Group representations of SU(2) and SO(3)

Jason Saroni
December 18, 2014

Abstract
Group representations of SU(2) and SO(3) are used extensively in physics.
This paper explores representations of SU(2) and SO(3) along with the correspondence between the groups. The generators of these groups for an irreducible matrix representation are calculated and their commutation relations
shown.

Introduction

First the paper reviews some basic principles of group representations that
will be needed for the exploration in the rest of the paper. This involves
G-invariant subspaces, operators and Schurs Lemma. The next section introduces and explores the groups SU(2) and SO(3). It studies the isomorphism from SU(2) to the quotient group of SO(3) and the center of SU(2).
Considered representations of SU(2) and SO(3) are identified as irreducible
using Schurs Lemma. The following section explores a matrix representation
of the two groups, their generators and their commutation relations. Lastly
the relation of SU(2) and SO(3) to some fields in physics is discussed.

Group representations

A group representation of a group G is an interpretation of the group in

terms of linear operators. It is a homomorphism from the group under consideration to another group acting on a vector space. To describe a group
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representation, it will be sufficient to use the triad (G, V , ) where G is a

group, V is a vector space and : G GL(V ) is a group homomorphism.
If a group is given by generators and relations hx1 , ..., xn |r1 , ...rk i for some
integers n
and k, then the corresponding
representation has to have the same

relations (x1 ) , ..., (xn ) |r1 , ..., rk .
A vector space V on which a group G operates is called G-invariant if for all
v in V ,
gv = v or g (v) = v for all g in G
If is a representation of a group G on V and if V has no proper G-invariant
subspace, is called an irreducible representation. Otherwise is reducible.
A linear operator T : V 0 V is called G-invariant if it is compatible with
the operation of G, i.e. for all g G
T (gv 0 ) = gT (v 0 )
By Lemma 10.7.4 in [1] the kernel and the image of a G-invariant linear
transformation T : V 0 V are G-invariant subspaces of V 0 and V respectively. Let T be a linear transformation with at least one eigenvector.
Schurs Lemma.
(a) Let and 0 be irreducible representations of G on vector spaces V and
V 0 , respectively, and let T : V V 0 be a G-invariant transformation. Either
T is an isomorphism, or else T = 0.
(b) Let be an irreducible representation of G on a vector space V , and let
T : V V be a G-invariant linear operator. Then T is multiplication by a
scalar: T = cI
The proof is straightforward given in [1].

Correspondence between SU (2) and SO(3)

SU (2) is the group of 2 2 unitary matrices with determinant 1. An element

P of SU (2) has the form,





P =
, or P =

, with + = 1

with and complex numbers and and their complex conjugates.

SO(3) is the group of isometries of a Euclidean space of dimension 3. These

are distance preserving transformations. Equivalently it is the group of 3 3
real orthogonal matrices with determinant 1. (Theorem 7.36 [6]).
There is a homomorphism : SU (2) SO(3) defined by,
2



|| ||2 2R()
2I()

:= 2R( ) R(2 2 ) I(2 2 )

2I( ) I(2 + 2 ) R(2 + 2 )
where R is the real part and I is the imaginary part. This is indeed a
homomorphism by brute calculation.






3 3
2 2
1 1
, then AB = C =
and B =
let A =
3 3
2 2
1 1
for some C also in the group since A and B are elements of a group.
Let(A) = X, (B) = Y, and (C) = Z
Then the product of X,

|1 |2 |1 |2 2R(1 1 ) 2I(1 1 )
2R(1 1 )
R(12 12 ) I(12 12 )

2I(1 1 ) I(12 + 12 ) R(12 + 12 )

and Y,

|2 |2 |2 |2 2R(2 2 ) 2I(2 2 )
2R(2 2 )
R(22 22 ) I(22 22 )
2I(2 2 ) I(22 + 22 ) R(22 + 22 )

equals Z,

|3 |2 |3 |2 2R(3 3 ) 2I(3 3 )
2R(3 3 )
R(32 32 ) I(32 32 )

