A NNALES DE L ’I. H. P., SECTION A
M. H AVLÍ ˇ CEK
P. E XNER
On the minimal canonical realizations of the Lie algebra O
c(n)
Annales de l’I. H. P., section A, tome 23, n
o4 (1975), p. 313-333
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313
On the minimal canonical realizations of the Lie algebra Oc(n)
M.
HAVLÍ010CEK (*)
P. EXNER
(*)
Ann. Inst. Henri Poincaré, Vol. XXIII, n° 4, 1975,
Section A :
Physique théorique.
SUMMARY. - For the
complexification
of the Liealgebra
of the ortho-gonal
group in n-dimensional space it is shown that its canonical realizationby
means ofpolynomials
in Npairs
of canonical variables does not exist if N n - 3. As canonical realizationby
means of N = n - 2pairs exist,
theproblem
of minimal canonical realization forOc(n) is,
in thegeneral
case, reduced to twopossibilities only.
For n 7 thisproblem
issolved
completely.
It is further shownthat,
with someexceptions,
theCasimir
operators
in canonical realizationby
means of n - 2pairs
ofcanonical variables are realized as
multiples
of theidentity
element andthat among them there is
only
oneindependent.
Ifparticularly
canonicalrealization
by
means of n - 3pairs
exists then the values of all Casimir operators are even fixedby
n.~
’
1. INTRODUCTION ‘ ’
In theoretical
physics
we often meet the Liealgebras
realizedthrough
functions of
pairs
of canonical variables qi or Bose creation and anriihila- tionoperators, respectively. Generally speaking,
such a situation arises if(*)
Department
of Theoretical Nuclear Physics, Faculty ofMathematics
and Physics,Charles University, Prague. -...’ .
’
Annales de l’lnstitut Henri Poincak - Section A - Vol. XXIII, n° 4 - 1975. 23
314 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
we combine the
assumption
that observables are functions of a certain number of canonicalpairs
with theassumption
that some of them form Liealgebra.
In this way such canonical realizations ofalgebras
enter inthe group theoretical
approach
to nonrelativisticquantum
mechanicsbased,
e. g., on the
spectrum generating algebras.
In
a wide class ofproblems
the realizations canhelp
in their solution orsimplification at
least. If wehave,
e. g., to determine matrix elements oreigenvalues
of a differentialoperator,
the solution isconsiderably simplified
when this
operator
can be either embedded in realization of some Liealgebra
or it is one of its Casimiroperators [1] [2].
Another field where cano-nical realizations are used is the construction of
equations
invariant withrespect
to agiven
Liealgebra [3].
The canonical realizations of Lie
algebras
are useful also for thetheory
of
representations.
Ifgenerators
of some Liealgebra
G areexpressed
asfunctions
ofpairs Pi
andqithen, substituting p ;
andqi by
theirrepresentation,
we obtain the
representation
of G. As we deal with functions ofpartly noncommuting
variables we have to make more exact theconcept
of func- tion. The first and mostsimple
case is to limit ourselves to thealgebra
ofpolynomials
in considered number of canonicalpairs.
Theadvantage
ofthis limitation lies in the
possibility
to define the space of thesepolynomials (the
so-calledWeyl algebra) purely algebraically and, consequently,
toformulate algebraically
also theproblem
of realizations.It is known that the
Weyl algebra
as well as theenveloping algebra
ofany Lie
algebra
can bealgebraically
embedded intoquotient
divisionring.
It allows one to
enlarge
the functional space and to realize Liealgebras by
means of rational functions of canonical variables without
change
of thealgebraical approach.
Further extension of the functional spacerequires introduction
oftopology.
The
study
of the mostsimple
case, i. e., the realizations inWeyl algebra
is useful also for the better
understanding
of the morecomplicated
situations.In this paper we deal with realizations of the
complexified
Liealgebra
of the
orthogonal
group in n-dimensional spaceOc(n)
in theWeyl algebra W 2N (N-number
of canonicalpairs).
We are interested first in the minimal number N which is necessary for existence of realization(i.
e., isomor-phism
intoW2N)
ofOc(n).
