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Universal Enveloping Algebra
In mathematics, the universal enveloping algebra of a Lie algebra is the unital associative algebra whose representations correspond precisely to the representations of that Lie algebra. Universal enveloping algebras are used in the representation theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras. For example, Verma modules can be constructed as quotients of the universal enveloping algebra. In addition, the enveloping algebra gives a precise definition for the Casimir operators. Because Casimir operators commute with all elements of a Lie algebra, they can be used to classify representations. The precise definition also allows the importation of Casimir operators into other areas of mathematics, specifically, those that have a differential algebra. They also play a central role in some recent developments in mathematics. In particular, their dual provides a commutative example of the objects studied in non-commutative geometry, the quantum groups. This dual can be shown, by the Gelfand–N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Structure Constants
In mathematics, the structure constants or structure coefficients of an algebra over a field are used to explicitly specify the product of two basis vectors in the algebra as a linear combination. Given the structure constants, the resulting product is bilinear and can be uniquely extended to all vectors in the vector space, thus uniquely determining the product for the algebra. Structure constants are used whenever an explicit form for the algebra must be given. Thus, they are frequently used when discussing Lie algebras in physics, as the basis vectors indicate specific directions in physical space, or correspond to specific particles. Recall that Lie algebras are algebras over a field, with the bilinear product being given by the Lie bracket or commutator. Definition Given a set of basis vectors \ for the underlying vector space of the algebra, the structure constants or structure coefficients c_^ express the multiplication \cdot of pairs of vectors as a linear combination: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bilinear Form
In mathematics, a bilinear form is a bilinear map on a vector space (the elements of which are called '' vectors'') over a field ''K'' (the elements of which are called ''scalars''). In other words, a bilinear form is a function that is linear in each argument separately: * and * and The dot product on \R^n is an example of a bilinear form. The definition of a bilinear form can be extended to include modules over a ring, with linear maps replaced by module homomorphisms. When is the field of complex numbers , one is often more interested in sesquilinear forms, which are similar to bilinear forms but are conjugate linear in one argument. Coordinate representation Let be an -dimensional vector space with basis . The matrix ''A'', defined by is called the ''matrix of the bilinear form'' on the basis . If the matrix represents a vector with respect to this basis, and analogously, represents another vector , then: B(\mathbf, \mathbf) = \mathbf^\textsf A\mathbf = \ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Sum
The direct sum is an operation between structures in abstract algebra, a branch of mathematics. It is defined differently, but analogously, for different kinds of structures. To see how the direct sum is used in abstract algebra, consider a more elementary kind of structure, the abelian group. The direct sum of two abelian groups A and B is another abelian group A\oplus B consisting of the ordered pairs (a,b) where a \in A and b \in B. To add ordered pairs, we define the sum (a, b) + (c, d) to be (a + c, b + d); in other words addition is defined coordinate-wise. For example, the direct sum \Reals \oplus \Reals , where \Reals is real coordinate space, is the Cartesian plane, \R ^2 . A similar process can be used to form the direct sum of two vector spaces or two modules. We can also form direct sums with any finite number of summands, for example A \oplus B \oplus C, provided A, B, and C are the same kinds of algebraic structures (e.g., all abelian groups, or all vector spa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Algebra
In mathematics, especially in the area of abstract algebra known as ring theory, a free algebra is the noncommutative analogue of a polynomial ring since its elements may be described as "polynomials" with non-commuting variables. Likewise, the polynomial ring may be regarded as a free commutative algebra. Definition For ''R'' a commutative ring, the free (associative, unital) algebra on ''n'' indeterminates is the free ''R''-module with a basis consisting of all words over the alphabet (including the empty word, which is the unit of the free algebra). This ''R''-module becomes an ''R''-algebra by defining a multiplication as follows: the product of two basis elements is the concatenation of the corresponding words: :\left(X_X_ \cdots X_\right) \cdot \left(X_X_ \cdots X_\right) = X_X_ \cdots X_X_X_ \cdots X_, and the product of two arbitrary ''R''-module elements is thus uniquely determined (because the multiplication in an ''R''-algebra must be ''R''-bilinear). This ''R''- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Space
In mathematics and physics, a vector space (also called a linear space) is a set whose elements, often called ''vectors'', may be added together and multiplied ("scaled") by numbers called '' scalars''. Scalars are often real numbers, but can be complex numbers or, more generally, elements of any field. The operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication must satisfy certain requirements, called ''vector axioms''. The terms real vector space and complex vector space are often used to specify the nature of the scalars: real coordinate space or complex coordinate space. Vector spaces generalize Euclidean vectors, which allow modeling of physical quantities, such as forces and velocity, that have not only a magnitude, but also a direction. The concept of vector spaces is fundamental for linear algebra, together with the concept of matrix, which allows computing in vector spaces. This provides a concise and synthetic way for manipulating and studying systems of linear eq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lie Bracket