2I(3 3 ) I(32 + 32 ) R(32 + 32 )

This shows that (AB) = (A)(B) hence is a group homomorphism.
We wish to construct this homomorphism geometrically. As a motivation for
this we consider the following from [1]; By analogy with the unit sphere in
R3 , the locus


x20 + x21 + + x2n = 1
3

in Rn+1 is called an n-dimensional unit sphere or n-sphere. For




P =

with = x0 + x1 i and = x2 + x3 i
The following defines a bijective correspondence of SU (2) with a 3-sphere,


x1 i
x 2 + x3 i
P =
(x0 , x1 , x2 , x3 )
x2 + x3 i
x1 i
The equator E of SU (2) is defined by the equation Trace[P ] = 0, so that
x0 = 0. A point on the equator has the form,


x0 + x1 i x 2 + x3 i
A=
(x1 , x2 , x3 )
x2 + x3 i x0 x1 i
From this motivation, define the correspondence


x1
x2 x3 i
S=
(x1 , x2 , x3 ) R3
x2 + x3 i
x1
S is self-adjoint and this correspondence is also bijective.
Trace[S] = 0 and
Det[S] = (x21 + x22 + x23 ) = h(x1 , x2 , x3 ), (x1 , x2 , x3 )i

(1)

where we have used the Euclidean inner product. There is a map

F : R3 Self-adjoint 2 2 matrices defined by


x1
x2 x3 i
F (x, y, z) =
x2 + x3 i
x1
For g SU (2) we use g and the correspondence to define a linear transformation of R3 :
Tg : R3 R3
Tg (v) = F 1 (gF (v)g 1 )
From linear algebra [6] the matrix of a linear operator is fully determined
by its operation on an orthonormal basis set. For our case the basis set is
[(1, 0, 0)(0, 1, 0)(0, 0, 1)]. Matrix calculations show that the 3 3 real matrix
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corresponding to Tg in the standard basis is (g) for some 2 2 matrix in

SU (2). The calculations go as follows:

The first column

of thematrix will be the

 imageof (1, 0, 0).

1 0
For g =
F (1, 0, 0) =
so

0 1

  

1 0


1
gF (1, 0, 0)g =

0 1



||2 ||2
2
=
2
||2 ||2
Applying F 1 we get the first column,
2

k| ||2
Tg = 2R( )
2I
The second and third columns are calculated in a similar manner to show
that the matrix of T under the basis [(1, 0, 0)(0, 1, 0)(0, 0, 1)] is
2

|| ||2 2R()
2I()
2R( ) R(2 2 ) I(2 2 )
2I( ) I(2 + 2 ) R(2 + 2 )
Proposition 1: The function : SU (2) SO(3) is a surjective group
homomorphism. The kernel of this homomorphism is [I, I] SU (2).
Proof To show that is a group homomorphism, for any g1 , g2 SU (2)
and any v R3 we have
(g1 g2 )v = Tg1 g2 (v) = F 1 (g1 g2 F (v)(g1 g2 )1 )
= F 1 (g1 g2 F (v)g21 g11 )
= F 1 (g1 F (F 1 (gF (v)g21 ))g11 )
Tg1 (Tg2 (v))
(g1 )(g2 )v
Hence is a group homomorphism as in the first case. To show that for
any g SU (2) we have (g) SO(3) we show using equation (1)
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hTg (x, y, z), Tg (x, y, z)i = Det g

Det

x1
x 2 x3 i
x2 + x3 i
x1



x1
x2 x3 i 1
g
x2 + x3 i
x1


= h(x, y, z), (x, y, z)i

Hence preserves the length on R3 . It is an isometry, just as are elements

of the orthogonal group. Det((g)) = 1 for every g SU (2) following
from the fact that the determinant all elements of SU (2) are 1. Hence for
g SU (2) we have (g) SO(3)
To show that is surjective, we consider rotations in SO(3) around the
x, y, and z axes. By doing the geometry of rotation, it can be shown using
the cosine double angle rule that rotation matrices about the x, y, and z axes
are

