Lie theory

In mathematics, the mathematician Sophus Lie (/liː/ LEE) initiated lines of study involving integration of differential equations, transformation groups, and contact of spheres that have come to be called Lie theory.^[1] For instance, the latter subject is Lie sphere geometry. This article addresses his approach to transformation groups, which is one of the areas of mathematics, and was worked out by Wilhelm Killing and Élie Cartan.

The foundation of Lie theory is the exponential map relating Lie algebras to Lie groups which is called the Lie group–Lie algebra correspondence. The subject is part of differential geometry since Lie groups are differentiable manifolds. Lie groups evolve out of the identity (1) and the tangent vectors to one-parameter subgroups generate the Lie algebra. The structure of a Lie group is implicit in its algebra, and the structure of the Lie algebra is expressed by root systems and root data.

Lie theory has been particularly useful in mathematical physics since it describes the standard transformation groups: the Galilean group, the Lorentz group, the Poincaré group and the conformal group of spacetime.

^ "Lie’s lasting achievements are the great theories he brought into existence. However, these theories – transformation groups, integration of differential equations, the geometry of contact – did not arise in a vacuum. They were preceded by particular results of a more limited scope, which pointed the way to more general theories that followed. The line-sphere correspondence is surely an example of this phenomenon: It so clearly sets the stage for Lie’s subsequent work on contact transformations and symmetry groups." R. Milson (2000) "An Overview of Lie’s line-sphere correspondence", pp 1–10 of The Geometric Study of Differential Equations, J.A. Leslie & T.P. Robart editors, American Mathematical Society ISBN 0-8218-2964-5 , quotation pp 8,9