There is thegeneral
result of Simoni and Zac- caria[4] (see
alsoaccording
to which nosemisimple
Liealgebra
of therank r can be realized in
W2N
if N r. We prove that any realization ofOc(n)
does not exist even if N n - 3 what extends for n > 7 the above result. Realizations ofalgebras Oc(n)
inW2{n _ 2~
exist(see
e. g.[6])
andtherefore the
problem
of minimal realization(i.
e., realization inW 2N
withminimal
N)
reduces to two cases N = n -3, n -
2. For n 7 we caneasily
decide between these twopossibilities.
Ourexplicit
construction of the realization ofOc(6)
inW2.3
has notbeen,
at least to ourknowledge,
published
in the literature. The results above named are contained in theo-ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA
OC(n)
315rems 1 and 2 of section
3,
and section 3 itself is devoted in essential to theirproof.
It was further
proved
in[4] [5]
that Casimiroperators
ofsemisimple
Lie
algebra
with rank r arealways
realized inby
means of constantmultiple
ofidentity
element. In section 4 we extend this result forOc(n)
tothe realizations in and
With some
exceptions
for the lowest dimensional cases(n
=4, 5, 6)
weprove moreover that realizations of all the Casimir
operators
inW2~n-2}
depend
on realization of thequadratic
ones and inW2~n_
3~ their valuesdepend
on nonly (theorem 3).
In conclusion we discuss and reformulate the results obtained for real forms of
Oc(n).
We introduce the involution onW2N
and define the skew-symmetric
realization of real Liealgebra.
As aspecial
result we obtain herethe existence of
skew-symmetric
realizations of0(3, 2)
and0(3, 3)
Liealgebras
inW4
andW 6 respectively.
Theskew-symmetric realizations
were defined
mainly
withrespect
to therepresentation theory;
we do notdiscuss here these
aspects.
All considerations in this paper arepurely algebraical.
2. PRELIMINARIES
A. Let
H2N
denote the(2N
+1)-dimensional Heiseberg
Liealgebra
overfield of
complex
numbersC,
i. e., the Liealgebra
withgenerators pi, ~
where
Let further
8(H2N)
denote theenveloping algebra
ofH2N ([7],
p.173)
andlet {
c -1 } = 8(H2N)
be two-sided idealgenerated by
the element c - 1.The
quasienveloping algebra
ofH2N,
i. e.,factoralgebra
is called
Weyl algebra. Equivalence
classes p ;, q i 3 qigenerate W 2 N
and fulfill relations
The consequence of the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorem
([7],
p.178)
is thatmonomials
form the basis of
W2N,
i. e., that every element w EW2N
can beuniquely
written in the form
Vol. XXIII, n° 4 - 1975.
316 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
u E
C). Similarly,
as is thering
without nonzerodividers of zero
([7],
p.186),
the same is valid forW2N,
i. e.,holds.
B. The canonical realization r of the
complex (or real)
Liealgebra
G weshall call an
isomorphism mapping
of G intoW 2N:
.The canonical realization of G in
W2N
is minimal iff that in does not exist.The realization
induces
naturally
thehomomorphism
In accordance with the mentioned
Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt
theorem everyelement g
E8(G)
can be written in the form~. "-~ ~ are
equivalence
classescontaining generators
ofG).
Thehomomorphism
r’ is then definedby
relation(In
whatfollows,
thehomomorphism
r’ will be denotedby z).
C. The
symbol Oc(n)(n
>2)
denotes thecomplexification
of the Liealgebra
oforthogonal
group in the n-dimensional Euclidean space. IfLpv
= - v =1, 2,
... ndenotes 1 2n(n - 1)
elements of basis ofOc(n)
thenp, T =
1, 2, 3,
..., n.Algebra OcM
issimple (except
of the case n =4),
its rank is r =n 2
and in the Cartan classificationThe number of the
generating
Casimir operators ofOc(n) equals n .
Allthese Casimir
operators
can be chosen among Casimir operatorsI I
Annales de l’Institut
317
ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA
for
algebras Oc(2n +1) and, adding
also for
algebras Oc(2n) (Here
iscompletely antisymmetric
Levi-Civita tensor in 2n indices and we use the summation
convention).
