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Group of symplectic matrices over the field of complex numbers

According to Wikipedia, there are two different definitions of a "complex symplectic matrix" $M\in\mathbb{C}^{2n\times 2n}$. I am interested in the relation between the groups that follow from those ...
Tomáš Bzdušek's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
174 views

Reference for a statement about upper triangular unipotent matrices

I am revising a paper, and a referee of that paper asked if the following little lemma we proved there is known: ``Let $X$ be an $n\times n$ upper triangular unipotent matrix over $\mathbb R$. There ...
WKC's user avatar
  • 646
2 votes
1 answer
515 views

is the set of skew-symmetric matrices with positive Pfaffians path connected?

Is the set of real $2n \times 2n$ skew-symmetric matrices having positive Pfaffians path connected? By definition, the Pfaffian is a polynomial in the entries $a_{ij}$ ($i<j$) such that $Pf(A)^2=\...
zionnn's user avatar
  • 21
2 votes
1 answer
303 views

Minimize matrix distance to tensor product

Minimize the following function: $ f(V) = || V \otimes V - U_1 \otimes U_2 ||$ where $U_1, U_2 \in SU(n)$ are fixed and we minimize over all $V \in SU(n)$. The norm is from the trace inner product. ...
Benjamin's user avatar
  • 2,099
2 votes
1 answer
376 views

Maximize inner product of a tensor of unitary matrices

How can one maximize the following function: $ f(V) = || V \otimes V - U_1 \otimes U_2 ||$ where $U_1, U_2 \in SU(n)$ are given and we seek to maximize over $V \in SU(n)$. Both the maximum value of ...
Benjamin's user avatar
  • 2,099
6 votes
1 answer
456 views

How often does a pair of linear maps generate a Zariski-dense subgroup of $GL(d,\mathbb{R})$?

I am an analyst working on a number of problems which in some way relate to random matrix products. In this context I frequently find that the analytic properties I am interested in depend in some way ...
Ian Morris's user avatar
  • 6,206
3 votes
3 answers
643 views

A question on linear groups

Asking this question I have made a mistake joining my main question with two simple ones, so it hasn't received enough attention, however there was a partial answer, which was not elaborated, and now ...
erz's user avatar
  • 5,529
1 vote
0 answers
173 views

Generating $\mathfrak{so}(7)$

Short version: Let $V$ be a 7-dimensional linear space of (real) square matrices. Suppose further that $[V,V]$ (the linear space spanned $[X,Y]$, $X,Y\in V$) is actually a subalgebra isomorphic to $\...
Llohann's user avatar
  • 369
13 votes
4 answers
2k views

Groups of matrices in which all elements have all eigenvalues equal in modulus

I am writing a research article in which I need to use the following fact: if $G$ is a subgroup of $GL_3(\mathbb{R})$ which is irreducible in the sense that no proper nontrivial subspace of $\mathbb{R}...
Ian Morris's user avatar
  • 6,206
2 votes
0 answers
112 views

Eigenvalues of the imaginary part of the Symplectic action on Siegel upper half plane

Let $A,B\in M_n(\mathbb{R})$ and $U=A+iB$ unitary. $R=diag(r_1,r_2,…,r_n)$ is a diagonal matrix with $r_i>0, \forall i $. I need to calculate $\det(Ae^{-R}A^T+Be^{R}B^T)$. This matrix $Ae^{-R}A^T+...
HCF's user avatar
  • 31
2 votes
1 answer
201 views

multiplicity-free action on $SO(n+1)/SO(n-1)$

I'm trying to show that the Lie group $G=SO(n+1) \times SO(2)$ acts multiplicity-free on the cotangentbundle $T^* (SO(n+1)/SO(n-1))$. That means: 1) There exists an $\operatorname{Ad}^*_G$-...
Olorin's user avatar
  • 501
3 votes
1 answer
139 views

Transitivity of $Spin(7)$ in triples of vectors

I have a simple question: transitivity of $Spin(7)$ in triples of orthogonal vectors. Let $Spin(7)\subset SO(8)$ act on $\mathbb{R}^8$, and $e_1,e_2,e_3$, $v_1,v_2,v_3$ be two triples of mutually ...
Jjm's user avatar
  • 2,091
1 vote
2 answers
289 views

Any analysis on phase of eigenvalue of unitary matrix?

