
This defines a group structure on A. For A ∈ A we define two linear operators
LA , RA : C(G) → C(G) by
m
X m
X
(LA f )(g) := αi f (ai g), (RA f )(g) := αi f (gai )
i=1 i=1

for f ∈ C(G) and g ∈ G. Then

LA (f ◦ Rh ) = (LA f ) ◦ Rh , RA (f ◦ Lh ) = (RA f ) ◦ Lh , (6)

LA·B = LB ◦ LA , RA·B = RA ◦ RB , LA ◦ R B = R B ◦ L A , (7)

min f ≤ LA f ≤ max f, min f ≤ RA f ≤ max f. (8)
We make use of the following three observations.
Observation 1: Denote Osc(f ) := max f − min f . If f ∈ C(G) is non-
constant then there exists an A ∈ A such that min f < min LA f and hence
Osc(LA f ) < Osc(f ).
Suppose f assumes its maximum at a point g0 ∈ G. Choose a neighbourhood
U ⊂ G of 1l such that
1
gg0 −1 ∈ U =⇒ f (g) > (max f + min f ).
2
S
Now G = a∈G a−1 U . Since G is compact, there exist finitely many points
a1 , . . . , am ∈ G such that
m
[
G= ai −1 U.
i=1

This means that for every h ∈ P G there exists an i such that ai h ∈ U .

−1
Consider the measure A := m i δai . Since, for every g ∈ G, at least one
−1
of the points ai gg0 lies in U we obtain
m
1 X
(LA f )(g) = f (ai g)
m i=1
m−1 1
≥ min f + (max f + min f )
m 2m
> min f.

Hence min LA f > min f and, by (8), Osc(LA f ) < Osc(f ).

8
Observation 2: For every f ∈ C(G) the set L(f ) := {LA f | A ∈ A} is
bounded and equicontinuous.
Boundedness follows from (8). To prove equicontinuity, note that, since G
is compact and second countable, it is a metrizable topological space. Let
d : G × G → R be a distance function which induces the given topology.
Fix a function f ∈ C(G) and an ε > 0. Since G is compact, f is uniformly
continuous. Hence there is a δ > 0 such that, for all g, h ∈ G,

d(g, h) < δ =⇒ |f (g) − f (h)| < ε. (9)

We prove that there is an open neighbourhood U ⊂ G of 1l such that

g −1 h ∈ U =⇒ d(g, h) < δ. (10)

We argue by contradiction. Suppose that there exist sequences gν , hν ∈ G

such that gν −1 hν → 1l and d(gν , hν ) ≥ δ. Passing to a subsequence we may
assume that gν converges to g. Then hν = gν (gν −1 hν ) converges also to g.
Hence, for ν sufficiently large, we have d(gν , g) < δ/2 and d(hν , g) < δ/2,
contradicting the assumption that d(gν , hν ) ≥ δ. This proves (10). A similar
argument shows that there is a constant δ 0 > 0 such that

d(g, h) < δ 0 =⇒ g −1 h ∈ U. (11)

Now let g, h ∈ G such that d(g, h) < δ 0 . Then, by (11), g −1 h ∈ U , hence

(ag)−1 (ah) = g −1 h ∈ U for every a ∈ G, hence, by (10), d(ag, ah) < δ, and
hence it follows from (9) that |f (ag) − f (ah)| < ε for every a ∈ G. This
implies |(LA f )(g) − (LA f )(h)| < ε for every A ∈ A. Thus we have proved
equicontinuity.
Observation 3: For every f ∈ C(G), inf A∈A Osc(LA f ) = 0.
Choose a sequence Aν ∈ A such that

lim Osc(LAν f ) = inf Osc(LA f ).

ν→∞ A∈A

By Observation 2 and the Arzéla-Ascoli theorem, the sequence fν := LAν f

has a uniformly convergent subsequence (still denoted by fν ). Let f0 denote
the limit of this subsequence. Then

Osc(f0 ) = inf Osc(LA f ). (12)

A∈A

9
Now, for every B ∈ A,

Osc(LB f0 ) = lim Osc(LB LAν f ) = lim Osc(LAν ·B f ) ≥ Osc(f0 ).

ν→∞ ν→∞

The penultimate equality follows from (7) and the last inequality from (12).
By Observation 1, f0 is constant. Hence Osc(f0 ) = 0 and so Observation 3
follows from (12).
Observation 3 shows that there is a sequence Aν ∈ A such that LAν f
converges uniformly to a constant p ∈ R (called a left mean of f ). Similarly,
there exists a sequence Bν ∈ A such that RBν f converges uniformly to a
constant q ∈ R (called a right mean of f ). Since

kLA RB f − RB f k ≤ Osc(RB f ), kRB LA f − LA f k ≤ Osc(LA f ) (13)

for f ∈ C(G) and A, B ∈ A it follows that the right and left means agree and
hence are independent of the choices of the sequences Aν and Bν . Namely,

p = lim RBν LAν f = lim LAν RBν f = q.

ν→∞ ν→∞

Let us define the operator M : C(G) → R by

M (f ) := lim LAν f = lim RBν f,

ν→∞ ν→∞

where Aν , Bν ∈ A are chosen such that Osc(LAν f ) and Osc(RBν f ) converge

to zero. Thus M (f ) is the left mean and the right mean of f . It is immediate
from this definition that M (1) = 1, M (λf ) = λM (f ) for λ ∈ R, that M is
left and right invariant, and

min f ≤ M (f ) ≤ max f.

Now let f, f 0 ∈ C(M ) and choose sequences Aν , Bν ∈ A such that

M (f ) = lim LAν f, M (f 0 ) = lim RBν f 0 .

ν→∞ ν→∞

Since M is left and right invariant, we have M (LAν RBν (f + f 0 )) = M (f + f 0 ).

Hence there is a sequence Cν ∈ A such that

M (f + f 0 ) = lim LCν RBν LAν (f + f 0 ).

