In mathematics, an affine algebraic plane curve is the zero set of a polynomial in two variables. A projective algebraic plane curve is the zero set in a projective plane of a homogeneous polynomial in three variables. An affine algebraic plane curve can be completed in a projective algebraic plane curve by homogenizing its defining polynomial. Conversely, a projective algebraic plane curve of homogeneous equation h(x, y, t) = 0 can be restricted to the affine algebraic plane curve of equation h(x, y, 1) = 0. These two operations are each inverse to the other; therefore, the phrase algebraic plane curve is often used without specifying explicitly whether it is the affine or the projective case that is considered.
In mathematics, a root system is a configuration of vectors in a Euclidean space satisfying certain geometrical properties. The concept is fundamental in the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, especially the classification and representation theory of semisimple Lie algebras. Since Lie groups and Lie algebras have become important in many parts of mathematics during the twentieth century, the apparently special nature of root systems belies the number of areas in which they are applied. Further, the classification scheme for root systems, by Dynkin diagrams, occurs in parts of mathematics with no overt connection to Lie theory. Finally, root systems are important for their own sake, as in spectral graph theory.
In the mathematical field of Lie theory, a Dynkin diagram, named for Eugene Dynkin, is a type of graph with some edges doubled or tripled. Dynkin diagrams arise in the classification of semisimple Lie algebras over algebraically closed fields, in the classification of Weyl groups and other finite reflection groups, and in other contexts. Various properties of the Dynkin diagram correspond to important features of the associated Lie algebra.
In mathematics, in particular the theory of Lie algebras, the Weyl group of a root system Φ is a subgroup of the isometry group of that root system. Specifically, it is the subgroup which is generated by reflections through the hyperplanes orthogonal to the roots, and as such is a finite reflection group. In fact it turns out that most finite reflection groups are Weyl groups. Abstractly, Weyl groups are finite Coxeter groups, and are important examples of these.
In mathematics, a Coxeter group, named after H. S. M. Coxeter, is an abstract group that admits a formal description in terms of reflections. Indeed, the finite Coxeter groups are precisely the finite Euclidean reflection groups; the symmetry groups of regular polyhedra are an example. However, not all Coxeter groups are finite, and not all can be described in terms of symmetries and Euclidean reflections. Coxeter groups were introduced in 1934 as abstractions of reflection groups, and finite Coxeter groups were classified in 1935.
In mathematics, an algebraic torus, where a one dimensional torus is typically denoted by , , or , is a type of commutative affine algebraic group commonly found in projective algebraic geometry and toric geometry. Higher dimensional algebraic tori can be modelled as a product of algebraic groups . These groups were named by analogy with the theory of tori in Lie group theory. For example, over the complex numbers the algebraic torus is isomorphic to the group scheme , which is the scheme theoretic analogue of the Lie group . In fact, any -action on a complex vector space can be pulled back to a -action from the inclusion as real manifolds.
In mathematics, a reductive group is a type of linear algebraic group over a field. One definition is that a connected linear algebraic group G over a perfect field is reductive if it has a representation with finite kernel which is a direct sum of irreducible representations. Reductive groups include some of the most important groups in mathematics, such as the general linear group GL(n) of invertible matrices, the special orthogonal group SO(n), and the symplectic group Sp(2n). Simple algebraic groups and semisimple algebraic groups are reductive.
In mathematics, a Kac–Moody algebra is a Lie algebra, usually infinite-dimensional, that can be defined by generators and relations through a generalized Cartan matrix. These algebras form a generalization of finite-dimensional semisimple Lie algebras, and many properties related to the structure of a Lie algebra such as its root system, irreducible representations, and connection to flag manifolds have natural analogues in the Kac–Moody setting.
In mathematics, the term Cartan matrix has three meanings. All of these are named after the French mathematician Élie Cartan. Amusingly, the Cartan matrices in the context of Lie algebras were first investigated by Wilhelm Killing, whereas the Killing form is due to Cartan.
In mathematics, a vertex operator algebra (VOA) is an algebraic structure that plays an important role in two-dimensional conformal field theory and string theory. In addition to physical applications, vertex operator algebras have proven useful in purely mathematical contexts such as monstrous moonshine and the geometric Langlands correspondence.