I understand that there are invariant Haar measure for eigenvalues of unitary matrix. I further understand that absolute value of eigenvalues of unitary matrix is 1. But, I could not find any analysis ...
Chantanu's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
236 views

Deligne-Simpson problem for classical groups

Additive Deligne-Simpson problem was partially prooved by Kostov. Also there is Crawley-Boevey's approach to the question. The problem is about existence of a solution of the equation $$ A_1 +...+A_n =...
quantum's user avatar
  • 181
2 votes
0 answers
135 views

Set of Special Unitary Matrices that are dense in SU(4) and obey certain relations

I'm trying to find a finite set of 4x4 Unitary matricies $\{U_1,U_2,\ldots U_N\}$ such that the matrices are dense in SU(4), and obey the relations: $[U_i, U_j] = 0$ for $|i-j|>1$ $U_iU_{i+1}U_i=...
Ryan's user avatar
  • 71
4 votes
1 answer
696 views

$\text{GL}(n + k, \mathbb{R})$ is a principal $H$ bundle over the Grassmann manifold $G_n(\mathbb{R}^{n+k})$?

Let $H$ be the subgroup of $\text{GL}(n + k, \mathbb{R})$ consisting of matrices whose lower $n \times k$ block is empty; i.e. consisting of matrices of the form$$\begin{pmatrix} A & * \\ 0 & ...
user74301's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
333 views

Orbits in the adjoint representation of $SU(2,1)$

How can one describe the orbits of the Lie group $G=\mathrm{SU}(2,1)$ in its Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}=\mathfrak{su}(2,1)$ with respect to the adjoint representation?
Mikhail Borovoi's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
90 views

Singularities of the Quantum propagator (baby version)

Given $a,b \in \mathfrak{su}(4)$ which are taken to generate the whole algebra, consider the following map $V:\mathbb{R}^{2} \rightarrow SU(4)$: $V : (w_1, w_{2}) \mapsto e^{(a+w_2 b)} e^{(a+w_1 b)}$ ...
Benjamin's user avatar
  • 2,099
5 votes
1 answer
481 views

Centralizer of hermitian matrices with zero trace

In Quantum Physics one often has to deal with commutators. Here I want to denote by $H_0$ the set of all hermitian matrices with trace equal to zero! One can easily relate it to $\mathfrak{su}(N)=...
Simeon Radkov's user avatar
9 votes
0 answers
360 views

Finding $U,V$ in Thompson's Formula

Thompson's formula says, given $A,B \in \mathfrak{su}(n)$, there exists $U,V \in SU(n)$ such that: $e^{A}e^{B}=e^{UAU^{\dagger} + VBV^{\dagger}}$ Given $a,b \in \mathfrak{su}(4)$ defined by: $a=J_x ...
Benjamin's user avatar
  • 2,099
3 votes
2 answers
136 views

Level sets on $SU(4)$

Given $G \in SU(4)$, what are the level sets of the function $F:SU(n)\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ defined by $F(V) = |tr(G^{\dagger}V)|^2$? Can they be written only in terms of abstract linear maps, not ...
Benjamin's user avatar
  • 2,099
4 votes
2 answers
758 views

Riemannian metric of hyperbolic plane

I'm fishing for the origin of the idea to consider "trace scalar product" on the space of ($G$-)orthogonal projectors as means of defining a Riemannian metric on some subset of lines in a vector space....
Vít Tuček's user avatar
  • 8,597
0 votes
1 answer
122 views

Solving $\lambda U^{\dagger}V -\bar{\lambda} V^{\dagger}U = A$ [closed]

Given an $A \in \mathfrak{su}(n)$, is it always possible to solve for $U,V \in SU(n)$ and $\lambda \in \mathbb{C}$ such that $\lambda U^{\dagger}V -\bar{\lambda} V^{\dagger}U = A$? Cross posted from ...
Benjamin's user avatar
  • 2,099
0 votes
0 answers
53 views

Largest Set of Special Unitary Matricies With Invariant Subspace For Adjoint Action

I am trying to solve the following. Given the special unitary group $SU(n)$ and its adjoint action $Ad_{U}: \mathfrak{su}(n) \rightarrow \mathfrak{su}(n)$, what is the largest subset of $SU(n)$ such ...
Benjamin's user avatar
  • 2,099
12 votes
4 answers
1k views