ν→∞

10
By (13), the right hand side also converges to M (f ) + M (f 0 ) and hence
M (f + f 0 ) = M (f ) + M (f 0 )
for f, f 0 ∈ C(G). Thus we have proved that M is a nonegative bounded linear
functional that satisfies the assertions (i), (ii), and (iii) of the theorem.
We prove that M satisfies (iv). Hence let f ∈ C(G) be a function such
that f ≥ 0 and f 6≡ 0. Then, by Observation 1, there exists an A ∈ A such
that
min LA f > 0.
Choose Bν ∈ A such that RBν f converges to M (f ). Then
M (f ) = lim LA RBν f = lim RBν LA f ≥ min LA f > 0
ν→∞ ν→∞

as claimed.
Next we prove that M is uniquely determined by conditions (i) and (ii).
To see this, let M 0 be another bounded linear functional on C(G) that satis-
fies (i) and (ii). Then M 0 (c) = c for every constant c and
M 0 (LA f ) = M 0 (f )
for every f ∈ C(G) and every A ∈ A. Given f ∈ C(G) choose a sequence
Aν ∈ A such that LAν f converges uniformly to M (f ). Then
M (f ) = M 0 (M (f )) = lim M 0 (LAν f ) = M 0 (f ).
ν→∞

This proves uniqueness. That M satisfies condition (v) follows from unique-
ness and the fact that the map C(G) → R : f 7→ M (f ◦ φ) is a bounded
linear functional that satisfies (i) and (ii). This proves the theorem.

4 Invariant inner products

An inner product h., .i on g is called invariant if it is invariant under the
adjoint action of G, i.e.
hg −1 ξg, g −1ηgi = hξ, ηi
for ξ, η ∈ g and g ∈ G. A Riemannian metric on G is called bi-invariant
if the left and right translations Lh and Rh are isometries for every h ∈ G.
Every invariant inner product on g determines a bi-invariant metric on G via
hv, wi := hg −1 v, g −1 wi = hvg −1 , wg −1i (14)

11
for v, w ∈ Tg G. In turn, such a metric determines a volume form and hence
a bi-invariant measure on G. By Theorem 3.1 this agrees with the Haar
measure up to a constant factor. Conversely, if G is compact, one can use
the existence of a translation invariant measure to prove the existence of an
invariant inner product.

Proposition 4.1. Let G be a compact Lie group. Then g carries an invariant

inner product.

Proof. Let M : C(G) → R denote the Haar measure and Q : g×g → R be any
inner product. For ξ, η ∈ g define fξ,η : G → R by fξ,η (g) := Q(gξg −1, gηg −1 ).
Then the formula hξ, ηi := M (fξ,η ) defines an inner product on g. That it is
invariant follows from the formula fhξh−1 ,hηh−1 = fξ,η ◦ Rh .

Remark 4.2. (i) The proof of Proposition 4.1 shows that the existence of a
right invariant measure on G suffices to establish the existence of an invariant
inner product on g, and hence the existence of a bi-invariant measure on G.
(ii) On any Lie group the existence of a right invariant measure is easy to
prove. Choose any inner product on g and extend it to a Riemannian metric
on G by left translation. Then the right translations are isometries and hence
the volume form defines a right invariant measure on G.
(iii) Combining (i) and (ii) gives rise to a simpler proof of the existence of
a Haar measure for compact Lie groups.
(iv) Uniqueness in Theorem 3.1 implies that every left invariant measure is
right invariant. Here is a direct proof for compact Lie Groups: If ω is a left
invariant volume form on G then so is Rg ∗ ω. Hence there exists a group
homomorphism λ : G → R such that Rg ∗ ω = eλ(g) ω. Since G is compact, the
only group homomorphism from G to R is λ = 0.

Lemma 4.3. Let G be a compact Lie group with a bi-invariant Riemannian

metric. Then the geodesics have the form γ(t) = exp(tξ)g for g ∈ G and
ξ ∈ g.

Proof. Let I = [a, b] ⊂ R be a closed interval and γ0 : I → G be a geodesic.

Let ξ : I → g be a smooth function such that ξ(a) = ξ(b) = 0 and consider
the function
γ(s, t) = γ0 (t) exp(sξ(t)).

12
Then γ −1 ∂s γ = ξ and hence
Z Z b
1 d b −1 −1
hγ ∂t γ, γ ∂t γi dt = h∂s (γ −1 ∂t γ), γ −1 ∂t γi dt
2 ds a a
Z b
= h∂t (γ −1 ∂s γ), γ −1 ∂t γi dt
a
Z b
= − hξ, ∂t (γ −1 ∂t γ)i dt.
a
Here the penultimate equality follows from Lemma 1.5 and Exercise 4.5.
Since the left hand side vanishes for s = 0 and every ξ it follows that
∂t (γ0 −1 ∂t γ0 ) ≡ 0. This proves the lemma.
Exercise 4.4. (i) Prove that the group GL+ (n, R) of real n × n-matrices
with positive determinant is connected.
(ii) Prove that the exponential map exp : Rn×n → GL+ (n, R) is not surjec-
tive. (Hint: Every negative eigenvalue of an exponential matrix Φ = exp(A)
must have even multiplicity.)
(iii) Prove that Φ2 is an exponential matrix for every Φ ∈ GL(n, R).
(iv) Prove that for every compact connected Lie group G the exponential
map exp : g → G is onto. (Hint: Use Proposition 4.1 (existence of an
invariant inner product), Lemma 4.3 (geodesics and exponential map), and
the Hopf-Rinow theorem (the existance of minimal geodesics).
Exercise 4.5. Let G be a compact connected Lie group. Prove that an inner
product h·, ·i on g = Lie(G) is invariant if and only if
h[ξ, η], ζi = hξ, [η, ζ]i
for ξ, η, ζ ∈ g.

5 Maximal toral subgroups

Let G be a compact connected Lie group. A Lie subgroup of G is a closed
subgroup H which is a submanifold. A linear subspace h ⊂ g is called a
Lie subalgebra if it is invariant under the Lie bracket. If H ⊂ G is a Lie
subgroup then, by definition of the Lie bracket, h = T1l H is a Lie subalgebra
of g. A maximal torus in G is a connected abelian subgroup T ⊂ G which
is not properly contained in any other connected abelian subgroup. The
fundamental example is the subgroup of diagonal matrices in U(n) or SU(n).

