How do I construct the $SU(2)$ representation of the Lorentz Group using $SU(2)\times SU(2)\sim SO(3,1)$?

Question

This question is based on problem II.3.1 in Anthony Zee's book Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell

Show, by explicit calculation, that $(1/2,1/2)$ is the Lorentz Vector.

I see that the generators of $SU(2)$ are the Pauli matrices and the generators of $SO(3,1)$ is a matrix composed of two Pauli matrices along the diagonal. Is it always the case that the direct product of two groups is formed from the generators like this?

I ask this because I'm trying to write a Lorentz boost as two simultaneous quaternion rotations [unit quaternions rotations are isomorphic to $SU(2)$] and tranform between the two methods. Is this possible?

In other words, How do I construct the $SU(2)$ representation of the Lorentz Group using the fact that $SU(2)\times SU(2) \sim SO(3,1)$?

Here is some background information:

Zee has shown that the algebra of the Lorentz group is formed from two separate $SU(2)$ algebras [$SO(3,1)$ is isomorphic to $SU(2)\times SU(2)$] because the Lorentz algebra satisfies:

$$\begin{align}[J_{+i},J_{+j}] &= ie_{ijk}J_{k+} & [J_{-i},J_{-j}] &= ie_{ijk} J_{k-} & [J_{+i},J_{-j}] &= 0\end{align}$$

The representations of $SU(2)$ are labeled by $j=0,\frac{1}{2},1,\ldots$ so the $SU(2)\times SU(2)$ rep is labelled by $(j_+,j_-)$ with the $(1/2,1/2)$ being the Lorentz 4-vector because and each representation contains $(2j+1)$ elements so $(1/2,1/2)$ contains 4 elements.

Answer 1

Here is a mathematical derivation. We use the sign convention $(+,-,-,-)$ for the Minkowski metric $\eta_{\mu\nu}$.

I) First, recall the fact that

$SL(2,\mathbb{C})$ is (the double cover of) the restricted Lorentz group $SO^+(1,3;\mathbb{R})$.

This follows partly because:

1. There is a bijective isometry from the Minkowski space $(\mathbb{R}^{1,3},||\cdot||^2)$ to the space of $2\times2 $ Hermitian matrices $(u(2),\det(\cdot))$, $$\mathbb{R}^{1,3} ~\cong ~ u(2) ~:=~\{\sigma\in {\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}) \mid \sigma^{\dagger}=\sigma \} ~=~ {\rm span}_{\mathbb{R}} \{\sigma_{\mu} \mid \mu=0,1,2,3\}, $$ $$\mathbb{R}^{1,3}~\ni~\tilde{x}~=~(x^0,x^1,x^2,x^3) \quad\mapsto \quad\sigma~=~x^{\mu}\sigma_{\mu}~\in~ u(2), $$ $$ ||\tilde{x}||^2 ~=~x^{\mu} \eta_{\mu\nu}x^{\nu} ~=~\det(\sigma), \qquad \sigma_{0}~:=~{\bf 1}_{2 \times 2}.\tag{1}$$

2. There is a group action $\rho: SL(2,\mathbb{C})\times u(2) \to u(2)$ given by $$g\quad \mapsto\quad\rho(g)\sigma~:= ~g\sigma g^{\dagger}, \qquad g\in SL(2,\mathbb{C}),\qquad\sigma\in u(2), \tag{2}\label{eq:2}$$ which is length preserving, i.e. $g$ is a pseudo-orthogonal (or Lorentz) transformation. In other words, there is a Lie group homomorphism
   $$\rho: SL(2,\mathbb{C}) \quad\to\quad O(u(2),\mathbb{R})~\cong~ O(1,3;\mathbb{R}) .\tag{3}$$

3. Since $\rho$ is a continuous map and $SL(2,\mathbb{C})$ is a connected set, the image $\rho(SL(2,\mathbb{C}))$ must again be a connected set. In fact, one may show that there is a surjective Lie group homomorphism$^1$
   $$\rho: SL(2,\mathbb{C}) \quad\to\quad SO^+(u(2),\mathbb{R})~\cong~ SO^+(1,3;\mathbb{R}) , $$ $$\rho(\pm {\bf 1}_{2 \times 2})~=~{\bf 1}_{u(2)}.\tag{4}$$

4. The Lie group $SL(2,\mathbb{C})=\pm e^{sl(2,\mathbb{C})}$ has Lie algebra $$ sl(2,\mathbb{C}) ~=~ \{\tau\in{\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}) \mid {\rm tr}(\tau)~=~0 \} ~=~{\rm span}_{\mathbb{C}} \{\sigma_{i} \mid i=1,2,3\}.\tag{5}$$