It is
important
in our further considerations that there exists thefollowing
basis of
Oc(n)
i, j,
k =1, 2,
..., n - 2(*)
in which commutation relations(3)
have theform :
Note that
generators P l’
...,Pn-2
andQi,
...,Qn-2
form the bases of(n - 2)-dimensional
Abeliansubalgebras
ofOc(n).
For
n - 2 > 3
we definequadratic
elements ofenveloping algebra
which commute with all
Pi
These elements transform under
Oc(n - 2)
generatorsLij
astotally antisymmetric
tensor and the number of itsindependent components
equals n 3 2 . Similarly
we can define thequantity
with the same proper- ties with thehelp
ofgenerators Qi.
It is clear that in definition of basis
(6)
thepreference
of the indicespair (n - 1, n)
is not essential and thatthey
can be substitutedby
any otherpair.
3. THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATION OF
Oc(n)
Let us pay attention now to the
problem
of minimal canonical realization ofOc(n).
First we shall prove twosimple
lemmas.(*) Latin indices will run always from 1 to n - 2.
Vol. XXIII, n° 4 - 1975.
318 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
LEMMA 1. - Let
i)
1" be any canonical realization ofOc(n)
with basis(6),
ii) p
E~[0c(~)]
be anelement,
which can be written in the formiii)
= 0.Then
r(j8J
=0,
a =0,
..., A.Proof
proceeds by
contradiction. Let us assumei)-iii)
and the existence ofinteger
A such thatand
therefore
We introduce new « variables »
in which
!(p)
has the form :Further we factorize the
polynomial
into the sum ofpolynomials 7:(p c),
where
319
ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA
OC(n)
The coefficients are suitable linear combinations of and We shall write
explicitly
some of thesepolynomials :
From commutation relations
it follows that
By
means ofmultiple
commutationof 7:(p)
withi(L 12)
we obtain the homo-geneous
system
ofequations
for unknownr(/~):
The
system
has the nonzerodeterminant,
and thereforeholds.
Substituting
+1)
from eq.(14)
andusing
eq.(2)
we obtainbecause the second
possibility,
contradicts to the
isomorphism
nature of i.If
Ai
1 =0,
eqs.( 15)
and(17) give
further = 0 what is the contra-diction desired.
0,
then eqs.(15)-(16),
Vol. XXIII, no 4 - 1975.
320 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
imply,
asabove,
theequations
from
which, immediately, T(P At)
= 0. Theproof
is finished.LEMMA 2. - Let
i)
T be any canonical realization ofOc(n)
with basis(6).
ii) p
E be anelement,
which can be written in the formiii)
= 0.Then
Proof -
For p, considered as apolynomial
in « variables ))P~, P~
all theassumptions
of lemma 1 are fulfilled. As for the coefficients aa,Pa
wenow have relations
lemma 1 asserts that
Considering Pa2
as apolynomial
in « variables »P1, P3
we canagain apply
lemma
1,
etc.The
following
lemma 3 is theimportant
assertionproved
in[5] ;
it isformulated in the form suitable for our further use.
LEMMA 3. - Let
i) Pi,
...,P N + 1
be a basis of thecomplex (N
+1)-dimensional
AbelianLie
algebra
G.ii)
l’ be a canonical realization G inW2N.
iii) ~t~Pr~ ~ arl,
ar EC,
r =1, 2,
..., N + 1.Then there exists an element p :
such that
z(p)
= 0.321 ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA
Now we are in
position
to prove the first our assertionconcerning
thecanonical realizations of
Oc(n).
THEOREM 1. - If N n - 3 then any canonical realization of
Oc(n)
in
W 2N
does not exist.Proof - Assume,
on thecontrary,
that r is some canonical realizationOc(n)
inW2N,
N n - 3 and consider the commutativesubalgebra
ofOc(n)
with basisP2,
...,PN+ 2 (*).
The canonical realization of none of thesegenerators
can bemultiple
ofidentity : if,
say,-r(P 2)
= a .1,
then eq.(8) readily
leads to-r(P i)
= 0.According
to lemma 3 there exists anelement p :
such that = 0. Lemma
2, however,
asserts that then2(f l12 ...(1N + 2)
= 0what further
implies
that all + 2= 0 and this contradicts to
p ~
0.It is known
(see
e. g.[6])
that canonical realization ofOc(n)
inW2~n _ 2
}exists. Therefore the consequence of theorem is that for minimal canonical realization of
Oc(n)
inW 2 N only
twopossibilities
remain open: either N=n-3orN=n-2.For n 7 we are able to decide even between these two
possibilities
andsolve the
problem
of minimal canonical realization thereforecompletely.
THEOREM 2. - The minimal canonical realization of
i) Oc(3)
is inW2, ii) Oc(4)
is inW~, iii) Oc(5)
is inW4, iv) Oc(6)
is inW6.
Proof i)
As thepossibility
N = n - 3 arises forOc(n) only
with n > 3 the assertion isright.
ii)
The consequence of the results contained in[4] (see
also[5])
is thenonexistence of canonical realization of any
semisimple
Liealgebra
withrank r in
W~_ i).
As rank ofOc(4)
is2,
it cannot be realized inW~.
iii) By
the direct verification one can show that thefollowing expressions
form the canonical realization of
Oc(5)
inW4:
(*) Note that index N + 2 n - 1, i. e., the
set {P2,
..., ...,~-2 }
always.
Vol. XXIII, n° 4 - 1975.
322 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
We see that all
generators
are realizedthrough quadratic
elements ofW~.
It is
generally proved [8]
that allquadratic
elements ofW 2N
form the Liesubalgebra isomorphic
toSpc(2N).
Our realization is thesimple
consequence of theisomorphism C2 (~ Spc(4)).
iv) Again by
direct verification :where
As
Oc(6) ~ A3(~ SUc(4))
and the rank ofOc(6) equals n -
3 =3,
weprove at the same time the existence of realization of the
algebra A3 by
means of three
pairs
of canonical variables. In[4]
the existence of realization of the Liealgebra An
inquotient
divisionring
in n canonicalpairs
isproved.
As
W6
isproperly
embedded in itsquotient
divisionring,
thestronger
result forA3
was obtained here.4. CASIMIR OPERATORS
For
proof
of the main result of this section we need two lemmas. The first of them is theslight generalization
of lemma 2.Annales de l’lnstitut Henri Poincare - Section A
ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA 323
LEMMA 4. - Let
i) 1"
be any canonical realization ofOc(n)
with basis(6),
ii)
0 # p E be anelement,
which can be written in the formiii) T(p)
= 0.Then there exists
0 # p’
E of the formwhere coefficients
~p belong
to linearenvelope
of the set of the coefficientsl’ai...(1n-2~
so that , n ...Proof -
First we write thegiven polynomial p
in thefollowing
form :Denoting P i
+p~
+ ... +P;-2
==P~
we canproceed
as follows :We see that it is
possible
towrite p
in the formwhere coefficients y... and ~ ... are linear combinations
(even
withinteger constants)
of the coefficients~...
Asp # 0,
at least one ofpolynomials
is nonzero. Because
P~
commutes with allLij
we canapply
lemma 2asserting
Vol. XXIII, n° 4 - 1975.
324 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
that the realization of all these
polynomials
is zero andproof
iscompleted.
The
following
lemmagives
two sufficient conditions for mutualdepen-
dence of the Casimir
operators
ofOc(n) algebra
in the realization r. We usethe
following
notation :LEMMA 5. - Let 1" be a canonical realization of
Oc(n),
n > 3.A. If
... v "... -....
then
3,
is apolynomial
function of!(I2) (and ~~Im~
= 0 for evenn =
2m) independent
of r.B. If
then
3,
and’r(I~)2 (for
even n =2m)
arepolynomial
functionsof
-r(I2) independent
of r.C.
If eqs. ( 18)
and(19)
holdthen,
moreover,Proof -
A. Let us introduce the abbreviationT~:
The trace
T~
coincides with the Casimiroperator Ik
and we defineFurther, for k > 3,
we can writeand, using
commutation relations(3),
Now we shall use for
t(Ik)
relation(18)
and relations(3) again, through
which we obtain :
So we come to recurrent relation
from which the first assertion of
part
Aeasily
follows.325 ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA
OC(n)
The
proof
of the second one(r(I~)
= 0 for is almosttrivial;
it issufficient to substitute from
(18)
into definition of(eq. (5)).
B.
Using
commutation relations(3)
and abbreviationT~
we can rewriteeq.
(19)
in the form :From commutation relations of with we obtain :
what
implies
Relations
(20)
and(21)
can be writtencommonly
As
I
=T(k)
=T(k- 2)T(2)
we come to the recurrent relationThe
polynomial dependence
of-r(Ik)
on’t(I2)
is now the evident consequence For theproof
ofdependence
of on-r(I2)
in the case ofOc(2m) algebra,
we need some informationconcerning
the centre Z ~(see
e. g.[9],
p.565).
It is known thatI2k, k = 1, 2,..., m -
1 andI~
arethe
generating
elements for Z. Itespecially
means that12m
is apolynomial
of these
generators
of Z. AsI~
arepolynomials
in « variables»L,
andfor their
highest degrees
the relationsare
valid,
thenwhere
The
polynomial 03B2 equals
zero. This follows from thefollowing
considera-tions. The
mapping
p :0~(2~) 2014~ Oc(2m)
definedby
the relationsis the
automorphism
ofOc(2m) (and
inducesnaturally
theautomorphism
ofdenoted
by
the samesymbol p).
We see that -Vol. XXIII, na 4 - 1975.
326 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
Applying
p toequation (22)
we obtainfrom which and eq.
(22)
the desired resultimmediately
follows.As
I2 m
does notdepend
on the12,
...,only,
the constant a i= 0.The
dependence
ofz(Im)2
on1’(12)
is obtainedimmediately combining
eq.
(22)
with thepreceding
result.C. If eqs.
(18)
and(19)
holdtogether,
we are able to calculate value of1"(12).
Theseequations, imply
Multiplying
the second and the thirdequation by (from
theleft), substituting
from the firstequation
andusing
eqs.(19")
and
(3),
we obtain :As 0 and #
0,
theseequations give (see implication (2)) :
It is the part of invariant
i(I2).
The otherpart
we obtain from eq.( 18’) by
its left
multiplication by using
eqs.(19’)-(19")
and(3)
from which
Substituting
it into the formulathe desired result is obtained.
Note : We show that eq.
(18)
isimplied
for n > 5by
relation =0,
ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA 327
i and eq.
(19)
isimplied by
relation-r(p2)
=z(Pi
+ ...+Pn 2~=0.
By
means of introduced tensorT~
theequation -r(p2)
= 0 can be rewrittenin the form
(see
eq.(6)) :
Introducing
the new tensorthe second
relation,
=0,
looks as follows:Commuting
now the firstequation
with and the result with-r(Lkn)’
~ 5~ j,
and the second one withz(L~ ,n -1 )
we obtain :With
respect
to tensor character ofT~
+ and(commuting
with suitable we
finally
obtain :where 11, v, p, ! are
mutually
different indices from theset { 1, 2, ... , n ~ .
The latter relation can be further written in the form
valid
already
for all v, p, l’ =1, 2,
... , n.Now we can formulate the main theorem of this section.
THEOREM 3. - Let 1" denote either canonical realization of
Oc(n)
in2) when 6 or canonical realization of
Oc(6)
inThen
i )
realization of all the Casimiroperators equals
constantmultiple
ofidentity,
ii) for n
6 realizationsi(Ik), k
=3, 4,
... and also(for n
=2m) polynomially depends
on1"(12)
in one of twopossible
ways.If, especially,
r is realization ofOc(n)
inW2~n_ 3~ ~ W2(n-2) (*)
and6,
thenand
-r(Ik)
areindependent
of T.(*) This possibility arises for n 5 only (see Theorem 2).
Vol. XXIII, no 4 - 1975.
328 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
Proof -
For n =3,
4 the assertion i is apart
ofgeneral
resultproved
in
[4] (see
also[5]),
because in these cases the rank ofOc(n) equals
to n-2.So we shall assume n 5.
i)
Theproof
consists of twoparts.