In mathematics, a Lie algebra is semisimple if it is a direct sum of simple Lie algebras.
In mathematics, an affine Lie algebra is an infinite-dimensional Lie algebra that is constructed in a canonical fashion out of a finite-dimensional simple Lie algebra. Given an affine Lie algebra, one can also form the associated affine Kac-Moody algebra, as described below. From a purely mathematical point of view, affine Lie algebras are interesting because their representation theory, like representation theory of finite-dimensional semisimple Lie algebras, is much better understood than that of general Kac–Moody algebras. As observed by Victor Kac, the character formula for representations of affine Lie algebras implies certain combinatorial identities, the Macdonald identities.
In theoretical physics and mathematics, a Wess–Zumino–Witten (WZW) model, also called a Wess–Zumino–Novikov–Witten model, is a type of two-dimensional conformal field theory named after Julius Wess, Bruno Zumino, Sergei Novikov and Edward Witten. A WZW model is associated to a Lie group, and its symmetry algebra is the affine Lie algebra built from the corresponding Lie algebra. By extension, the name WZW model is sometimes used for any conformal field theory whose symmetry algebra is an affine Lie algebra.
Verma modules, named after Daya-Nand Verma, are objects in the representation theory of Lie algebras, a branch of mathematics.
In geometry, a Coxeter–Dynkin diagram is a graph with numerically labeled edges representing the spatial relations between a collection of mirrors. It describes a kaleidoscopic construction: each graph "node" represents a mirror and the label attached to a branch encodes the dihedral angle order between two mirrors, that is, the amount by which the angle between the reflective planes can be multiplied to get 180 degrees. An unlabeled branch implicitly represents order-3, and each pair of nodes that is not connected by a branch at all represents a pair of mirrors at order-2.
In mathematics, Macdonald polynomialsPλ(x; t,q) are a family of orthogonal symmetric polynomials in several variables, introduced by Macdonald in 1987. He later introduced a non-symmetric generalization in 1995. Macdonald originally associated his polynomials with weights λ of finite root systems and used just one variable t, but later realized that it is more natural to associate them with affine root systems rather than finite root systems, in which case the variable t can be replaced by several different variables t=(t1,...,tk), one for each of the k orbits of roots in the affine root system. The Macdonald polynomials are polynomials in n variables x=(x1,...,xn), where n is the rank of the affine root system. They generalize many other families of orthogonal polynomials, such as Jack polynomials and Hall–Littlewood polynomials and Askey–Wilson polynomials, which in turn include most of the named 1-variable orthogonal polynomials as special cases. Koornwinder polynomials are Macdonald polynomials of certain non-reduced root systems. They have deep relationships with affine Hecke algebras and Hilbert schemes, which were used to prove several conjectures made by Macdonald about them.
In mathematics, Deligne–Lusztig theory is a way of constructing linear representations of finite groups of Lie type using ℓ-adic cohomology with compact support, introduced by Pierre Deligne and George Lusztig (1976).
In mathematics, Macdonald-Koornwinder polynomials are a family of orthogonal polynomials in several variables, introduced by Koornwinder (1992) and I. G. Macdonald, that generalize the Askey–Wilson polynomials. They are the Macdonald polynomials attached to the non-reduced affine root system of type, and in particular satisfy analogues of Macdonald's conjectures. In addition Jan Felipe van Diejen showed that the Macdonald polynomials associated to any classical root system can be expressed as limits or special cases of Macdonald-Koornwinder polynomials and found complete sets of concrete commuting difference operators diagonalized by them. Furthermore, there is a large class of interesting families of multivariable orthogonal polynomials associated with classical root systems which are degenerate cases of the Macdonald-Koornwinder polynomials. The Macdonald-Koornwinder polynomials have also been studied with the aid of affine Hecke algebras.
In mathematics, a derivation of a commutative ring is called a locally nilpotent derivation (LND) if every element of is annihilated by some power of .
This is a glossary for the terminology applied in the mathematical theories of Lie groups and Lie algebras. For the topics in the representation theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras, see Glossary of representation theory. Because of the lack of other options, the glossary also includes some generalizations such as quantum group.