13
Exercise 5.1. Let T ⊂ G be a maximal torus with Lie algebra t = Lie(T ).
Let η ∈ g such that [η, τ ] = 0 for every τ ∈ t. Prove that η ∈ t.
Lemma 5.2. Let G be a compact connected Lie group and T ⊂ G be a
maximal torus. Then every element in G is conjugate to an element in T .
Proof. Given h ∈ G choose ξ ∈ g with exp(ξ) = h. Such an element exists by
Exercise 4.4 (iv). Then, by Exercise 1.6, ghg −1 = exp(gξg −1) for every g ∈ G.
Hence we must find g ∈ G such that gξg −1 ∈ Lie(T ) = t. Choose an invariant
inner product on g and fix a generator τ ∈ t such that {exp(sτ ) | s ∈ R} is
dense in T . Since the orbit of ξ under the adjoint action of G is compact
there is an η ∈ g, conjugate to ξ, which minimizes the distance to τ in this
conjugacy class, i.e.
|η − τ |2 = inf |gηg −1 − τ |2 .
g∈G

We must prove that η ∈ t. To see this differentiate the map

G → R : g 7→ |gηg −1 − τ |2
at g = 1l to obtain hη − τ, [ζ, η]i = 0 for all ζ ∈ g. This implies hζ, [η, τ ]i = 0
for all ζ ∈ g and hence [η, τ ] = 0. By Exercise 1.7, exp(tη) commutes with
exp(sτ ) for all s and t. Since τ generates the torus, it follows that exp(tη)
commutes with T for every t and hence [η, t] = 0. By Exercise 5.1, this
implies η ∈ t.
Lemma 5.3. Any two maximal tori in G are conjugate.
Proof. Let T1 , T2 ⊂ G be two

maximal tori and choose an element g2 ∈ T2
such that T2 = cl g2 | k ∈ Z . By Lemma 5.2, there exists a g ∈ G such
k

that g2 ∈ gT1 g −1 . Hence T2 ⊂ gT1 g −1 , and hence T2 = gT1 g −1 .

Lemma 5.3 shows that any two maximal tori in G have the same dimen-
sion. This dimension is called the rank of G. The rank of G agrees with the
dimension of a maximal abelian Lie subalgebra of g. (Prove this!)
Lemma 5.4. Let G be a compact connected Lie group and T ⊂ G be a
maximal torus. Then T is a maximal abelian subgroup of G.
Proof. We follow the argument of Frank Adams in Lectures on Lie groups.
Let h ∈ G be an element that commutes with T . We shall prove that h ∈ T .
To see this let S ⊂ G be a maximal torus containing h and denote by


H := cl hk | k ∈ Z

14
the subgroup of G generated by h. Examining closed subgroups of tori we
see that H is a Lie subgroup of S. Moreover, the Lie algebra h = Lie(H)
commutes with t = Lie(T ) and hence must be contained in t. Hence the
identity component of H is equal to H ∩ T and the quotient H/H ∩ T is a
finite group. This finite group is generated by a single element [h] ∈ G/T ∩H
and hence is isomorphic to Zm for some integer m. This implies hm ∈ T.
Hence the set
Tb := {hi t | t ∈ T, 1 ≤ i ≤ m − 1}
is a Lie subgroup of G such that

Tb/T ∼
= Zm .

Any such group is generated by a single element b h. To see this, let φ :

R /Z → T be an isomorphism, choose a vector ω = (ω1 , . . . , ωn ) ∈ Rn
n n

such that the numbers 1, ω1 , . . . , ωn are rationally independent. Choose τ =

(τ1 , . . . , τn ) ∈ Rn such that φ(τ ) = hm . Then the element

b
h := hφ((ω − τ )/m) ∈ G

generates Tb. By Lemma 5.2, there exists a maximal torus containing b h and
hence both h and T . Since T is a maximal torus it follows that h ∈ T .

Example 5.5. In general, a maximal abelian subgroup need not be a torus.

For example the n × n-matrices with diagonal entries ±1 and determinant 1
form a maximal abelian subgroup of G = SO(n).

For every maximal torus T ⊂ G denote


GT := g ∈ G | g −1T g = T .

The quotient W := GT /T is called the Weyl group of T . The next lemma

shows that every adjoint orbit in t intersects t/W in precisely one point.

Lemma 5.6. Let G be a compact connected Lie group and T ⊂ G be a

maximal torus. Let ξ, η ∈ t. Then the following are equivalent.

(i) There exists a g ∈ G such that g −1 ξg = η.

(ii) There exists a g ∈ GT such that g −1 ξg = η.

15
Proof. That (ii) implies (i) is obvious. Hence suppose that g0 −1 ξg0 = η for
some g0 ∈ G. Choose sequences ξν , ην ∈ t such that ξν → ξ, ην → η, and
cl({exp(sξν ) | s ∈ R}) = cl({exp(tην ) | t ∈ R}) = T
for every ν. Choose gν ∈ G such that
 −1   
gν ξν gν − ην  = inf g −1 ξν g − ην  . (15)
g∈G

Since |g0 −1 ξν g0 − ην | converges to zero it follows that

 
lim gν −1 ξν gν − ην  = 0. (16)
ν→∞
2
Now differentiate the function g 7→ |g −1 ξν g − ην | at g = gν . Then, by (15),
we obtain

1 d   −1
2

0 = exp(−tζ)g ξ g exp(tζ) − η
2 dt 
ν ν ν ν
t=0
= hgν −1 ξν gν − ην , [gν −1 ξν gν , ζ]i
= h[gν −1 ξν gν , ην ], ζi
for every ζ ∈ g. Hence [gν −1 ξν gν , ην ] = 0. Since ην generates the torus T
this implies gν −1 ξν gν ∈ t. Since ξν generates the torus, this implies gν ∈ GT .
Passing to a convergent subsequence, we may assume that gν converges to
some element g ∈ GT . By (16), we have


g −1 ξg − η = lim gν −1 ξν gν − ην = 0
ν→∞

and this proves the lemma.

6 The center
Let G be a connected Lie group. The subgroup
Z(G) = {g ∈ G | gh = hg ∀ h ∈ G}
is called the center of G It is a Lie subgroup with corresponding Lie subal-
gebra
Z(g) = {ξ ∈ g | [ξ, η] = 0 ∀ η ∈ g} .
Note that Z(G) is a normal subgroup and the center of the quotient G/Z(G)
is trivial. The following theorem is due to Herman Weyl.

16
Theorem 6.1. Let G be a compact connected Lie group. Then the first Betti
number of G is given by dim H 1 (G; R) = dim Z(g).

Proof. The proof consists of three steps.