The case n = 6 is excluded and will beproved together
with iii.a)
Consider any z from the center Z of and(n - I)-dimensional
Abelian
subalgebra
of~[0c(~)]
with basis z, ...,P~-2.
If we allow onthe
contrary
to theassumption
ex1then, according
to lemma3,
there exists a
complex
nonzeropolynomial
...,P n - 2)
E realized as
i(p)
= 0. From the lemma 4further,
the existence ofnonzero
polynomial
with
r(p’)
= 0follows,
whereya(z)
arepolynomials
in variable z.Using
commutation relations
by multiple
commutation ofT(R)
withT(p’)
we come,similarly
as in theproof
of lemma1,
to thehomogeneous system
ofequations
for « unknown»solved
by
It
implies
further eitheror
(and
0 if0). 0,
at least onepolynomial ya(z)
E=03B3(z) ~
0. Therefore eithery(z)
--_03B301, 0 ~
Yo EC,
and we obtaincontradiction due to
-r[y(z)]
= = 0 ordeg y(z) ~ 1,
i. e.,y(z)
can befactorized into the
product
Then, however, -r[y(z)]
= 0implies r(z)
= a 1(see implication (2))
whichcontradicts our
assumption. So,
the secondpossibility -r{p2)
= 0 remainsonly.
’However, -r(p2)
= 0implies
eq.(19)
so that theassumption r(z)
# alimplies
eq.(19).
b)
In furtherinvestigations
we have todistinguish
between two cases :329
ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA
Case
Oc(5).
- Let us take four-dimensional Abeliansubalgebra
ofwith basis z, w,
P 2
where w eq.(12))
andassume
together
withr(z) 7~
al alsor(w) 7~
Then from lemmas 3 and 1the existence of nonzero
complex polynomial
p,with zero realization
follows, because [w, Lij] =
0.As in the
preceding
case,by multiple
commutation of with7:(R)
wederive the
equation
from which
(as by
ourassumption r(~) =~ 0)
As we have seen, this
possibility
leads to contradiction with thestarting assumption r(z) 5~
al and thereforeassumption r(w) 5~ ~1
has to be chan-ged,
i. e.,z(w) - Commuting
it withr(R)
we obtainr(w)
= 0 evenand we can conclude that
assumption
alimplies
eq.(18).
As alsoeq.
(19)
is fulfilled thenaccording
to lemma 5 C we have contradiction withT(Z) ~
al.Case 7. - Let us introduce the
following
three elementswhere
It is clear that elements differ from 5
(see
eq.(12))
at most insign
and thereforethey
commute withPi (eq. (13)).
Mutual commutation relation between Wj, and w’ looks as follows :Let us consider now the
(n - 1)-dimensional
Abeliansubalgebras
withbases z, ~~,
Pi,
... ,Pn - 3
and assumer(w+)
#Again
there exists apolynomial
p,with
r(/?)
= 0. As the commutation relations of w’ and of the powersw±
have
simple
formVol. XXIII, n~ 4 - 1975. 24
330 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
we can commute
r(/?)
witht(w’)
and we obtainagain homogeneous system
with nonzero determinant for « unknown»Pi,
...,Pn - 3)w ~ ~-
Because we assume
r(~) 7~
0 andp #
0 at least one coefficientYa(z, P 1, ..., Pn- 3)
is nonzero .andUsing
now the lemma 2 we come to the conclusion that realization of all coefficientsequals
zero. We saw inpart a)
that it leads to contra-diction with the
starting assumption r(z) 7~
al and thereforer(z) 5~
alimplies T(w~) = By commuting
withT(R)
weimmediately
obtain= 0 and from the
equation
by
further commutation with we have :As we assume n 7 we can
repeat
our consideration with other choice of indices then1, 2, 3, 4,
e. g.,1, 2, 4,
5 and1, 2, 3,
5 and we obtain alsofrom
which,
e. g.,T(~i23))
= O. Due to the tensor character of wehave
for all i
7~7 ~ ~ ~ ~
whatimplies
eq.(18).