Real and quaternionic representations according to weights

According to this question, it is easy to know whether a (complex, finite-dimensional) representation is self-dual or not: just check if the weight distribution in space is symmetric about the origin. ...
Jjm's user avatar
  • 2,091
1 vote
1 answer
308 views

Suppose that $G$ is a subgroup of $GL_n(\mathbb C)$ with finite exponent. Then is $G$ a finite group? [closed]

As title. the exponent of $G$ is the least number $n$ (if exists) such that $g^n=e$ holds for all $g\in G$ or $+\infty$.
Censi LI's user avatar
  • 403
2 votes
1 answer
843 views

Bounds on Hilbert-Schmidt norm of difference of products of matrices

I suspect the following is well-known, but don't know of a reference (and it is not close to the area I normally work in). I have two sequences of matrices $Q_{1},\ldots,Q_{k}$ and $R_{1},\ldots,R_{k}...
QAMS's user avatar
  • 98
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

classifying space and cohomology of integer general linear group

I have obtained that the classifying space $$ BGL(\mathbb{R}^n)=BO(\mathbb{R}^n)=G_n(\mathbb{R}^\infty) $$ is the Grassmannian. I have also obtained that the mod 2 cohomology is the polynomial ...
Shiquan Ren's user avatar
  • 1,990
1 vote
1 answer
322 views

A (possible) equivalent relation on the space of vector bundles

Edit: According to the essential comment of Alex Degtyarev, we revise the question as follows; Assume that $\alpha$ and $\beta$ are two oriention preserving automorphism of Lie groups $O(n)$ and $...
Ali Taghavi's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
262 views

An algorithm to compare two representations of a simple Lie algebra?

I have two representations of a simple (complex or real) finite-dimensional Lie algebra $S$, both given in terms of their structure constants on a given basis. the first one is the adjoint ...
Nina's user avatar
  • 73
4 votes
1 answer
1k views

Writing a complex orthogonal matrix as a conjugation by real orthogonal matrices

Let $Q\in O(n,\mathbb C)$ be a complex orthogonal matrix. I would like to know if $Q$ can always be written as $Q = T^{-1}ST$, where $T\in O(n,\mathbb R)\subset O(n,\mathbb C)$ and $S$ belongs to some ...
Victor's user avatar
  • 41
5 votes
0 answers
428 views

Weyl's construction for symplectic groups--an exercise in Fulton and Harris's book

This is an exercise in section 17.3 in Fulton and Harris's book:Representation theory-a first course. Let $V=\mathbb{C}^{2n}$ and $Sp(2n)$ be the symplectic group w.r.t the nondegenerate bilinear ...
yang's user avatar
  • 181
3 votes
1 answer
326 views

Two matrix Fisher distributions on SO(3)?

After the uniform distribution (normalized Haar measure), the matrix Fisher distribution seems to be the most popular probability distribution on the Lie group SO(3). The density is proportional to ...
Mgnbar's user avatar
  • 41
6 votes
2 answers
426 views

Approximating the action of the U(N) exponential map

Let's say that I have a curve in $\mathbb{C}^N$ given by the action of the unitary group: $$x(t) = e^{Ht}x_0,~ H \in \mathfrak{u}(N),~ ||x_0||=1$$ Here, $H$ is an NxN skew-Hermitian matrix (for very ...
Jarred's user avatar
  • 161
7 votes
2 answers
315 views

Local maxima and minima of the trace of a product of $SL_2^\pm(\mathbb{R})$-matrices

I am working on a problem relating to Lyapunov exponents of products of random matrices, and this has led me to the following question which I suspect is best approached using techniques outside my ...
Ian Morris's user avatar
  • 6,206
6 votes
4 answers
658 views

Reference for an algebraic group preserving a cubic form

Let $R=k[u,v,w]$ and $p\in R$ be a cubic form. Let $G$ be the group of graded automorphisms of $R$ which preserve $p$, i.e., $G$ is the subgroup of $GL_3(k)$ consisting of elements $g$ such that $g(p) ...
Kenneth's user avatar
  • 63
3 votes
1 answer
367 views

What is the canonical form of real symmetric 2n\times 2n matrix under unitary congruence?

If $M$ is a $2n\times 2n$ real symmetric matrix, I would like to ask what could be its canonical form under unitary congruence. We view a unitary $n\times n$ matrix $U$ as a real $2n\times 2n$ matrix, ...
UVIR's user avatar
  • 803
5 votes
0 answers
148 views

Groups of operators between local unitaries and full unitaries

Consider the group $U(d_1) \otimes U(d_2)$ of "local unitary" operators acting on the complex space $\mathbb{C}^{d_1} \otimes \mathbb{C}^{d_2}$ (i.e., $U(d_1) \otimes U(d_2)$ is the group of unitary ...
Nathaniel Johnston's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
2k views

History of Jordan Canonical Form?

Can anyone suggest a reference that discusses the history of the Jordan canonical form? In particular, I am interested in: When and how was it first stated? (I understand it was independently stated ...
Drew Armstrong's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
494 views

A question on Grassmannian

Let $V$ be the space of $4$ by $4$ Hermitian matrices, that is a vector space of dimension $16$ over $\mathbb{R}$. Is the uniform measure of $$ \left\{ W\in Gr\left(5,V\right):W \text{contains no ...
Ayna's user avatar
  • 119
8 votes
1 answer
541 views

A question on eigenvalues

Let $A_{1}$, $A_{2}$, $A_{3}$, $A_{4}$, $A_{5}$ be linearly independent Hermitian matrices in the the space of $6$ by $6$ Hermitian matrices as a vector space over $\mathbb{R}$. Does there always ...
Ayna's user avatar
  • 119
3 votes
1 answer
138 views

On matrices conjugated in a faithful representation

Let $k$ an algebraically closed field. Let $O=k[[\pi]]$ and $F=k((\pi))$ and $G\rightarrow GL_{n}$ a faithful representation of a semisimple group. Let $A, B\in G(O)\cap G(F)^{rs}$ (rs for regular ...
prochet's user avatar
  • 3,472
2 votes
0 answers
212 views

Compute the discriminant for reductive groups

Consider $G=GL_{2}$ and $F=k((\pi))$, and a diagonal matrix $t=\left(\begin{array}{cc}a&0\\0&b\end{array}\right)$. The characteristic polynomial of $t$ is $X^{2}-(a+b)X+ab$, and the ...
prochet's user avatar
  • 3,472
0 votes
1 answer
274 views

when $g^*$ is invariant under $Ad(G)$?

Let $G$ be a Lie Group and $\mathfrak{g}$ be its lie algebra. Let $\mathfrak{g}$ is semisimple or reductive lie algebra, then prove that $\mathfrak{g}^*$ (dual of $\mathfrak{g}$)is invariant under $...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Iwasawa Decomposition for Matrices [closed]

I was asked to prove that if $$ T_{n}^{+}(\mathbb{R}) \subseteq M_{n}(\mathbb{R})$$ denotes the set of upper triangular matrices with positive diagonal entries, then prove that the multiplication ...
Vishal Gupta's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
298 views

Invariants of a $GL(3,\mathbb{R})$ action

I'm trying to understand the standard $GL(3,\mathbb{R})$ action on the 15-dimensional space of possible values for the derivative of the Riemann curvature tensor of a 3-dimensional manifold $M$ at a ...
Jeanne Clelland's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
273 views

Reduction of antisymmetric complex matrices

Let $E=\mathfrak{so}(n,\mathbb{C})$ be the Lie algebra of antisymmetric complex matrices. We consider the action of the complex orthogonal group $SO(n,\mathbb{C})$ on $E$ by conjugation. Is there a ...
Thomas Richard's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
410 views

power log distance between matrices

In this thesis, Pedro Freitas discusses the properties of distance functions on matrices defined by $d_p(A, B) = (\sum (\log (\sigma_i(A^{-1} B)))^p)^{1/p}.$ Here $\sigma_i$ are the singular values of ...
Igor Rivin's user avatar
  • 96.4k
9 votes
1 answer
893 views

Unusual decomposition of 3x3 real symmetric matrices - is this possible?

If $M$ is a 3x3, real symmetric matrix, then I know there are a few ways to decompose $M$ as $M = A^T D A$, where $D$ is a real diagonal matrix: e.g., this can always be done for some $A \in SO(3)$, ...
Jeanne Clelland's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
393 views

Have derivatives of determinants along 1-psg's ever been 'coherently' computed via Jacobi's formula?

Suppose $\mathfrak{p}$ denotes all the symmetric matrices in $\mathfrak{sl}_{2n} \mathbb{R}$. Then for each parameterized 1-dimensional linear subspace $\xi=\xi(t)$ of $\mathfrak{p}$ we get a 1-...
JHM's user avatar
  • 2,274