Step 1: Suppose G is equipped with a bi-invariant Riemannian metric. Then
 
1
∇v X(g) = dξ(g)v + [ξ(g), η] g,
2

where ξ : G → g, η ∈ g, v = ηg ∈ Tg G, and X(g) = ξ(g)g.

Suppose first that ξ(g) ≡ ξ is constant. Then, by Lemma 4.3, the integral
curves of Xξ are geodesics. Hence ∇Xξ Xξ = 0 for every ξ ∈ g. Replace ξ by
ξ + η to obtain
∇Xη Xξ + ∇Xξ Xη = 0
for all ξ, η ∈ g. Since ∇Xη Xξ − ∇Xξ Xη = [Xξ , Xη ] = X[ξ,η] it follows that

1
∇Xη Xξ = X[ξ,η] .
2
This proves Step 1 in the case where ξ : G → g is constant. The general case
is an immediate consequence.
Step 2: The Riemann curvature tensor of G is given by
1
R(ξg, ηg)ζg = − [[ξ, η], ζ]g
4
for g ∈ G and ξ, η, ζ ∈ g.
Consider the right invariant vector fields Xξ (g) = ξg for ξ ∈ g. By Step 1,

1
∇Xη Xξ = X[ξ,η] .
2
Hence Step 2 follows by straight forward calculation from the identity

R(Xξ , Xη )Xζ = ∇Xξ ∇Xη Xζ − ∇Xη ∇Xξ Xζ + ∇[Xξ ,Xη ] Xζ .

Step 3: We prove the theorem.

17
Let e1 , . . . , ek be an orthonormal basis of g. Then, by Step 2, the Ricci tensor
of G is given by
k
X k
1X
Ric(ξg, ηg) = hR(ei g, ξg)ηg, eigi = h[ξ, ei ], [η, ei ]i (17)
i=1
4 i=1

Hence Ric(ξg, ξg) ≥ 0 with equality iff ξ ∈ Z(g). Now let α ∈ Ω1 (G) and
choose ξ : G → g such that

αg (ηg) = hξ(g), ηi.

The Bochner-Weitzenböck formula asserts that

Z
2 ∗ 2 2
kdαkL2 + kd αkL2 = k∇αkL2 + Ric(α, α)dvol. (18)
G

Since Ric(α, α) ≥ 0, this shows that α is harmonic if and only if ∇α ≡ 0 and

Ric(α, α) ≡ 0. By (17) and Step 1 this means that
1
dξ(g)ηg = [η, ξ(g)] = 0
2
for every g ∈ G and every η ∈ g. Equivalently, ξ : G → g is constant
and takes values in the center of g. Thus we have proved that the space of
harmonic 1-forms can be identified with Z(g). This proves the theorem.
Theorem 6.2. Let G be a compact Lie group. Then the following holds.
(i) The fundamental group of G is abelian.

(ii) If Z(G) is finite then so is π1 (G).

Proof. Assertion (i) holds for every topological group. To see this let α, β :
[0, 1] → G be loops with α(0) = α(1) = β(0) = β(1) = 1l. Denote

α(2t), if 0 ≤ t ≤ 1/2,
α#β(t) :=
α(1)β(2t − 1), if 1/2 ≤ t ≤ 1.

(Here the term α(1) can be dropped, but the more general form will be
needed below.) Moreover, define

α(2t − s), if s/2 ≤ t ≤ (s + 1)/2,
αs (t) :=
1l, otherwise,

18
and 
β(2t + s − 1), if (1 − s)/2 ≤ t ≤ 1 − s/2,
βs (t) :=
1l, otherwise,
for 0 ≤ s, t ≤ 1. Then γs (t) = αs (t)βs (t) is a homotopy from γ0 = α#β to
γ1 = β#α. This proves (i). To prove (ii) note that, by (i), the fundamental
group
Γ := π1 (G),
is abelian and, Theorem 6.1,

Hom(Γ, R) ∼
= H 1 (G; R) = 0.

This implies that Γ is finite. To see this, note first that Γ is finitely generated.
Let γ1 , . . . , γn ∈ Γ be generators. Since Γ is abelian, the set R ⊂ Zn of all
integer vectors m = (m1 , . . . , mn ) that satisfy

γ 1 m1 · · · γ n mn = 1

form a subgroup of Zn and there is a natural isomorphism

Γ∼
= Zn /R.

Since Hom(Γ, R) = R⊥ = {0} it follows that R spans Rn . Hence the quotient

Rn /R is compact, and hence Γ ∼
= Zn /R is a finite set.
e the universal cover of G. In explicit terms,
Now let us denote by G
e = {γ : [0, 1] → G | γ(0) = 1l} / ∼
G

where ∼ denotes homotopy with fixed endpoints. The projection

e →G
π:G

is given by π([γ]) = γ(1).

Proposition 6.3. Let G be a connected Lie group. Then

e = π −1 (Z(G)).
Z(G)

19
Proof. Let α, β : [0, 1] → G such that α(0) = β(0) = 1l and α(1) ∈ Z(G).
Define 
α((1 + s)t), if 0 ≤ t ≤ 1/(s + 1),
αs (t) :=
α(1), otherwise,
and 
β((2t − s)/(2 − s)), if s/2 ≤ t ≤ 1,
βs (t) :=
1l, otherwise,
for 0 ≤ s, t ≤ 1. Since α(1) ∈ Z(G), we have

α1 β1 = β1 α1 = α#β.

Moreover α0 = α and β0 = β. Hence both αβ and βα are homotopic to α#β.

e The converse inclusion is obvious.
This proves that π −1 (Z(G)) ⊂ Z(G).
The commutator subgroup [G, G] ⊂ G is defined as the smallest sub-
group of G that contains all commutators [a, b] := aba−1 b−1 for a, b ∈ G.
Thus [G, G] is the subset of all products of finitely many such commutators.
It is a normal subgroup of G.

Proposition 6.4. Let G be a compact connected Lie group. Then Z(G) is

finite if and only if [G, G] = G.

Proof. Consider the subbundle

E := {(g, ξg) | ξ ⊥ Z(g)} ⊂ T G.

By Exercise 4.5, the Lie bracket of any two right invariant vector fields
Xξ (g) = ξg and Xη (g) = ηg is contained in E. Hence, by Frobenius’ theorem,
E is integrable. Let H be the leaf of E through 1l, i.e.

H := γ(1) | γ : [0, 1] → G, γ(0) = 1l, γ(t)−1 γ̇(t) ⊥ Z(g) .

