- #1
jdstokes
- 523
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Hi all, I asked this on the Quantum Physics board but didn't get a response.
I'm reading Cahn's book on semi-simple lie algebras and their representations.
http://www-physics.lbl.gov/~rncahn/book.html [Broken]
In chapter 1, he attempts to build a (2j+1)-dimensional representation [itex]T[/itex] of the Lie algebra of SO(3) starting with the abstract commutation relations
[itex][T_z,T_+] = T_+, \quad [T_z,T_-] = - T_-,\quad [T_+,T_-] = 2T_z[/itex] Eq (I.14).
He begins by defining the action of [itex]T_z,T_+[/itex] on the vector [itex]v_j[/itex] by
[itex]T_z v_j = j v_j, \quad T_+ v_j = 0[/itex]
but he does not explain what the [itex]v_j[/itex]'s are. How does one even know that such vectors exist?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm reading Cahn's book on semi-simple lie algebras and their representations.
http://www-physics.lbl.gov/~rncahn/book.html [Broken]
In chapter 1, he attempts to build a (2j+1)-dimensional representation [itex]T[/itex] of the Lie algebra of SO(3) starting with the abstract commutation relations
[itex][T_z,T_+] = T_+, \quad [T_z,T_-] = - T_-,\quad [T_+,T_-] = 2T_z[/itex] Eq (I.14).
He begins by defining the action of [itex]T_z,T_+[/itex] on the vector [itex]v_j[/itex] by
[itex]T_z v_j = j v_j, \quad T_+ v_j = 0[/itex]
but he does not explain what the [itex]v_j[/itex]'s are. How does one even know that such vectors exist?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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