Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
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.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.
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
1
S = 1 2
3
1 2
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 rota-
tion 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?
[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.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.21: Show that if a matrix M commutes with all the generators of an irreducible represen-
tation 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 repre-
sentation of SU (2) as follows:
X 1
[Jp , Oi ] = Oj (p )ji ,
i=1,2 2
where Jp (p = 1, 2, 3) are generators of SU (2) and p are the Pauli matrices. Given,
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.
where [
ai , a ai , a
j ] = [ j ] = 0 & [ j ] = ij Now consider the operators
ai , a
X X b
N= a
i a
i and Tb = a
i a
j
i ij 2 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.
32 = 42
42 = 53
33 = 531
222 = 422
223 = 5 3 3 1.
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.
3
Q.29: Find for SU(3): and .
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) representa-
tions as: 3 1 2, 3 1 2, 6 1 2 3,
then compute the normalisations of SU(4) generators in the above mentioned repre-
sentations.