Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedaudited 2026-09-22
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

Analytic and root-system Weyl groups agree

Statement

Assume the Axiom of Choice. Let G be a compact connected Lie group with maximal torus T. Then the faithful action of W(G,T) on the semisimple part of t identifies it with the Weyl group generated by the root reflections: for every root α the associated compact root SU(2) supplies a cocharacter α:S1T with α,α=2, and conjugation by its standard normalizer element acts on t by the reflection sα; the resulting reflections generate W(G,T).

Here S1=R/Z is identified with the multiplicative unit circle by [r]e2πir. Root differentials are imaginary on t and real on it. Reflections act on both spaces by complex-linear extension and act trivially on the central summand.

Moreover, if σ is conjugation of the complexified semisimple algebra with respect to its compact real form, the root vectors in each root triple may be normalized so that σ(eα)=fα and σ(fα)=eα.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: Assume the Axiom of Choice, a compact connected Lie group G with maximal torus T, Lie algebra g, and root system Φ=Φ(G,T).

[A1]

The Axiom of Choice is The Axiom of Choice; it enters through the metric/structure theory of [L1] and [L4] and through the integration theorem [L3].

[L1]

The roots of (G,T), with their differentials, form a reduced crystallographic root system on the dual of t[g,g], vanish on the central directions, and have the finite adjoint weight-space decomposition in Roots of a compact connected Lie group. The reflection sα exists for every root, and W(Φ) is generated by these reflections (Compact roots form a reduced crystallographic root system, Weyl group).

[L2]

For every root α of a finite-dimensional complex semisimple Lie algebra there are eαgα and fαgα with [eα,fα]=hα, [hα,eα]=2eα, [hα,fα]=2fα, where hα is the coroot with α(hα)=2 (The root sl_2 triple).

[L3]

Assuming countable choice, for a connected simply connected real Lie group G1, a real Lie group H and a Lie-algebra homomorphism ϕ:Lie(G1)Lie(H) there is a unique Lie-group homomorphism F:G1H with dFe=ϕ (Lie's second fundamental theorem).

[L4]

CG(S) is connected for every torus SG, CG(T)=T, and W(G,T)=NG(T)/T is finite; every element of G lies in a maximal torus and any two maximal tori are conjugate; every torus lies in a maximal torus (The compact Weyl group is finite, Every element lies in a maximal torus, Conjugacy of maximal tori, Compact connected abelian subgroups lie in maximal tori).

[L5]

The root Weyl group acts simply transitively on the chambers, equivalently on the positive systems of Φ (Simple transitivity on Weyl chambers, Positive systems and simple roots).

[L6]

The Weyl vector ρ=12α>0α satisfies ρ,αi=1 for the simple roots (The Weyl vector in fundamental coordinates, The Weyl vector). Positive roots have nonnegative integral simple-root coordinates (Simple roots form a signed integral basis).

[L7]

Root spaces in a complex semisimple Lie algebra are one-dimensional (Root spaces of a complex semisimple Lie algebra are one-dimensional). For the complexification sC=sis in [L1], the map σ(U+iV)=UiV is a conjugate-linear bracket-preserving involution with fixed algebra s, directly from the complex-bilinear extension of the real bracket and uniqueness of real and imaginary parts.

[L8]

SU(2) is a real Lie group with algebra the traceless skew-Hermitian matrices, and S3 is simply connected (Unitary and special unitary Lie groups, Sn is simply connected for every n2).

[L9]

Exponentials are natural under Lie homomorphisms and dAd=ad; closed subgroups are embedded Lie subgroups, and exponentials are local diffeomorphisms at zero (Exponential map is natural for Lie-group homomorphisms, The differential of Ad is ad, Cartan closed subgroup theorem, The exponential map is a local diffeomorphism at zero).

[L10]

A compact Lie group has an Ad-invariant positive-definite inner product on its Lie algebra. Complete reducibility of the adjoint module gives the reductive splitting g=z(g)[g,g] with semisimple derived algebra, and a semisimple Lie algebra is centerless (Compact Lie groups admit bi-invariant metrics, Equivalent characterizations of reductive Lie algebras, Semisimple Lie algebras are centerless and perfect).

[L11]

In a finite-dimensional complex semisimple Lie algebra, the Cartan subalgebras are exactly the maximal toral subalgebras (Cartan subalgebras are exactly maximal toral subalgebras). For X in a real Lie algebra, Ad(expX)=exp(adX) (Adjoint exponential identity).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1