Weproved
thatassumption i(z) #
oc. 1implies together
with eq.( 19)
also eq.( 18),
whichby
lemma5C,
contradicts one another.ii)
In this case consider the commutative(n - I)-dimensional subalgebras
with bases ...,
Pn- 2.
Using
lemma 3 and commutation withi(w’)
as in thepreceding
case, wecome to the nonzero
polynomial
p ---p(P1,
...,P n - 2)
with zero realizationz(p)
= 0.From the
part a)
of the aboveproof
it followsTherefore either both =
0,
i. e., eq.(18)
is valid or-r(p2)
=0,
i. e., eq.(19)
holds. Assertionii)
now follows from lemma5A,
B.iii)
In realization ofOc(n)
inW2~n-
3)(including
the case n =6)
we take(n - 2)-dimensional
Abeliansubalgebra
with basis ...,Pn-
2.Applying
ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA
0 C(n)
331lemma 3 and the
part a)
of theproof
of i we have’t{p2)
= 0. From lemma 5Bthe assertion ii for
Oc(6) especially
follows.For n ~ 6 we can continue and take the other
subalgebra
with basisw,
Pi, P 2 if n = 5
and W:f:, ...,Pn- 3
if n > 7.According
to the secondpart
ofproof
of assertioni)
we conclude :and lemma 5 C can be
applied.
-It remains
only
toprove i
forOc(6).
The Abeliansubalgebra
in this casehas the basis z,
PI, P2,
andassumption ’t(z) =1=
alleads, using
lemmas 3 and
2,
to the existence of nonzeropolynomial y(z)
with zerorealization.
It, however,
contradicts’t(z) =1=
al.The
proof
of theorem iscompleted.
5. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Up
to this time we have dealt with realizations ofcomplex
Liealgebra Oc(n).
As we areusually
interested rather in the real Liealgebras
it wouldbe useful to
apply
our results to them. Due to close connection betweencomplex
Liealgebra
G and its real forms the one-to-onecorrespondence
among realizations of G and realization of any real form of G arises. If
Go
isany real form of G
having
basisXi,
... ,Xn
and T is a canonical realization ofGo
then thecomplex
linearenvelope
of the elementsi(X1),
...,’t(Xn)
isrealization Tc of G. On the
contrary,
if any Tc isgiven,
we choose in G basisXi,
...,Xn
in which structure constants coincide with the structure cons- tants ofGo
and real linear combinations ofTc(Xi),
..., definerealization of
Go.
This consideration shows that all the assertions of theo-rems 1-3 remain valid in the case of any real form of
Oc(n).
As we mentioned in the
introduction,
the use of realizations in the repre- sentationtheory
of Liealgebras
consists insimple
substitution of abstractelements~ and qi by
somerepresentation
ofthem,
e. g.,by
usualSchrodinger representation.
In the case of real Liealgebras
we areusually
interested inspecial
realizations whichleads,
in the above way, to theskew-symmetric representations.
Todistinguish
between suchrealizations,
we have to enrichour
Weyl algebra W 2N by
involution. We defineinductively
antilinearmapping
« + »of W 2N
onto itselfby
relations :Now we can
speak
aboutskew-symmetric
elements ofW~(w~ == 2014 w)
which are, after substitution
of Pi and q by
theirSchrodinger representatives, represented by skew-symmetric operators.
The realization of real Liealgebra
Gthrough
ofskew-symmetric
elements ofW2N only
will be calledVol. XXIII, no 4 - 1975.
332 M. HAVLICEK AND P. EXNER
by skew-symmetric
realization of G. Now it is clear that ifGo
is some realform of G and 1’c is a realization of G then
corresponding
realization T ofGo
need not beskew-symmetric.
Therefore the minimalskew-symmetric
realization of
given
real form ofOc(n)
needs exist neither inW2(n-
3) noreven in
W2(n -
2) and different real forms ofOc(n)
can have minimal skew-symmetric
realizations in differentW2N,
3. It can beproved
thatfor
O(n) (i.
e., forcompact
real form ofOc(n))
theskew-symmetricity
ofrealization contradicts to « constant realization» of the Casimir operators
([5]
th.4.4). Together
with theorem 2 itgives for n a 3, n #
6 the firstpossibility
for the minimalskew-symmetric
realization ofO(n)
is inW2(n-l) (*)
and forO(6)
inWg.