5. The Lie group homomorphism $\rho: SL(2,\mathbb{C}) \to O(u(2),\mathbb{R})$ induces a Lie algebra homomorphism $$\rho: sl(2,\mathbb{C})\to o(u(2),\mathbb{R})\tag{6}$$ given by $$ \rho(\tau)\sigma ~=~ \tau \sigma +\sigma \tau^{\dagger}, \qquad \tau\in sl(2,\mathbb{C}),\qquad\sigma\in u(2), $$ $$ \rho(\tau) ~=~ L_{\tau} +R_{\tau^{\dagger}},\tag{7}$$ where we have defined left and right multiplication of $2\times 2$ matrices $$L_{\sigma}(\tau)~:=~\sigma \tau~=:~ R_{\tau}(\sigma), \qquad \sigma,\tau ~\in~ {\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}).\tag{8}$$

II) Note that the Lorentz Lie algebra $so(1,3;\mathbb{R}) \cong sl(2,\mathbb{C})$ does not$^2$ contain two perpendicular copies of, say, the real Lie algebra $su(2)$ or $sl(2,\mathbb{R})$. For comparison and completeness, let us mention that for other signatures in $4$ dimensions, one has

$$SO(4;\mathbb{R})~\cong~[SU(2)\times SU(2)]/\mathbb{Z}_2, \qquad\text{(compact form)}\tag{9}\label{eq:9}$$

$$SO^+(2,2;\mathbb{R})~\cong~[SL(2,\mathbb{R})\times SL(2,\mathbb{R})]/\mathbb{Z}_2.\qquad\text{(split form)}\tag{10}\label{eq:10}$$

The compact form $\eqref{eq:9}$ has a nice proof using quaternions

$$(\mathbb{R}^4,||\cdot||^2) ~\cong~ (\mathbb{H},|\cdot|^2)\quad\text{and}\quad SU(2)~\cong~ U(1,\mathbb{H}),\tag{11}$$

see also this Math.SE post and this Phys.SE post. The split form $\eqref{eq:10}$ uses a bijective isometry

$$(\mathbb{R}^{2,2},||\cdot||^2) ~\cong~({\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{R}),\det(\cdot)).\tag{12}$$

To decompose Minkowski space into left- and right-handed Weyl spinor representations, one must go to the complexification, i.e. one must use the fact that

$SL(2,\mathbb{C})\times SL(2,\mathbb{C})$ is (the double cover of) the complexified proper Lorentz group $SO(1,3;\mathbb{C})$.

Note that Refs. 1-2 do not discuss complexification$^2$. One can more or less repeat the construction from section I with the real numbers $\mathbb{R}$ replaced by complex numbers $\mathbb{C}$, however, with some important caveats.

1. There is a bijective isometry from the complexified Minkowski space $(\mathbb{C}^{1,3},||\cdot||^2)$ to the space of $2\times2 $ matrices $({\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}),\det(\cdot))$, $$\mathbb{C}^{1,3} ~\cong ~ {\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}) ~=~ {\rm span}_{\mathbb{C}} \{\sigma_{\mu} \mid \mu=0,1,2,3\}, $$ $$ M(1,3;\mathbb{C})~\ni~\tilde{x}~=~(x^0,x^1,x^2,x^3) \quad\mapsto \quad\sigma~=~x^{\mu}\sigma_{\mu}~\in~ {\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}) , $$ $$ ||\tilde{x}||^2 ~=~x^{\mu} \eta_{\mu\nu}x^{\nu} ~=~\det(\sigma).\tag{13}$$ Note that forms are taken to be bilinear rather than sesquilinear.

2. There is a surjective Lie group homomorphism$^3$
   $$\rho: SL(2,\mathbb{C}) \times SL(2,\mathbb{C}) \quad\to\quad SO({\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}),\mathbb{C})~\cong~ SO(1,3;\mathbb{C})\tag{14}$$ given by $$(g_L, g_R)\quad \mapsto\quad\rho(g_L, g_R)\sigma~:= ~g_L\sigma g^{\dagger}_R, $$ $$ g_L, g_R\in SL(2,\mathbb{C}),\qquad\sigma~\in~ {\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}).\tag{15}\label{eq:15} $$

3. The Lie group $SL(2,\mathbb{C})\times SL(2,\mathbb{C})$ has Lie algebra $sl(2,\mathbb{C})\oplus sl(2,\mathbb{C})$.

4. The Lie group homomorphism
   $$\rho: SL(2,\mathbb{C})\times SL(2,\mathbb{C}) \quad\to\quad SO({\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}),\mathbb{C})\tag{16}$$ induces a Lie algebra homomorphism $$\rho: sl(2,\mathbb{C})\oplus sl(2,\mathbb{C})\quad\to\quad so({\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}),\mathbb{C})\tag{17}$$ given by $$ \rho(\tau_L\oplus\tau_R)\sigma ~=~ \tau_L \sigma +\sigma \tau^{\dagger}_R, \qquad \tau_L,\tau_R\in sl(2,\mathbb{C}),\qquad \sigma\in {\rm Mat}_{2\times 2}(\mathbb{C}), $$ $$ \rho(\tau_L\oplus\tau_R) ~=~ L_{\tau_L} +R_{\tau^{\dagger}_R}.\tag{18}$$

The left action (acting from left on a two-dimensional complex column vector) yields by definition the (left-handed Weyl) spinor representation $\left(\frac{1}{2},0\right)$, while the right action (acting from right on a two-dimensional complex row vector) yields by definition the right-handed Weyl/complex conjugate spinor representation $\left(0,\frac{1}{2}\right)$. The above shows that

The complexified Minkowski space $\mathbb{C}^{1,3}$ is a $\left(\frac{1}{2},\frac{1}{2}\right)$ representation of the Lie group $SL(2,\mathbb{C}) \times SL(2,\mathbb{C})$, whose action respects the Minkowski metric.