In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an operation called the Lie bracket, an alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow \mathfrak g, that satisfies the Jacobi identity. The Lie bracket of two vectors x and y is denoted ,y/math>. The vector space \mathfrak g together with this operation is a non-associative algebra, meaning that the Lie bracket is not necessarily associative. Lie algebras are closely related to Lie groups, which are groups that are also smooth manifolds: any Lie group gives rise to a Lie algebra, which is its tangent space at the identity. Conversely, to any finite-dimensional Lie algebra over real or complex numbers, there is a corresponding connected Lie group unique up to finite coverings (Lie's third theorem). This correspondence allows one to study the structure and classification of Lie groups in terms of Lie algebras. In physics, Lie groups appear as symmetry groups of physic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unital Associative Algebra
In mathematics, an associative algebra ''A'' is an algebraic structure with compatible operations of addition, multiplication (assumed to be associative), and a scalar multiplication by elements in some field ''K''. The addition and multiplication operations together give ''A'' the structure of a ring; the addition and scalar multiplication operations together give ''A'' the structure of a vector space over ''K''. In this article we will also use the term ''K''-algebra to mean an associative algebra over the field ''K''. A standard first example of a ''K''-algebra is a ring of square matrices over a field ''K'', with the usual matrix multiplication. A commutative algebra is an associative algebra that has a commutative multiplication, or, equivalently, an associative algebra that is also a commutative ring. In this article associative algebras are assumed to have a multiplicative identity, denoted 1; they are sometimes called unital associative algebras for clarification. In s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Two-sided Ideal
In ring theory, a branch of abstract algebra, an ideal of a ring is a special subset of its elements. Ideals generalize certain subsets of the integers, such as the even numbers or the multiples of 3. Addition and subtraction of even numbers preserves evenness, and multiplying an even number by any integer (even or odd) results in an even number; these closure and absorption properties are the defining properties of an ideal. An ideal can be used to construct a quotient ring in a way similar to how, in group theory, a normal subgroup can be used to construct a quotient group. Among the integers, the ideals correspond one-for-one with the non-negative integers: in this ring, every ideal is a principal ideal consisting of the multiples of a single non-negative number. However, in other rings, the ideals may not correspond directly to the ring elements, and certain properties of integers, when generalized to rings, attach more naturally to the ideals than to the elements of the ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quotient Space (linear Algebra)
In linear algebra, the quotient of a vector space ''V'' by a subspace ''N'' is a vector space obtained by "collapsing" ''N'' to zero. The space obtained is called a quotient space and is denoted ''V''/''N'' (read "''V'' mod ''N''" or "''V'' by ''N''"). Definition Formally, the construction is as follows. Let ''V'' be a vector space over a field ''K'', and let ''N'' be a subspace of ''V''. We define an equivalence relation ~ on ''V'' by stating that ''x'' ~ ''y'' if . That is, ''x'' is related to ''y'' if one can be obtained from the other by adding an element of ''N''. From this definition, one can deduce that any element of ''N'' is related to the zero vector; more precisely, all the vectors in ''N'' get mapped into the equivalence class of the zero vector. The equivalence class – or, in this case, the coset – of ''x'' is often denoted : 'x''= ''x'' + ''N'' since it is given by : 'x''= . The quotient space ''V''/''N'' is then defined as ''V''/~, the set of all equivale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tensor Product
In mathematics, the tensor product V \otimes W of two vector spaces and (over the same field) is a vector space to which is associated a bilinear map V\times W \to V\otimes W that maps a pair (v,w),\ v\in V, w\in W to an element of V \otimes W denoted v \otimes w. An element of the form v \otimes w is called the tensor product of and . An element of V \otimes W is a tensor, and the tensor product of two vectors is sometimes called an ''elementary tensor'' or a ''decomposable tensor''. The elementary tensors span V \otimes W in the sense that every element of V \otimes W is a sum of elementary tensors. If bases are given for and , a basis of V \otimes W is formed by all tensor products of a basis element of and a basis element of . The tensor product of two vector spaces captures the properties of all bilinear maps in the sense that a bilinear map from V\times W into another vector space factors uniquely through a linear map V\otimes W\to Z (see Universal property). Tenso ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tensor Algebra
In mathematics, the tensor algebra of a vector space ''V'', denoted ''T''(''V'') or ''T''(''V''), is the algebra of tensors on ''V'' (of any rank) with multiplication being the tensor product. It is the free algebra on ''V'', in the sense of being left adjoint to the forgetful functor from algebras to vector spaces: it is the "most general" algebra containing ''V'', in the sense of the corresponding universal property (see below). The tensor algebra is important because many other algebras arise as quotient algebras of ''T''(''V''). These include the exterior algebra, the symmetric algebra, Clifford algebras, the Weyl algebra and universal enveloping algebras. The tensor algebra also has two coalgebra structures; one simple one, which does not make it a bialgebra, but does lead to the concept of a cofree coalgebra, and a more complicated one, which yields a bialgebra, and can be extended by giving an antipode to create a Hopf algebra structure. ''Note'': In this article, all a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