In the same time theskew-symmetric
realization of
noncompact
formsO(n -
m,m),
0 m n, exist inW2(n_ 2 ) [6].
For n =
5,6
we can derive furtherskew-symmetric
realizations of somenoncompact
form ofOc(n) by
means of theorem 2 even inW4
orW6
res-pectively.
In the mentioned theorem the realization ofOc(5)
is such thatgenerators i L12, L2 3, iP 1, P2, P3, i Q 1, Q2, Q3
and R are realizedby skew-symmetric
elements ofW4.
Asby
commutation of anypair
of themwe obtain their real linear combination
(see
eqs.(7)-(11))
tengenerators i L12,
..., R from the basis of some real form ofOc(5)
which is realizedskew-symmetrically.
It is not difficult to prove that this real form isjust 0(3, 2).
Similarly
we prove that the realizationiv)
contained in theorem 2 is theskew-symmetric
realization of0(3, 3)
if Rea = 0.All realizations considered until now were either minimal or the « nearest » to minimal ones. In accordance with theorem 2 this fact has two
following
consequences. Without
exceptional
cases the first consequence is the realiza- tion of Casimiroperators by multiple
ofidentity
and the second one is theirdependence
on one of themonly (We
could call realizations with the firstproperty
as Schur realizations and the secondproperty
as thedege-
neration of
realization).
It is natural toexpect
thatenlarging
the number N in new realizations could appear which are not Schur realizations and which are lessdegenerated.
Thequestion
here arises whether there exist Schur realizations ofOc(n)
in whichdegeneration
ispartly
orfully removed,
i. e., where a number of the
independent
Casimiroperators
isgreater
thanone or even
equal two 2 .
The authors
hope
togive
apositive
answer in asubsequent
paper.(*) Since the skew-symmetric realization of O(n, 1) in
W2(n-l)
exists, the « subrealiza- tion » of O(n) c O(n, 1) in is a minimal one.Annales de l’Institut Henri Poincaré - Section A
ON THE MINIMAL CANONICAL REALIZATIONS OF THE LIE ALGEBRA 333
ACKNOWLEDG MENTS
One of the authors
(M. H.)
is indebted toprof.
A. Uhlmann for a criticalreading
of themanuscript
and to dr. A. M. Perelomov for valuable dis- cussions.Note. - When the work was finished the authors met a paper of A.
JOSEPH,
Comm. niatfi.Phys.,
t.36, 1974,
p.325,
with someoverlap
ofresults
(e.
g., theorems 1 and 2 are contained in lemmas 3.1 and 3.2and,
on the other
hand,
our theorem 3generalizes,
as to realization inWeyl algebra, part (5)
of theorem5.1 )
which were however obtainedby
a differentmethods. The assertions of our lemmas can be useful in the solution of the
problem
of the minimal canonical realization forOc(n) if n
7.REFERENCES
[1] H. D. DOEBNER and B. PIRRUNG, Spectrum-generating algebras and canonical realiza- tions. Preprint IC/72/77.
[2] W. MILLER, Jr., On Lie algebras and some special functions of mathematical physics.
AMS Mem. no. 50, Providence, 1964.
[3] T. D. PALEV, Nuovo Cim., t. 62, 1969, p. 585.
[4] A. SIMONI and F. ZACCARIA, Nuovo Cim., t. 59, A., 1969, p. 280.
[5] A. JOSEPH, J. Math. Phys., t. 13, 1972, p. 351.
[6] J. L. RICHARD, Ann. Inst. H. Poincaré, t. 8, Sec. A., n° 3, 1968, p. 301.
[7] N. JACOBSON, Lie algebras, Mir, Moskva, 1964 (in Russian).
[8] H. D. DOEBNER and T. D. PALEV, On realizations of Lie algebras in factor spaces.
Preprint IC/71/104.
[9] D. L. ZHELOBENKO, Kompaktnyje gruppy Li i ich predstavlenija, Nauka, Moskva,
1970.
(Manuscrit reçu le 11 juillet 1974)
Vol. XXIII, n° 4 - 1975.