Unitary group

Algebraic structure → Group theory Group theory
Basic notions Subgroup Normal subgroup Group action Quotient group (Semi-)direct product Direct sum Free product Wreath product Group homomorphisms kernel image simple finite infinite continuous multiplicative additive cyclic abelian dihedral nilpotent solvable Glossary of group theory List of group theory topics
Finite groups Cyclic group Zn Symmetric group Sn Alternating group An Dihedral group Dn Quaternion group Q Cauchy's theorem Lagrange's theorem Sylow theorems Hall's theorem p-group Elementary abelian group Frobenius group Schur multiplier Classification of finite simple groups cyclic alternating Lie type sporadic
Discrete groups Lattices Integers (${\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} }$) Free group Modular groups PSL(2, ${\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} }$) SL(2, ${\displaystyle \mathbb {Z} }$) Arithmetic group Lattice Hyperbolic group
Topological and Lie groups Solenoid Circle General linear GL(n) Special linear SL(n) Orthogonal O(n) Euclidean E(n) Special orthogonal SO(n) Unitary U(n) Special unitary SU(n) Symplectic Sp(n) G2 F4 E6 E7 E8 Lorentz Poincaré Conformal Diffeomorphism Loop Infinite dimensional Lie group O(∞) SU(∞) Sp(∞)
Algebraic groups Linear algebraic group Reductive group Abelian variety Elliptic curve
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Lie groups and Lie algebras
Classical groups General linear GL(n) Special linear SL(n) Orthogonal O(n) Special orthogonal SO(n) Unitary U(n) Special unitary SU(n) Symplectic Sp(n)
Simple Lie groups Classical An Bn Cn Dn Exceptional G2 F4 E6 E7 E8
Other Lie groups Circle Lorentz Poincaré Conformal group Diffeomorphism Loop Euclidean
Lie algebras Lie group–Lie algebra correspondence Exponential map Adjoint representation Killing form Index Simple Lie algebra Loop algebra Affine Lie algebra
Semisimple Lie algebra Dynkin diagrams Cartan subalgebra Root system Weyl group Real form Complexification Split Lie algebra Compact Lie algebra
Representation theory Lie group representation Lie algebra representation Representation theory of semisimple Lie algebras Representations of classical Lie groups Theorem of the highest weight Borel–Weil–Bott theorem
Lie groups in physics Particle physics and representation theory Lorentz group representations Poincaré group representations Galilean group representations
Scientists Sophus Lie Henri Poincaré Wilhelm Killing Élie Cartan Hermann Weyl Claude Chevalley Harish-Chandra Armand Borel
Glossary Table of Lie groups
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In mathematics, the unitary group of degree n, denoted U(n), is the group of n × n unitary matrices, with the group operation of matrix multiplication. The unitary group is a subgroup of the general linear group GL(n, C), and it has as a subgroup the special unitary group, consisting of those unitary matrices with determinant 1.

In the simple case n = 1, the group U(1) corresponds to the circle group, consisting of all complex numbers with absolute value 1, under multiplication. All the unitary groups contain copies of this group.

The unitary group U(n) is a real Lie group of dimension n². The Lie algebra of U(n) consists of n × n skew-Hermitian matrices, with the Lie bracket given by the commutator.

The general unitary group (also called the group of unitary similitudes) consists of all matrices A such that A^∗A is a nonzero multiple of the identity matrix, and is just the product of the unitary group with the group of all positive multiples of the identity matrix.

Unitary groups may also be defined over fields other than the complex numbers. The hyperorthogonal group is an archaic name for the unitary group, especially over finite fields.