1
0
0
X = 0 cos() sin()
0 sin() cos()

cos() 0 sin()
1
0
Y = 0
sin() 0 cos()

cos() sin() 0
Z = sin() cos() 0
0
0
1

respectively. These are derived in [7]. We note that Z 3 X Z 2 = Y Without

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proof we take the fact that any element of SO(3) can be written as Z X Z
for some real , , and . By calculation we observe that



X =

This shows that X is in the image

 of . We find the dependence of the

entries of the matrix


ei/2
0
for any R to be
by using eulers formula ei = cos() +
0
ei/2
isin() for a point on a complex plane. We also used the fact that the
determinant of a matrix in SU (2) has to be 1.
We note by computation that,

0 0 1
0 0 1
Z = 0 1 0 X 0 1 0
1 0 0
1 0 0


and that




0 0 1
1
i
1
0 1 0 =
i
2 1
1 0 0
If Z Im() then

Z =



for some complex and . The following calculation shows that Z

Im(). Since is a group homomorphism,


  i/2



1 i 1
1 i 1
e
0

i
i
0
ei/2
2 1
2 1

=

  i/2
 


1 i 1
i 1
e
0

1
i
i
0
ei/2
2 1

0 0 1
0 0 1
0 1 0 X 0 1 0 = Z
1 0 0
1 0 0

We have now shown that any rotation about the z or x-axis is in the
image of the group homomorphism . Because any element of SO(3) can be
written as a product of three such rotations it follows that any element of
SO(3) is in the image of . Next we compute the kernel of . We note that



1 0 0

= 0 1 0

0 0 1
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is true only if ||2 ||2 = 1 and R(2 2 ) = 1. But ||2 + ||2 = 1

from SU (2) so we must have = 0, ||2 = 1 and R(2 ) = 1. Hence = 1.
So the Ker() = [I, I] denoted by N.
We have found a surjective group homomorphism with kernel N. By the
first isomorphism theorem of 2.12.10 in [1], the quotient group G = SU (2)/N
is isomorphic to the image SO3.
Hence SU (2)/[I, I]
= SO(3).

Irreducible representations of SU (2) and SO(3)

We consider the representation given in [1] n : SU2 GL(Hn ) where Hn is

the complex vector space of homogenous polynomials of degree n in variables
u, v of form
f (u, v) = c0 un + cn1 un1 v + + cn1 uv n1 + cn v n



For P SU (2) where P =
, operating P on an element of Hn

gives another polynomial [Pf] defined by
[P f ](u, v) = f (u + v, u + v )
Hence,
[P ui v j ] = (u + v)i (u + v )j
When P is diagonal = 0. Let = ei
 i
 
 

e
0
0
0
P =
=
=
0 ei
0
0 1
Then
[P ui v j ] = (u)i (v )j = ui v j ij . So P acts of the basis (un , un1 v, ..., uv n1 , v n )
of Hn as the diagonal matrix
n

n1

To determine whether this representation is irreducible, we search for

a matrix T such that T is a scalar multiple of the identity matrix. If we
constrain to 2k in P for some integer k, then we get = 1. Thus all the
diagonal entries will be equal and this gives the identity matrix as desired.
This matrix is trivally G-invariant where G is SU (2). By part (b) of Schurs
Lemma n is an irreducible representation of SU (2)

Irreducible representations of SO(3) can be determined more easily by

use of the group homomorphism from SU (2) to SO(3) discussed. This is
proposition 6.15 in [4] and the proof follows.

Generators of SU (2) and SO(3) and relation

to physics

For a general matrix A in the special unitary group, we have in general



ar + iai br + ibi
A=
br
ar iai








1 0
1 0
0 i
0 1
= ar
+ iai
+ ibr
+ ibi
0 1
0 1
i 0
1 0
Thus any 2 2 unitary matrix can be represented as a linear combination
of the matrices






1 0
0 i
0 1
x =
, y =
, z =
1 0
0 1
i 0
These are the Pauli matrices. They are the infinitesimal generators of
SU (2). It can be checked that
i2 = I
i j = j i = iijk k
where ijk is the Levi-Cevita symbol with its usual properties, i = x, y, z
and I a 2 2 unit matrix. Let a = (ax , ay , az ), b = (bx , by , bz ), and
=
(x , y , z )
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Using the above relations we find that

(a
)(b
) = (a b)I + i(a b)

(2)

We define Si = 12 ii , for i = 1, 2, 3 and get the following commutation

relations:
[Xi , Xj ] = ijk Xk
By using an infinitesimal approach which will be made more explicit for
SO(3), we have
1

A = e 2 in
where n is a unit vector in the direction of the axis of rotation. The
exponential matrix is defined in terms of the Taylor series expansion. The
Maclaurin series for the exponential is

X
(i)n 1 n
( ) (n
)n
n! 2
k=0

Using equation (2), we have (n

)2 = I, so
A=I

X
X
(1)n 1 2n
(1)n 1 2n+1
( ) i(n
)
( )
(2n)!
2
(2n
+
1)!
2
k=0
k=0

1
1
= cos( )I i(n
)sin( )
2
2

=


cos( 21 ) inz sin( 12 ) (ny + inx )sin( 12 )
(ny inx )sin( 12 ) cos( 12 ) + inz sin( 12 )

The matrix is unitary with unit determinant so the Pauli matrices are
indeed the infinitesimal generators of SU (2).

For SO(3) we consider the matrices shown earlier, X , Y , and Z letting

the angle approach 0 denote the infinitesimal angle by , we can Taylor

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expand the sine and cosine terms ignoring all powers of 3 and higher. If we
then differentiate with respect to we get the infinitesimal generators

1 1 0
dX
= 1 0 0
X=
d
0 0 0

0 0 1
dY
0 0 0
=
Y =
d
1 0 0

0 0 0
dZ
= 0 0 1
Z=
d
0 1 0
In classical mechanic, angular momentum is a generator of rotations.
Infinitesimal operators are written as
U = 1 iG
where
Jk
~
and Jk is an angular momentum operator. More generally we can write
the infinitesimal rotation as
G

Jn
)d
~
To get finite rotations about the axis under consideration we repeatedly
multiply by the same infinitesimal rotation N times. The N factors approach
infinity. since = N we get only considering rotation about the z-axis in
this case,
D(n, d) = 1 i(

Dz () = lim = 1 i
N

Jz
~



N

iJz
= e( ~ )

Similar to what was obtained in SU (2) as promised.

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iJz Jz2 2
=1

+
~
2~2
Ignoring higher order terms, we compute the commutation relations of
rotations about different axes. Calculating



iJy Jy2 2
iJx Jx2 2

1
~
2~2
~
2~2



iJy Jy2 2
iJx Jx2 2
1

~
2~2
~
2~2
and using the commutations relations between the generators we get,
[Ji , Jj ] = i~ijk Jk
with the indices cycling around x, y, and z. It is clear that these commutation relations are similar to those from SU (2) to within constants. They
can be made exactly equal. This shows that SO(3) and SU (3) have the same
algebra.

Sources

[1] M. Artin Algebra

[2] H.F. Jones, Groups, Representations and Physics (Institute of Physics,
Bristol, 1998)
[3] E.P. Wigner, Group Theory and its Application to the Quantum Mechanics of Atomic Spectra (Academic, New York, 1959), pp. 177194.
[4] S. Axler, K. A. Ribet, Linearity, Symmetry and Prediction in the Hydrogen Atom
[5] M. Tinkham, Group Theory and Quantum Mechanics (McGrawHill, New
York, 1964)
[6] S. Axler, Linear Algebra Done Right
[7] K.F. Riley, M.P. Hobson and S.J. Bence Mathematical Methods for Physicis
[8] J. J. Sakurai, J. Napolitano, Modern Quantum Mechanics

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