Introduction to tHooft symbols

Sumanto Chanda
S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences
JD Block, Sector-3, Salt Lake, Calcutta-700098, INDIA.
September 20, 2014
1 The Euclidean at metric
We are already familiar with the form of the metric as described in geometry most notably its
symmetry. However, there is another way to express the metric: with anti-symmetric structures.
The at-space Euclidean metric is given by:
ds
2
=

dx

dx

= dr
2
+ r
2
d
2
(1.1)
The projections along and normal to the radial distance from the center are:
dr = dx. e
r
= dx.
x
r
r d
i
=
_
dx e
r
_
i
=
_
dx
x
r
_
i
(1.2)
For the complementary projection, we can write:
d
i
=
_
dx
x
r
2
_
i
=
1
r
2
(x dx)
i
(1.3)
For an n-dimensional manifold, we can choose
n(n1)
2
pair combination components, written as:

i
= d
i
=
1
r
2

dx

(1.4)
where
n(n1)
2
the antisymmetric matrices
i

here are the generators of group SO(n) given by:

1
=
_
_
_
_
0 1 0 . .
1 0 0 . .
0 0 0 . .
. . . . .
_
_
_
_
,
2
=
_
_
_
_
0 0 1 . .
0 0 0 . .
1 0 0 . .
. . . . .
_
_
_
_
, ....
We will now establish a property of the -symbols on the (n 1)-sphere:
=
1
r
2
dx x x =
1
r
2
x
_
dx x
_
=
1
r
2
_
x.x
_
dx
_
dx is to x
_
dx = x dx
i
=
ijk

j
x
k
1
This can be said to apply to any vector whose norm is conserved on the (n 1)-sphere:
dv = v dv
i
=
ijk

j
v
k
Thus, on a unit sphere, we can say:
d = d
i
=
ijk

j

k
(1.5)
We can choose to make linear combinations of these to adjust the number of such matrices. ie.

i
= c
i
j

j
i = 1, ...m, j = 1, ...n, c
i
j
= 0 or 1 m n
Naturally, we should get:
(
i
)
2
= d
2
= |dx|
2

_
dx. e
r
_
2
(1.6)
This allows us to establish an identity:
1
r
4
m

i=1

dx

dx

=
1
r
4
_

_
x

dx

dx

(1.7)
We will now demonstrate with two known examples.
2 Demonstration
We will apply the theory to two known examples to demonstrate how the components can be
re-expressed. These examples will involve at manifolds of dimensionality n = 2 and n = 3.
2.1 Case 1: n = 2
The line element is given by:
ds
2
= dx
2
+ dy
2
(2.1)
For the case of 2 dimensions, we have only one such matrix for our purpose:
=
_
0 1
1 0
_
=
1
r
2

dx

=
1
r
2
(x dy y dx) (2.2)
Clearly, we can see that:
()
2
=
1
r
4
(x dy y dx)
2
=
1
r
4
(x
2
dy
2
+ y
2
dx
2
2xy dx dy)
=
1
r
4
{(x
2
+ y
2
)(dx
2
+ dy
2
) (x dx + y dy)
2
}
=
1
r
4
{r
2
(dr
2
+ r
2
d
2
) (r dr)
2
} = d
2
()
2
= d
2
(2.3)
So we now have the line element from (2.1) given by:
ds
2
= dr
2
+ r
2

2
(2.4)
Thus, we have demonstrated it for n = 2.
2
2.2 Case 2: n = 3
The line element is given by:
ds
2
= dx
2
+ dy
2
+ dz
2
(2.5)
In this case we have 3 such matrices, given by:

1
=
_
_
0 1 0
1 0 0
0 0 0
_
_

2
=
_
_
0 0 1
0 0 0
1 0 0
_
_

3
=
_
_
0 0 0
0 0 1
0 1 0
_
_
(2.6)
Thus, we will have:

1
=
1
r
2
(x dy y dx)
2
=
1
r
2
(z dx x dz)
3
=
1
r
2
(y dz z dy) (2.7)
A sum of squares gives us:
3

i=1
(
i
)
2
=
1
r
4
_
(y
2
+ z
2
)dx
2
+ (x
2
+ z
2
)dy
2
+ (x
2
+ y
2
)dz
2
2(xy dx dy + xz dx dz + yz dy dz)
_
=
1
r
4
_
(x
2
+ y
2
+ z
2
)(dx
2
+ dy
2
+ dz
2
) (xdx + ydy + zdz)
2
_
=
1
r
4
{r
2
(dr
2
+ r
2
d
2
2
) (r dr)
2
} = d
2
2

i=1
(
i
)
2
= d
2
2
= d
2
2
+ sin
2

2
d
2
1
(2.8)
So we now have the line element from (2.5) given by:
ds
2
= dr
2
+ r
2
(
2
1
+
2
2
+
2
3
) (2.9)
Now, we have demonstrated it for n = 3 as well.
3 tHooft symbols: Construction and algebra
In the case of n = 4 we will have 6 such matrices. However, on a dierent note aimed towards other
problems, we may want self-dual linear combinations. The elements could be seen as 2-forms:

i
=
i

dx

dx

(3.1)
the set of which includes its own Hodge duals. Using such 2-forms, we can write anti/self-dual
forms through linear combinations as:

()i
=
i

i

()i
=
()i
(3.2)
Such matrices known as tHooft matrices would be given by re-writing
()i
=
()i
as:

(+)1
=
_
_
_
_
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0
_
_
_
_

(+)2
=
_
_
_
_
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
_
_
_
_

(+)3
=
_
_
_
_
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
_
_
_
_
(3.3)
3

()1
=
_
_
_
_
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0
_
_
_
_

()2
=
_
_
_
_
0 0 1 0
0 0 0 1
1 0 0 0
0 1 0 0
_
_
_
_

()3
=
_
_
_
_
0 1 0 0
1 0 0 0
0 0 0 1
0 0 1 0
_
_
_
_
(3.4)
The relation equivalent to (1.6) in this case would be given by:
3

i=1

()i

()i

=
3

i=1
_

i
_

i
_

=
3

i=1
_

+
i

. .
(
i

+
i

. .
)
_

=
6

i=1

i=1

_
1
2

_
=
_

1
2

_
=
_

1
2
_

_
Therefore, one identity involved with the tHooft symbols here is described by:
3

i=1

()i

()i

(3.5)

i=1

2
i
=
1
r
4
3

i=1

dx

dx

=
1
r
4
_

_
x

dx

dx

= r
2
,

dx

dx

= (dx)
2
= dr
2
+ r
2
d
2
3
,

dx

= x.dx = r dr

dx

dx

=
1
2
_

_
dx

dx

=
1
2
_

_
x

dx

dx

= 0
where d
2
3
= d
2
3
+ sin
2

3
_
d
2
2
+ sin
2

2
d
2
1
_

i=1

2
i
=
1
r
4
_
r
2
_
dr
2
+ r
2
d
2
3
_

_
r dr
_
2
_
= d
2
3
(3.6)
Thus, we have nally veried it for n = 4.
4
Naturally, one can verify that these symbols satisfy Lie algebra:
_

()i
,
()j

= 2
ijk

()k

(3.7)
_

()i
,
()j

= 0
()i

()j

=
()j

()i

(3.8)
and the anti-commutator relation:
_

()i
,
()j
_

= 2
ij

(3.9)
_

()i
,
()j
_

= 0
()i

()j

= 0 (3.10)
Combining (3.7) and (3.9) will give us:
_

()i
,
()j
_
+
_

()i
,
()j

= 2
_

ij
+
ijk

()k
_
2
()i

()j
= 2
_

ij
+
ijk

()k
_

()i

()j

=
_

ij

+
ijk

()k

_

()i

()j

=
ij

+
ijk

()k

(3.11)
Another identity of the symbols is given by:

()i

=
_

()i

()i

()i

_
(3.12)
Finally identities (3.7), (3.9), (3.11) lets us establish another one:

()j

()i

()j

_
=
ij

()j

+
ijk

()j

()k

()i

()j

()j

_
=

()i

+
ijk

()j

()k

()i

_
=

()i

+
ijk

()j

()k

()i

()i

()i

()i

+
ijk

()j

()k

()i

()i

+
_

()i

. .
cancel
+

()i

()i

_
=

()i

. .
cancel
+
ijk

()j

()k

()i

()i

()i

()i

=
ijk

()j

()k

ijk

()j

()k

()i

()i

()i

()i

(3.13)
Now it is time to turn our attention to application of our ndings. We will employ the process
described to verify self-duality of instantons corresponding to a specic type of metric.
5