Differentiating smooth group homomorphisms [fcap-001Q]
✍️sourceAGENTDRAFTED
Differentiating smooth group homomorphisms [fcap-001Q]
✍️sourceAGENTDRAFTED
The quadratic Clifford construction in the preceding section is algebraic. A different bridge starts from a smooth homomorphism of Lie groups and differentiates it at the identity. This produces the functor from Lie groups to Lie algebras and explains which part of the Spin-representation roadmap is generic differential geometry, before any Lie-group structure on the abstract Spin and special orthogonal groups has been supplied.
Definition 1. The differential of a smooth homomorphism
[liu2016lie, Section 2.1, p. 9] [fcap-001R]AGENTDRAFTED
Definition 1. The differential of a smooth homomorphism
[liu2016lie, Section 2.1, p. 9] [fcap-001R]AGENTDRAFTED
Let \(G\) and \(H\) be finite-dimensional real Lie groups, with identities \(e_G\) and \(e_H\), and let \(\phi :G\to H\) be a smooth group homomorphism. Their Lie algebras are the tangent spaces \[\mathfrak g=T_{e_G}G, \qquad \mathfrak h=T_{e_H}H.\] The differential of \(\phi \) at the identity is the linear map \[\operatorname {Lie}(\phi )=d\phi _{e_G}: \mathfrak g\longrightarrow \mathfrak h.\] No connectedness or simply-connectedness hypothesis is needed to define this map. Those hypotheses enter the converse problem of integrating a Lie-algebra homomorphism, not the differentiation of a given smooth homomorphism.
For \(X\in \mathfrak g\), let \(\widetilde X\) be its left-invariant vector field, \[\widetilde X_g=d(L_g)_{e_G}X.\] The homomorphism identity \(\phi \circ L_g=L_{\phi (g)}\circ \phi \) gives \[d\phi _g(\widetilde X_g) =\widetilde {\operatorname {Lie}(\phi )(X)}_{\phi (g)}.\] Thus differentiation at the identity and transport by left translation are two descriptions of the same infinitesimal map.
Lemma 2. The differential preserves the Lie bracket
[liu2016lie, Section 2.1, p. 9] [fcap-001S]AGENTDRAFTED
Lemma 2. The differential preserves the Lie bracket
[liu2016lie, Section 2.1, p. 9] [fcap-001S]AGENTDRAFTED
In the setting of Definition 1, the differential is a Lie-algebra homomorphism: \[\operatorname {Lie}(\phi )([X,Y]) =[\operatorname {Lie}(\phi )(X), \operatorname {Lie}(\phi )(Y)].\] Indeed, the left-invariant fields \(\widetilde X\) and \(\widetilde Y\) are \(\phi \)-related to the left-invariant fields determined by their images. Brackets of related vector fields are again related. Evaluating that relation at \(e_G\) gives the displayed identity.
This argument is local at the identity. In particular, bracket preservation does not require \(G\) to be connected or simply connected.
Theorem 3. The Lie functor [liu2016lie, Section 2.2, p. 10] [fcap-001T]AGENTDRAFTED
Theorem 3. The Lie functor [liu2016lie, Section 2.2, p. 10] [fcap-001T]AGENTDRAFTED
Differentiation at the identity is functorial. For smooth homomorphisms \(G\xrightarrow {\phi }H\xrightarrow {\psi }K\), the chain rule gives \[\operatorname {Lie}(\operatorname {id}_G) =\operatorname {id}_{\mathfrak g}, \qquad \operatorname {Lie}(\psi \circ \phi ) =\operatorname {Lie}(\psi )\circ \operatorname {Lie}(\phi ).\] Together with Lemma 2, this defines a functor from Lie groups and smooth homomorphisms to Lie algebras and Lie-algebra homomorphisms.
The stronger correspondence between simply connected Lie groups and Lie algebras concerns existence and uniqueness in the reverse direction. It is not a hypothesis of these functor laws.
Theorem 4. Naturality of the exponential
[liu2016lie, Section 2.4, pp. 12--13] [fcap-001U]AGENTDRAFTED
Theorem 4. Naturality of the exponential
[liu2016lie, Section 2.4, pp. 12--13] [fcap-001U]AGENTDRAFTED
Let \(\phi :G\to H\) be a smooth Lie-group homomorphism. For every \(X\in \mathfrak g\), \[\phi (\exp _G X) =\exp _H\bigl (\operatorname {Lie}(\phi )(X)\bigr ).\] Equivalently, the square
Proof.
Proof.
The curve \(t\mapsto \phi (\exp _G(tX))\) is a one-parameter subgroup of \(H\). Its tangent vector at \(t=0\) is \(\operatorname {Lie}(\phi )(X)\). The curve \(t\mapsto \exp _H(t\operatorname {Lie}(\phi )(X))\) has the same property and the same tangent vector. Uniqueness of the one-parameter subgroup with a given tangent vector identifies the curves; setting \(t=1\) proves the formula.
Example 5. Differentiating a matrix representation
[liu2016lie, Sections 2.1 and 2.4, pp. 9, 12] [fcap-001V]AGENTDRAFTED
Example 5. Differentiating a matrix representation
[liu2016lie, Sections 2.1 and 2.4, pp. 9, 12] [fcap-001V]AGENTDRAFTED
Let \(V\) be a finite-dimensional real vector space and let \[\rho :G\longrightarrow \operatorname {GL}(V)\] be a smooth representation. Its differential is a Lie-algebra representation \[d\rho _{e_G}:\mathfrak g\longrightarrow \mathfrak {gl}(V).\] Naturality of the exponential becomes \[\rho (\exp _G X)=\exp \bigl (d\rho _{e_G}(X)\bigr ),\] where the exponential on the right is the ordinary matrix exponential. For example, for the determinant homomorphism \(\det :\operatorname {GL}_n(\mathbb R)\to \mathbb R^\times \), \[d(\det )_I(A)=\operatorname {tr}(A).\]
Remark 6. Why explicit smoothness changes the roadmap
[liu2016lie, Sections 2.1--2.4 and 2.8, pp. 9--13, 19--20];
[isaev2018theory, Section 3.1.2, pp. 106--107] [fcap-001W]AGENTDRAFTED
Remark 6. Why explicit smoothness changes the roadmap
[liu2016lie, Sections 2.1--2.4 and 2.8, pp. 9--13, 19--20];
[isaev2018theory, Section 3.1.2, pp. 106--107] [fcap-001W]AGENTDRAFTED
The constructions in Definition 1--Example 5 start with a smooth homomorphism. Their tangent map, bracket law, functor laws, and exponential naturality therefore do not require a theorem that upgrades a continuous homomorphism to a smooth one. The generic theorem does not invoke the closed-subgroup theorem; that theorem belongs to the later specialization to concrete matrix subgroups. This is the dependency split proposed in TauCetiRoadmap PR 224.
The exponential input is separate from the tangent and bracket input. Likewise, the Baker--Campbell--Hausdorff calculation can first be made in a matrix or general-linear group; using it inside a particular closed matrix subgroup additionally requires the subgroup's Lie structure. Liu describes the local exponential and BCH coordinates, while Isaev--Rubakov give the matrix Campbell--Hausdorff calculation.
The open TauCeti draft PR 3078 proposes the generic construction and its functor and exponential laws. It is not merged, so these cards carry no Lean markers. Even after that generic interface lands, the differential of \(\operatorname {Spin}(Q)\to SO(Q)\) still needs compatible Lie-group structures on the two abstract groups. The algebraic identification in Theorem [fcap-000R] does not by itself supply those structures.