18.745 | Fall 2020 | Graduate

Lie Groups and Lie Algebras I

Course Description

This course is the first half of the year-long introductory graduate sequence 18.745/18.755 on Lie groups and Lie algebras. Topics include foundations of the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras; theorems of Engel and Lie; the universal enveloping algebra, the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorem; free Lie algebras; the …
This course is the first half of the year-long introductory graduate sequence 18.745/18.755 on Lie groups and Lie algebras. Topics include foundations of the theory of Lie groups and Lie algebras; theorems of Engel and Lie; the universal enveloping algebra, the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorem; free Lie algebras; the Campbell-Hausdorff formula; classification and structure of finite dimensional complex simple Lie algebras; their finite dimensional representations; and the Weyl character formula.

Course Info

Learning Resource Types
Online Textbook
Lecture Notes
Problem Sets
A complicated image with 240 vectors in an 8-dimensional space.
The E8 root system consists of 240 vectors in an 8-dimensional space. Those vectors are the vertices (corners) of an 8-dimensional object called the Gosset polytope 421. (Image courtesy of John Stembridge, University of Michigan. Used with permission.)