If α, β : [0, 1] → G are paths that are tangent to E then so are αβ and α −1 .

Hence H is a subgroup of G. Next we prove that

[G, G] ⊂ H.

To see this note that, for every pair ξ, η ∈ g the curve

γ(t) := exp(tξ) exp(tη) exp(−tξ) exp(−tη)

20
is tangent to E. Since the exponential map is surjective it follows that
every commutator [a, b] = aba−1 b−1 of two elements in G lies in H. Hence
[G, G] ⊂ H. Next we prove that

H ⊂ [G, G]

To see this note that, by Exercise 4.5, the orthogonal complement of Z(g) is
spanned by vectors of the form [ξ, η] for ξ, η ∈ g. Choose ξ1 , . . . , ξk , η1 , . . . , ηk
such that the vectors [ξi , ηi ] form a basis of Z(g)⊥ . For i = 1, . . . , k define
γi : R → [G, G] by
√ √ √ √
γi (t) := exp( tξi ) exp( tηi ) exp(− tξi ) exp(− tηi )

for t ≥ 0 and γi (t) := γi (−t) for t < 0. Then γi is continuously differentiable

and γ̇i (0) = [ξi , ηi ]. Hence the function φ : Rk → [G, G], defined by

φ(t1 , . . . , tk ) := γ1 (t1 ) · · · γk (tk ),

is a continuously differentiable embedding near t = 0 and it is everywhere

tangent to E. Hence the image U0 of a sufficiently small neighbourhood of
0 ∈ Rk under φ is a neighbourhood of 1l in H with respect to the intrinsic
topology of H and it is contained in [G, G]. More generally, for every h ∈ H
the set U = U0 h ⊂ H is a neighbourhood of h with respect to the intrinsic
topology and U h−1 ⊂ [G, G]. Hence the sets H ∩ [G, G] and H \ [G, G] are
both open with respect to the intrinsic topology of H. Since H ∩ [G, G] 6= ∅
it follows that H ⊂ [G, G], as claimed. Thus we have proved that [G, G] = H
is a leaf of the foliation determined by E. Hence [G, G] = G if and only if
E = T G if and only if Z(G) is finite. This proves the proposition.

Corollary 6.5. Let G be a compact connected Lie group with finite center.
Then every principal G-bundle P → Σ over a compact oriented Riemann
surface of sufficiently large genus carries a flat connection.
e is compact. By Propo-
Proof. By Theorem 6.2, π1 (G) is finite, and hence G
sition 6.3, we have
e
π1 (G) = π −1 (1l) ⊂ Z(G).
There is a one-to-one correspondence between isomorphism classes of princi-
pal G-bundles over a Riemann surface and elements γ ∈ π1 (G). Suppose that
Σ is a Riemann surface of genus g and let Pγ → Σ be the principal bundle

21
corresponding to γ ∈ π1 (G). Then a gauge equivalence class of flat connec-
tion on Pγ (with respect to the identity component of the gauge group) can
be represented by elements
e
α 1 , . . . , α g , β1 , . . . , β g ∈ G
that satisfy
g
Y
[αj , βj ] = γ.
j=1

By Proposition 6.4, every element γ ∈ G e can be expressed in this form

e
whenever Z(G) is finite. This proves the corollary.

7 Isotropy subgroups
Let G be a compact connected Lie group and M be a compact smooth
manifold equipped with a left action of G. The action will be denoted by
G × M → M : (g, x) 7→ gx.
The isotropy subgroup of an element x ∈ M is defined by
Gx := {h ∈ G | hx = x} .
Since Ggx = gGxg −1 the set of isotropy subgroups is invariant under conjuga-
tion. The next theorem asserts that the set of conjugacy classes of isotropy
subgroups is finite.
Theorem 7.1. There exist finitely many Lie subgroups H1 , . . . , HN of G such
that for every x ∈ M there exists a j such that Gx is conjugate to Hj .
Proof. The proof is by induction on the dimension of M . If M is zero dimen-
sional then the result is obvious. Now assume that dim M = n > 0 and that
the result has been proved for all manifolds of dimensions less than n. We
prove that every point x0 ∈ M has a neighbourhood U in which only finitely
many isotropy subgroups occur up to conjugacy. To see this, let G0 := Gx0
choose a G-invariant metric on M , denote by Lx : g → Tx M the infinitesimal
action, and consider the horizontal space H0 := ker L∗x0 ⊂ Tx0 M . Then the
exponential map
G × H0 → M : (g, v0 ) 7→ g expx0 (v0 )

22
descends to a map
φ0 : G ×G0 H0 → M,
where (g, v0 ) ∼ (gg0 , g0−1 v0 ) for g ∈ G, v0 ∈ H0 , and g0 ∈ G0 . The restriction
of φ0 to a sufficiently small neighbourhood of the zero section in the vector
bundle G ×G0 H0 → G/G0 is a G-equivariant diffeomorphism onto a neigh-
bourhood of the G-orbit of x0 . It follows that the isotropy groups of points
x ∈ M belonging to this neighbourhood are all conjugate to subgroups of G0
that appear as isotropy subgroups of the action of G0 on H0 . By consider-
ing the action of G0 on the unit sphere in H0 we obtain from the induction
hypothesis that there are only finitely many such isotropy subgroups. This
proves the local statement. Cover M by finitely many such neighbourhoods
to prove the global assertion.

8 Centralizers
Let G be a compact connected Lie group. For any subset H ⊂ G the cen-
tralizer of H is defined by

Z(H) := Z(H; G) := {g ∈ G | gh = hg ∀ h ∈ H}

This set is a Lie subgroup of G with Lie algebra

 \
Lie(Z(H)) = ξ ∈ g | hξh−1 = ξ ∀ h ∈ H = ker(1l − Ad(h)).
h∈H

Moreover, Z(G) = Z(G; G) is the center of G and Z(Z(G); G) = G. A

subgroup H ⊂ G is abelian iff H ⊂ Z(H; G) and is maximal abelian iff
H = Z(H; G). For a singleton H = {h} we denote Z(h) := Z({h}).

Lemma 8.1. Let G be a group. Then, for every subset H ⊂ G,

H ⊂ Z(Z(H)), Z(Z(Z(H)) = Z(H).