Put s=[g,g], z=z(g) and ts=ts. The invariant inner product in [L10] makes the orthogonal complement of every ideal an ideal, so finite-dimensional induction makes the adjoint module completely reducible; [L10] therefore gives g=zs with s semisimple. We next identify the exact Lie-algebra root interface rather than assuming it from [L1]. If X centralizes t, then [L11] gives Ad(exp(sX))H=H for every Ht; naturality and an exponential identity neighborhood show that exp(sX) centralizes T, so [L4] puts it in T and differentiation gives Xt. Thus cg(t)=t, whence zt and t=zts. The operators adH for Hts are commuting skew-adjoint operators, so their complexifications are simultaneously diagonalizable. If U+iVsC centralizes (ts)C, then U,Vs centralize ts and also z, hence all of t; the centralizer equality puts U,V in ts. Therefore (ts)C is maximal toral, hence Cartan by [L11]. Finally the adjoint T-weight decomposition in [L1], after differentiation, has zero space tC and nonzero weights trivial on z; restricting it to sC gives exactly the root-space decomposition relative to this Cartan algebra. Thus every root used below is a Lie-algebra root to which [L2] and [L7] apply. The invariant inner product makes every adX, Xs, skew-adjoint; in an orthonormal real basis, B(X,X)=tr(adX2)=j,k(adX)jk20. Equality forces adX=0, hence X=0 because s is centerless by [L10]. Thus B is negative definite on s and its complex-bilinear extension is positive definite on its. For a root use [L2] to choose e,f,h. Conjugation σ sends its root space to the opposite one because the root is imaginary on t, and sends hits to h. By [L7], σ(e)=cf for a nonzero scalar. Invariance of B gives B(h,h)=B([e,f],h)=2B(e,f)>0. Writing e=U+iV with U,Vs, we have B(e,σe)=B(U,U)+B(V,V)<0. Therefore c=B(e,σe)/B(e,f) is real and negative. Replacing (e,f) by (ae,a1f) with a2=1/c gives σ(e)=f, and involutivity gives σ(f)=e. Thus X=ef, Y=i(e+f) and H=ih belong to s and satisfy [H,X]=2Y, [H,Y]=2X, [X,Y]=2H. They are the images of the standard traceless skew-Hermitian basis of su(2).

L1L2L4L7L8L10L11
1.2

The map (z,w)(zwwz) identifies the unit sphere z2+w2=1 in C2 homeomorphically with SU(2): orthonormality of the columns and determinant one force the displayed second column, and the inverse reads the first column. Thus SU(2) is connected and simply connected by [L8]. A connected Lie group is generated by any exponential neighborhood of the identity: the generated subgroup is open and all its cosets are open, so connectedness forces it to be the whole group.

L8L9
2.1

By [L3] the inclusion su(2)kg integrates to a Lie-group homomorphism Φα:SU(2)G. Define α:S1G by α(z):=Φα(diag(z,z1)). Since diag(eiθ,eiθ)=exp(θdiag(i,i)) and diag(i,i) corresponds to Ht, the image of α is exp(RH)T, so α is a cocharacter of T.

L3L9step 1.1step 1.2
3.1

On the root space gα the element H acts by the scalar α(H)=iα(hα)=2i, so exp(θH) acts on gα by e2iθ, and Φα(diag(z,z1)) acts on gα by z2; therefore α(α(z))=z2 for all z, that is, α,α=2.

L2L9step 1.1step 2.1
3.2

The standard matrix n0=(0110) equals exp(πX0/2), where X0=(0110). It conjugates diag(i,i) to its negative. If Zt satisfies α(Z)=0, the root relations give [Z,e]=[Z,f]=0, so [Z,X]=0 and [L9] gives Ad(Φα(n0))Z=Z. Hence nα=Φα(n0) fixes kerα pointwise and negates H. Since α(H)=2i, these subspaces give all of t, and the action is the coroot reflection. Naturality and generation by exponential neighborhoods (step 1.2) give nαTnα1=T. Every element of connected G fixes z(g) under the adjoint action: this holds on exponentials since adZ kills the center, and hence on their generated group. Thus the faithful action in [L4] stays faithful on ts, and the realized reflections give W(Φ)W(G,T).

L1L2L4L9step 1.1step 1.2step 2.1
4.1

Conversely let gNG(T) with class wW(G,T). Conjugation sends a root vector of weight α to one of weight αAd(g)1, so it permutes the roots. It preserves B because it conjugates adjoint matrices and trace is invariant under conjugation. Therefore it takes positive systems to positive systems. By [L5] there is wW(Φ) with ww(Φ+)=Φ+; by step 3.2 the element w is realised by some nNG(T), so a:=ng satisfies Ad(a)(Φ+)=Φ+.

L1L5step 3.2
5.1

Because a permutes the positive roots, it fixes their half-sum ρ. Let Hρits be the B-dual of ρ; invariance of B gives Ad(a)Hρ=Hρ. Set Vρ=iHρts. For each simple root, [L6] gives (ρ,αi)=αi2/2>0. Every positive root is a nonzero nonnegative combination of simple roots, so (ρ,β)>0 for positive β, and the pairing is nonzero for every root. In particular β(Vρ)=iβ(Hρ)=i(β,ρ)0.

L1L6step 4.1
6.1

Let S=exp(RVρ)T. Continuity of multiplication and inversion makes this a closed subgroup; it is abelian, compact and connected as the closure of a connected subgroup, hence a torus by [L9]. Naturality implies that a centralizes its dense one-parameter subgroup, and therefore S. The closed subgroup CG(S) has Lie algebra consisting of the vectors fixed by every Ad(s): necessity follows by differentiating conjugation, and sufficiency by naturality of the exponential and its local charts. The root decomposition in [L1] and β(Vρ)0 show that this fixed algebra is exactly t. By [L4] the centralizer is connected. It contains T, and the exponential charts of these two groups with the same Lie algebra show T is open in it; connectedness gives CG(S)=T. Thus aT. If the root set is empty, [L1] gives t=g, ρ=Vρ=0 and S={e}; the same open-subgroup argument gives G=T and both Weyl groups are trivial.

L1L4L9step 5.1
7.1

Hence gn1T, so ww1W(Φ)W(Φ); combined with step 3.2, the analytic Weyl group W(G,T) equals the root-system Weyl group W(Φ), and the cocharacters α of step 2.1 supply the claimed reflections with pairing α,α=2. The Axiom of Choice entered only through the cited metric, structure and integration theory.

A1step 3.1step 3.2step 6.1

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

143 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources