Mathematical Mehods-II (PHY 422/422A)

Problem Set
Instructor- Dr. Joydeep Chakrabortty
Q.1: Show that the number of independent elements of an N N unitary matrix is N 2 , and
that of an N N unimodular matrix is N 2 1.
Q.2: How many independent elements are there in an N N orthogonal matrix, and an
N N hermitian matrix?
Q.3: Show that the determinant of a 2 2 orthogonal matrix must be either +1 or 1.
Q.4: Check whether the following are groups: (i) All integers except zero for multiplication;
(ii) All 2 2 orthogonal matrices with determinant 1; (iii) All purely imaginary
numbers (excluding zero) for multiplication, and the same (including zero) for addition.
Q.5: Which of the following sets form a group under conventional multiplication? Construct
a group multiplication table for those sets which form a group.
(a) A = {1, 1}.
(b) B = {1, 1, i, i, j, j, k, k} where i2 = j 2 = k 2 = 1, ij = ji = k, jk =
kj = i, ki = ik = j.
(c) C = {1, 1, i, i, j, j, k, k, l, l, m, m, n, n, o, o} where i2 = j 2 = k 2 =
l2 = m2 = n2 = o2 = 1, products of different i, j, k, l, m, n, o anti-commute and the
nontrivial products are ij = k, lk = m, mi = n, mj = l, io = l, jo = m, ko = n and
their cyclic permutations.
Q.6: Show that the eight matrices

1 0
0 1

, i

0 1
1 0

, i

0 i
i 0

, i

1 0
0 1

form a group under matrix multiplication. Show that this group is isomorphic to group
(b) of the previous problem.
Q.7: Show that the 3-dimensional representation of Z3 , given by D(1), D(123) and D(321)
are completely reducible with a similarity transformation by

1 1
1
S = 1 2
3
1

where = exp(2i/3) and

1 0 0
0 0 1
0 1 0

D(1) = 0 1 0 ; D(123) = 1 0 0 ; D(321) = 0 0 1 .

0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
.
Q.8: If G is a group of order 14 then what can be the possible order(s) of subgroups of G.
1

Q.9: Draw group multiplication table for Z4 (cyclic group of order 4) and D2 (dihedral
group). Find out difference, if any.
Q.10: [2, 1, 3], [2,3,1] and [1,3,2] are the elements of permutation group as discussed in class,
calculate the order of them.
Q.11: Show that the 2-dimensional reflection (x, y) (x, y) can be obtained by rotation too (so this is continuously connected to identity). Can you get a 3-dimensional
reflection (x, y, z) (x, y, z) from rotations?
Q.12: Draw the group multiplication table for dihedral group D4 = {1, a, a2 , a3 , b, ab, a2 b, a3 b}
with a4 = 1, b2 = 1 and ba = a1 b. Is it abelian?
Q.13: Show that
[Xa , Xb ] = ifabc Xc .
does not depend upon the specific choice of generators; an equivalent set of generators,
obtained from the original set by some similarity transformation, will also satisfy it.
Q.14: Show that structure constants are antisymmetric in all its indices.
Q.15: Prove the following:
fbcd fade + fabd fcde + fcad fbde = 0.
Q.16: You know how the ket and the bra transform under the group element exp(ia Xa ).
Differentiate with respect to and divide by i to show that the action of Xa on the
ket |ii corresponds to the action of Xa on the bra hi|, and the commutator [Xa , O]
for the operator O
Q.17: If [A, B] = B, calculate f () exp(iA)B exp(iA). This can be done in several
ways.
Show that An B = B(1 + A)n . Use method of induction.
Show that f ()/ = f () and solve using the boundary condition for = 0.
Directly use the Baker-Campbell-Hausdorff identity
ea bea = b +

1
1
[a, b] + [a, [a, b]] + . . .
1!
2!