Proof. The first assertion follows directly from the definition and the second
follows from the first. Namely, since H ⊂ Z(Z(H)) we have Z(Z(Z(H)) ⊂
Z(H), and the converse inclusion follows by applying the first assertion to
Z(H) instead of H. This proves the lemma.

23
 A subgroup H ⊂ G is called a centralizer subgroup if there exists a
subset of G whose centralizer is equal to H. By Lemma 8.1 this condition is
equivalent to
H = Z(Z(H)). (19)
A Lie subalgebra h ⊂ g is called a centralizer subalgebra if there exists a
centralizer subgroup H ⊂ G such that h = Lie(H). Let us denote by Z ⊂ 2G
the set of all centralizer subgroups. By (19), the map

Z → Z : H 7→ Z(H)

is an involution. Moreover the group G acts on Z by conjugation and the

involution H 7→ Z(H) is equivariant under this action, i.e.

Z(gHg −1 ) = gZ(H)g −1.

The fixed points of the involution are the maximal abelian subgroups of G and
hence are also fixed points of the conjugate action. Consider the equivalence
relation H ∼ H 0 iff H 0 = gHg −1 for some g ∈ G. The following theorem
asserts that the quotient Z/ ∼ is a finite set.
Theorem 8.2. Let G be a compact connected Lie group. Then there exist
finitely many centralizer subgroups H1 , . . . , Hm of G such that every central-
izer subgroup H ⊂ G is conjugate to one of the Hi .
Proof. Since G is compact it admits a faithful representation ρ : G → U(n).
Now let H ⊂ G be a subgroup and g ∈ Z(H). Then ρ(g) commutes
with all matrices in the span of ρ(H). Thus it suffices to pick n2 elements
h1 , . . . , hn2 ∈ H such that ρ(H) is contained in the span of the matrices
ρ(hi ). Then Z(H) can be characterized as the set of all g ∈ G such that ρ(g)
commutes with ρ(hi ) for i = 1, . . . , n2 . In other words, if the group G acts on
2
the vector space V := (C n×n )n by g · Ai := ρ(g)Ai ρ(g)−1 for i = 1, . . . , n2 ,
then every centralizer subgroup of G is the isotropy subgroup of some ele-
ment of V . By Theorem 7.1, the set of conjugacy classes of such isotropy
subgroups is finite.

9 Simple groups
A Lie subalgebra h ⊂ g is called an ideal if [h, g] ⊂ h. The Lie algebra of a
normal Lie subgroup of G is necessarily an ideal. A Lie algebra g is called

24
simple if it has no nontrivial ideals (that is {0} and g are the only ideals in
g). It is called semi-simple if it is a direct sum of simple Lie algebras. A
Lie group is called simple (respectively semi-simple) if its Lie algebra is
simple (respectively semi-simple).

Theorem 9.1. Every compact connected simply connected simple Lie group
is isomorphic to one in the following list

An = SU(n + 1), n ≥ 1,
Bn = Spin(2n + 1), n ≥ 2,
Cn = Sp(n), n ≥ 3,
Dn = Spin(2n), n ≥ 4,

or to one of the exceptional groups G2 , F4 , E6 , E7 , E8 .

There are relations such as Spin(3) = SU(2) = Sp(1), Spin(5) = Sp(2),

and Spin(6) = SU(4). The groups D1 = Spin(2) = U(1) = S 1 and Spin(4) =
SU(2) × SU(2) are not simple. (See Exercises 10.10 and 10.11 below for
Spin(3) and Spin(4).)

The Killing form

Every Lie algebra carries a natural pairing

κ(ξ, η) = trace(ad(ξ)ad(η))

called the Killing form. On su(n) this form is negative definite. In general
the Killing form may have a kernel and/or be indefinite.

Theorem 9.2 (Cartan). The Killing form is nondegenerate (and negative

definite) if and only if G is semisimple.

Exercise 9.3. Prove that the Killing forms on su(n) and so(2n) are given
by
κ(ξ, η) = −(2n − 1) trace(ξ ∗ η), ξ, η ∈ su(n),
κ(ξ, η) = −(n − 2) trace(ξ T η), ξ, η ∈ so(2n).

Exercise 9.4. Prove that the Killing form on SL(2, R) is indefinite.

25
Root systems
Let G be a compact Lie group with maximal torus T . The exponential map
is onto by Exercise 4.4 (iv). It determines an isomorphism

T ∼
= t/Λ
where t = Lie(T ) and

Λ := {τ ∈ t | exp(τ ) = 1l}
is a lattice which spans t. A one-dimensional complex representation is a
homomorphism T → S 1 . Under the identification T ∼ = t/Λ any such ho-
momorphism is of the form τ 7→ e2πiw(τ ) where w : t → R is a linear map
with
w(Λ) ⊂ Z.
Any such map w ∈ t∗ is called a weight. Now consider the adjoint represen-
tation of T on g. Since the action preserves any invariant inner product the
commuting endomorphisms Ad(τ ) for τ ∈ t are simultaneously diagonalizable
(over C). It follows that there exists a decomposition
M
g=t⊕ Vα
α

where Vα ⊂ g are two dimensional representations of T . In other words there

exists a complex structure Jα on Vα and weights wα ∈ t∗ such that

[τ, ξ] = 2πJα wα (τ )ξ, τ ∈ t, ξ ∈ Vα .

The weights wα are called the roots of the Lie algebra g. For each α define
τα ∈ t to be the dual element with respect to the Killing form:

κ(τα , σ) = wα (σ), σ ∈ t.

The length of the root wα is defined by

p
`(α) = −κ(τα , τα ).

The length of the longest root is an important invariant of the Lie group G.
We denote the square of its inverse by
1
a(G) = .
supα `(α)2

26
Here is a list of these invariants for the simple groups.

G dim(G) a(G)

SU(n) n2 − 1 n
Spin(n) 21 n(n − 1) n − 2
Sp(n) n(2n + 1) n + 1
G2 14 4
F4 52 9
E6 78 12
E7 133 18
E8 248 30

10 Examples
Example 10.1 (General linear group). The group GL(n, R) of invertible
real n × n-matrices is a Lie group. This space is an open set in Rn×n and
hence is obviously a manifold. Its Lie algebra is the vector space Rn×n of all
real n × n matrices with Lie bracket operation

[A, B] = AB − BA.

