In
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 ...
, an orthogonal symmetric Lie algebra is a pair
consisting of a real
Lie algebra
In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an Binary operation, operation called the Lie bracket, an Alternating multilinear map, alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow ...
and an
automorphism
In mathematics, an automorphism is an isomorphism from a mathematical object to itself. It is, in some sense, a symmetry of the object, and a way of mapping the object to itself while preserving all of its structure. The set of all automorphisms ...
of
of order
such that the
eigenspace
In linear algebra, an eigenvector () or characteristic vector of a linear transformation is a nonzero vector that changes at most by a scalar factor when that linear transformation is applied to it. The corresponding eigenvalue, often denoted b ...
of ''s'' corresponding to 1 (i.e., the set
of
fixed points) is a
compact subalgebra. If "compactness" is omitted, it is called a symmetric Lie algebra. An orthogonal symmetric Lie algebra is said to be ''effective'' if
intersects the
center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...
of
trivially. In practice, effectiveness is often assumed; we do this in this article as well.
The canonical example is the Lie algebra of a
symmetric space
In mathematics, a symmetric space is a Riemannian manifold (or more generally, a pseudo-Riemannian manifold) whose group of symmetries contains an inversion symmetry about every point. This can be studied with the tools of Riemannian geometry, l ...
,
being the differential of a symmetry.
Let
be effective orthogonal symmetric Lie algebra, and let
denotes the -1 eigenspace of
. We say that
is ''of compact type'' if
is
compact
Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to:
* Interstate compact
* Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines
* Compact government, a type of colonial rule utilized in British ...
and
semisimple
In mathematics, semi-simplicity is a widespread concept in disciplines such as linear algebra, abstract algebra, representation theory, category theory, and algebraic geometry. A semi-simple object is one that can be decomposed into a sum of ''sim ...
. If instead it is noncompact, semisimple, and if
is a Cartan decomposition, then
is ''of noncompact type''. If
is an Abelian ideal of
, then
is said to be ''of Euclidean type''.
Every effective, orthogonal symmetric Lie algebra decomposes into a
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 ...
of ideals
,
and
, each invariant under
and orthogonal with respect to the
Killing form
In mathematics, the Killing form, named after Wilhelm Killing, is a symmetric bilinear form that plays a basic role in the theories of Lie groups and Lie algebras. Cartan's criteria (criterion of solvability and criterion of semisimplicity) show ...
of
, and such that if
,
and
denote the restriction of
to
,
and
, respectively, then
,
and
are effective orthogonal symmetric Lie algebras of Euclidean type, compact type and noncompact type.
References
*
Lie algebras
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