Q.18: Show that the structure constants indeed form a representation of the group. Use the
fact that they are antisymmetric in all their indices.
Q.19: Show that the adjoint representation of SU (N ) is real.
Q.20: Calculate the generators of SU(2) in adjoint representation.
Q.21: Show that if a matrix M commutes with all the generators of an irreducible representation of a Lie algebra, M must be a multiple of the unit matrix. This is the Schurs
lemma for continuous groups. (Hint: assume M is hermitian and diagonalise it.)
2

Q.22: Consider an operator Oi (i = 1, 2), which transforms according to the spin 1/2 representation of SU (2) as follows:
[Jp , Oi ] =

1
Oj (p )ji ,
2
i=1,2
X

where Jp (p = 1, 2, 3) are generators of SU (2) and p are the Pauli matrices. Given,
hj = 3/2, m = 1/2, s|O1 |j = 1, m = 1, ti = X,
compute,
hj = 3/2, m = 3/2, s|O2 |j = 1, m = 1, ti.
Here s, t are some quantum numbers other than angular momenta.
Q.23: Consider the Hamiltonian for a two dimensional simple HO,
H =h

X 

a
i a
i +

i=1,2

1
2

where [
ai , a
j ] = [
ai , a
j ] = 0 & [
ai , a
j ] = ij Now consider the operators
N=

a
i a
i

and Tb =

X  b 

a
i

ij

a
j
ij

Show that N and Tb commute with H. Compute [N, Tb ] and [Ta , Tb ]. What algebra
do these four operator generate? Compute the commutators [N, a
i ] and [T, a
i ]. Use
this information to classify the energy eigenstate as irreducible representations of the
algebra. Explain the degeneracy number of each energy level.
Q.24: Verify the following decompositions under SU(2):
32
42
33
222
223

=
=
=
=
=

42
53
531
422
5 3 3 1.

Q.25: Calculate 4 4 under SU(2).

Calculate for SU(3): 3 3, 3
3, 3 6.
Q.26: Suppose you want to combine two states with angular momentum j1 and j2 . The
dimensionality of the reducible Hilbert space is obviously (2j1 + 1)(2j2 + 1). Show that
the dimensionality of all the irreducible representations that you get add up to this.
Q.27: Convince yourself that (p, 0) (1, 0) = (p + 1, 0) (p 1, 1). From the expression of
the dimensionality d, check that the dimensionalities match on both sides.
Q.28: Perform the topnotch exercise for SU(3): 8 8 = 27 10 10 8 8 1. Be
careful to avoid double counting. Also preserve the symmetry and the antisymmetry
properties.
3

Q.29: Find for SU(3):

and

Q.30: Show that fabc b c = iC2 (8)a .

Q.31: Justify the steps:
1
(b [a , b ] [a , b ]b + b b a + a b b )
2


1
= 4C2 (3)a + ifabc [b , c ] = 4 C2 (3) C2 (8) a .
2

b a b =

Q.32: Compute
the
ranks
and
number
of
generators
of
following
groups: SO(4), SO(5), SO(10). What are the fundamental representations of these
groups.
Q.33: Comment on homomorphism between SU(2) and SO(3).
Q.34: Compute the normalization of SU(2) generators in the following representations: 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 20, 30, 40. Write down then Lie algebras in these representations.
Q.35: If we can write following decompositions of SU(4) representations under SU(3) as:
4 1 3, 6 3 3, 10 1 3 6,
and the following SU(3) representations can be written in terms of SU(2) representations as: 3 1 2, 3 1 2, 6 1 2 3,
then compute the normalisations of SU(4) generators in the above mentioned representations.
Q.36: Calculate the following:
(i) (2, 3) (2, 3),
(ii) (3, 8) (3, 8).
Here, the representations are read under SU (2) SU (3).
Q.37: Prove the following relations:
(i) exp(i 22 2 ) = cos(2 /2) + i2 sin(2 /2),
(i) exp(iJ2 2 ) = cos(2 ) + iJ2 sin(2 ),
where 2 /2 and J are the normalized generators of SU(2) and SO(3) respectively.