In this case the exponential map

exp : Rn×n → GL(n, R)

is the usual exponential map for matrices and the expressions gv and vg
for v ∈ Th G are given by matrix multiplication. The example GL(n, C) of
invertible complex n × n-matrices is similar. However, the group GL(n, C)
is connected while the group GL(n, R) has two components distinguished by
the sign of the determinant.

Example 10.2 (Special linear group). The determinant map

det : GL(n, C) → C∗

is a Lie group homomorphism and its kernel is a Lie group denoted by


SL(n, C) = Φ ∈ Cn×n | det Φ = 1 .

27
The formula det(exp(A)) = exp(trace(A)) shows that the Lie algebra of
SL(n, C) is given by

sl(n, C) = A ∈ Cn×n | trace A = 0 .

The Lie group SL(n, R) with Lie algebra sl(n, R) is defined analogously.
Example 10.3 (Circle). The unit circle S 1 = {z ∈ C | |z| = 1} in the
complex plane is a Lie group (under multiplication of complex numbers). Its
Lie algebra is the space iR of imaginary numbers with zero Lie bracket. (See
Exercise 1.7.) There is a Lie group isomorphism

R/Z → S 1 : t 7→ e2πit .

Example 10.4 (Torus). Let V be an n-dimensional real vector space and

Λ ⊂ V be a lattice (a discrete additive subgroup) which spans V . Then

T = V /Λ

is a compact abelian Lie group (the group operation is the addition in V ) with
Lie algebra V . The exponential map is the projection V → V /Λ. Any such
Lie group is called a torus. Tori can be characterized as compact connected
finite dimensional abelian Lie groups. The basic example is the standard
torus
Tn = Rn /Zn
and every n-dimensional torus is isomorphic to Tn .
Example 10.5 (Orthogonal group). The orthogonal n × n-matrices form
a Lie group 
O(n) = Φ ∈ Rn×n | ΦT Φ = 1l .
This group has two components distinguished by the determinant det Φ = ±1
and the component of the identity is denoted by

SO(n) = {Φ ∈ O(n) | det Φ = 1}.

Its Lie algebra is the space of antisymmetric matrices


so(n) = A ∈ Rn×n | AT + A = 0 .

The group SO(n) is compact and connected and the exponential map is
surjective (see Exercise 4.4).

28
Example 10.6 (Unitary group). The unitary n × n-matrices form a Lie
group 
U(n) = U ∈ Cn×n | U ∗ U = 1l
where U ∗ denotes the conjugate transpose of U . This group is connected and
its Lie algebra is given by

u(n) = A ∈ Cn×n | A∗ + A = 0 .

The case n = 1 corresponds to the circle S 1 = U(1). The subgroup of unitary

matrices of determinant 1 is denoted by

SU(n) = U(n) ∩ SL(n, C)

and its Lie algebra by

su(n) = {A ∈ u(n) | trace(A) = 0} .

Both groups U(n) and SU(n) are compact and connected.

Example 10.7 (Unit quaternions). Denote by H = R4 the space of
quaternions
x = x0 + ix1 + jx2 + kx3
with (noncommutative) multiplicative structure

i2 = j 2 = k 2 = −1, ij = −ji = k, jk = −kj = i ki = −ik = j.

The norm of x ∈ H is defined by

|x|2 = xx̄ = x0 2 + x1 2 + x2 2 + x3 2 , x̄ = x0 − ix1 − jx2 − kx3 ,

and satisfies the rule |xy| = |x| · |y|. Hence the unit quaternions form a group

Sp(1) = {x ∈ H | |x| = 1}

with unit 1 and inverse map x 7→ x̄. Its Lie algebra consists of the imaginary
quaternions
sp(1) = {x ∈ H | x0 = 0} .
P
The exponential map is given by the usual formula exp(x) = ∞ k
k=0 x /k!.
3
The quaternion multiplication defines a group structure on S = Sp(1) and a
Lie algebra structure on R3 ' sp(1). This Lie algebra structure corresponds
to the vector product.

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Example 10.8. The quaternion matrices Φ ∈ Hn×n with Φ∗ Φ = 1l form a
compact connected group denoted by Sp(n). Its Lie algebra sp(n) consists
of the quaternion matrices A ∈ Hn×n with A∗ + A = 0. Here A∗ denotes the
conjugate transpose as in the complex case.

Exercise 10.9. (i) Prove that the map Sp(1) → SU(2) : x 7→ U (x) defined
by  
x0 + ix1 x2 + ix3
U (x) =
−x2 + ix3 x0 − ix1
is a Lie group isomorphism.
(ii) Prove that the corresponding Lie algebra homomorphism sp(1) → su(2) :
ξ 7→ u(ξ) is given by
 
iξ1 ξ2 + iξ3
u(ξ) = .
−ξ2 + iξ3 −iξ1

Show that the matrices

     
i 0 0 1 0 i
I= , J= , K= .
0 −i −1 0 i 0

satisfy the quaternion relations. In other words, the Lie algebra su(2) is
isomorphic to the imaginary quaternions and the isomorphism is given by
i 7→ I, j 7→ J, k 7→ K. The natural orientation of SU(2) is determined by
the basis {I, J, K} of su(2).
(iii) Prove that

[u(ξ), u(η)] = 2u(ξ × η), trace(u(ξ)∗ u(η)) = 2hξ, ηi

for ξ, η ∈ R3 ∼
= Im(H).
Exercise 10.10 (Spin(3)). The unit quaternions act on the imaginary qua-
ternions by conjugation. This determines a homomorphism Sp(1) → SO(3) :
x 7→ Φ(x) defined by
Φ(x)ξ = xξ x̄
for x ∈ Sp(1) and ξ ∈ Im(H) ∼ = R3 . On the left the multiplication is
understood as a product of matrix and vector and on the right as a product
of quaternions.

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(i) Prove that
 2 
x0 + x21 − x22 − x23 2(x1 x2 − x0 x3 ) 2(x0 x2 − x1 x3 )
Φ(x) =  2(x0 x3 − x1 x2 ) x20 − x21 + x22 − x23 2(x2 x3 − x0 x1 )  .
2(x1 x3 − x0 x2 ) 2(x0 x1 − x2 x3 ) x20 − x21 − x22 + x23
(ii) Verify that the map SU(2) → SO(3) : U (x) 7→ Φ(x) is a Lie group
homomorphism and a double cover. Deduce that π1 (SO(3)) = Z2 .
(iii) Let su(2) → so(3) : u(ξ) 7→ A(ξ) denote the corresponding Lie algebra
homomorphism. Prove that
 
0 −ξ3 ξ2
A(ξ) = 2  ξ3 0 −ξ1  .
−ξ2 ξ1 0

Prove that [A(ξ), A(η)] = 2A(ξ × η) and trace(A(ξ)T A(η)) = 8hξ, ηi.
Exercise 10.11 (Spin(4)). The group Sp(1) × Sp(1) acts on H by the or-
thogonal transformations x 7→ uxv̄ for (u, v) ∈ Sp(1) × Sp(1). Prove that
this axtion determines a double cover Sp(1) × Sp(1) → SO(4) and find an
explicit formula for the matrix Ψ(u, v) ∈ R4×4 defined by Ψ(u, v)x = uxv̄.
Lemma 10.12. (i) SO(n) is connected and in the case n ≥ 3 its fundamental
group is isomorphic to Z2 . Hence for n ≥ 3 the universal cover of SO(n) is
a compact group (with the same Lie algebra). It is denoted by Spin(n).
(ii) SU(n) is connected and simply connected and π2 (SU(n)) = 0.
(iii) The fundamental group of U(n) is isomorphic to the integers. The
determinant homomorphism det : U(n) → S 1 induces an isomorphism of
fundamental groups.
Proof. The subgroup of all matrices Φ ∈ SO(n) whose first column is the
first unit vector e1 = (1, 0, . . . , 0) ∈ Rn is isomorphic to SO(n − 1). Hence
there is a fibration SO(n − 1) ,→ SO(n) → S n−1 where the second map sends
a matrix in SO(n) to its first column. The homotopy exact sequence of this
fibration has the form
πk+1 (S n−1 ) → πk (SO(n − 1)) → πk (SO(n)) → πk (S n−1 )
By Exercise 10.10, π1 (SO(3)) ' Z2 . For n ≥ 4 this follows from the exact
sequence with k = 1. The connectedness of SO(n) is obvious for n = 1, 2.
For n ≥ 3 it follows from the exact sequence with k = 0. This proves (i).

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 To prove (ii) consider the fibration SU(n − 1) ,→ SU(n) → S 2n−1 where
the last map sends U ∈ SU(n) to the first column of U . The homotopy exact
sequence of this fibration has the form

πk+1 (S 2n−1 ) → πk (SU(n − 1)) → πk (SU(n)) → πk (S 2n−1 ).

For n = 1 the group SU(1) = {1} is obviously connected and simply con-
nected. For n ≥ 2 use the exact sequence inductively (over n) with k = 0, 1.
The statement about π2 is proved similarly with k = 2.
To prove (iii) consider the fibration SU(n) ,→ U(n) → S 1 . The homotopy
exact sequence of this fibration has the form

1 = π1 (SU(n)) → π1 (U(n)) → π1 (S 1 ) → π0 (SU(n)) = 1.

In view of statement (ii) this shows that π1 (U(n)) ' π1 (S 1 ) ' Z.

Let Y be a compact oriented smooth 3-manifold, and recall from Exer-
cise 10.9 that SU(2) is diffeomorphic to S 3 and carries a natural orientation.
Hence every smooth map g : Y → SU(2) has a well defined degree. The
next proposition shows that this degree can be expressed as as the integral
of natural 3-form over Y .
Lemma 10.13. For every compact oriented smooth 3-manifold Y and every
smooth map g : Y → SU(2) we have
Z


trace g −1 dg ∧ g −1 dg ∧ g −1 dg = −24π 2 deg(g).
Y

Proof. Denote


ωg := trace g −1 dg ∧ g −1 dg ∧ g −1 dg ∈ Ω3 (Y ).

If f : Y 0 → Y is a smooth map then ωg◦f = f ∗ ωg . In particular, with

ω0 := ωid ∈ Ω3 (SU(2)), we have ωg = g ∗ ω0 and hence
Z Z
ωg = deg(g) ω0 . (20)
Y SU(2)

To compute the integral of ω0 consider the diffeomorphism U : S 3 → SU(2)

defined in Exercise 10.9. With the standard orientations of S 3 and SU(2)
this map has degree 1. Moreover, it follows from the symmetry of this map

32
that ωU is a constant multiple of the volume form on S 3 . To find out the
factor we compute the form on the tangent space Tx S 3 for x = (1, 0, 0, 0).
On this space
U −1 dU = Idx1 + Jdx2 + Kdx3 ,
hence
U −1 dU ∧ U −1 dU = 2Idx2 ∧ dx3 + 2Jdx3 ∧ dx1 + 2Kdx1 ∧ dx2 ,
and hence
U −1 dU ∧ U −1 dU ∧ U −1 dU = 2(I 2 + J 2 + K 2 )dx1 ∧ dx2 ∧ dx3
This implies ωU = −12 dvolS 3 and hence, by (20) with g = U ,
Z Z
ω0 = ωU = −12 Vol(S 3 ) = −24π 2 .
SU(2) S3

This proves the proposition.

Example 10.14 (Diffeomorphisms). Let M be a compact manifold. Then
the diffeomorphisms of M form an infinite dimensional Lie group Diff(M )
with group multiplication given by composition (f, g) 7→ f ◦g. Its Lie algebra
is the space Vect(M ) of vector fields on M . The Lie algebra structure on
Vect(M ) is the usual one if the sign in the definition of the Lie bracket of two
vector fields is chosen appropriately. The one-parameter subgroup generated
by a vector field X ∈ Vect(M ) is its flow R → Diff(M ) : t 7→ φt defined by
d
φt = X ◦ φ t , φ0 = id.
dt
Note also that the inverse of the adjoint action of Diff(M ) on Vect(M ) is
given by pullback, i.e.
Ad(φ−1 )X = φ∗ X = dφ ◦ X ◦ φ−1 .
Interesting subgroups are given by the volume preserving diffeomorphisms or
the isometries on a Riemannian manifold, or by the symplectomorphisms on
a symplectic manifold.
Example 10.15. For invertible operators on an infinite dimensional Hilbert
space H the relation between Lie-group and Lie-algebra is somewhat subtle.
Not every one parameter group t 7→ S(t) of invertible linear operators is
differentiable. Such groups can be generated by unbounded operators and
this leads to the theory of semigroups of linear operators.

33