References:

1. Anthony Zee, Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell, 1st edition, 2003.

2. Anthony Zee, Quantum Field Theory in a Nutshell, 2nd edition, 2010.

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$^1$ It is easy to check that it is not possible to describe discrete Lorentz transformations, such as, e.g. parity $P$, time-reversal $T$, or $PT$ with a group element $g\in GL(2,\mathbb{C})$ and formula $\eqref{eq:2}$.

$^2$ For a laugh, check out the (in several ways) wrong second sentence on p.113 in Ref. 1: "The mathematically sophisticated say that the algebra $SO(3,1)$ is isomorphic to $SU(2)\otimes SU(2)$." The corrected statement would e.g. be "The mathematically sophisticated say that the group $SO(3,1;\mathbb{C})$ is locally isomorphic to $SL(2,\mathbb{C})\times SL(2,\mathbb{C})$." Nevertheless, let me rush to add that Zee's book is overall a very nice book. In Ref. 2, the above sentence is removed, and a subsection called "More on $SO(4)$, $SO(3,1)$, and $SO(2,2)$" is added on pages 531-532.

$^3$ It is not possible to mimic an improper Lorentz transformations $\Lambda\in O(1,3;\mathbb{C})$ [i.e. with negative determinant $\det (\Lambda)=-1$] with the help of two matrices $g_L, g_R\in GL(2,\mathbb{C})$ in formula $\eqref{eq:15}$; such as, e.g., the spatial parity transformation $$P:~~(x^0,x^1,x^2,x^3) ~\mapsto~ (x^0,-x^1,-x^2,-x^3).\tag{19}\label{eq:19}$$ Similarly, the Weyl spinor representations are representations of (the double cover of) $SO(1,3;\mathbb{C})$ but not of (the double cover of) $O(1,3;\mathbb{C})$. E.g. the spatial parity transformation $\eqref{eq:19}$ intertwines between left-handed and right-handed Weyl spinor representations.

Answer 2

For the problem at hand formulated in a precise manner, ''*Show that the $\left(\frac{1}{2},\frac{1}{2}\right)$ representation of the $\mbox{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ group is the Lorentz 4-vector"**, the solution - which is not so apparent from Qmechanic's otherwise good post - should be exhibited by direct / brute-force computation. This is relatively easy, and I quote from my diploma/Bachelor's Degree graduation paper (written in my native Romanian)

PART 1:

Let $\psi_{\alpha}$ be the components of a Weyl spinor w.r.t. the canonical basis in a 2-dimensional vector space in which the fundamental $\left(\frac{1}{2},0\right)$ representation of $\mbox{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$ "lives". Idem for $\bar{\chi}_{\dot{\alpha}}$ and the contragradient representation of the same group, $\left(0,\frac{1}{2}\right)$. Then, as an application of the Clebsch-Gordan theorem for $\mbox{SL}(2,\mathbb{C})$:

LEMMA:

$\begin{equation} \psi _{\alpha }\otimes \overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}\equiv \psi _{\alpha }\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}=\left[ \frac{1% }{2}\psi ^{\beta }\left( \sigma ^{\mu }\right) _{\beta \stackrel{\bullet }{% \beta }}\overline{\chi }^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\right] \left( \sigma _{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}\equiv V^{\mu}\left( \sigma _{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}\text{.} \end{equation}$

PROOF:

$\left[ \frac{1}{2}\psi ^{\beta }\left( \sigma _{\mu }\right) _{\beta \stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\overline{\chi }^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }% }\right] \left( \sigma ^{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}=% \frac{1}{2}\left( \varepsilon ^{\beta \gamma }\psi _{\gamma }\right) \left( \sigma ^{\mu }\right) _{\beta \stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( \varepsilon ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }\stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}\overline{\chi }_{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}\right) \left( \sigma _{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }} \\ =-\frac{1}{2}\psi _{\gamma }\varepsilon ^{\beta \gamma }\varepsilon ^{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( \sigma ^{\mu }\right) _{\beta \stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{% \bullet }{\gamma }}\left( \sigma _{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{\bullet }{% \alpha }} \\ =\frac{1}{2}\psi _{\gamma }\left[ \varepsilon ^{\gamma \beta }\varepsilon ^{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( \sigma ^{\mu }\right) _{\beta \stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\right] \overline{\chi }_{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}\left( \sigma _{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{% \bullet }{\alpha }} \\ =\frac{1}{2}\psi _{\gamma }\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }% }\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\mu }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }% \gamma }\left( \sigma _{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }} \\ =\psi _{\gamma }\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}\delta _{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}\delta _{\alpha }^{\gamma }=\psi _{\alpha }\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }} $

This proof makes the Pauli matrices to be seen as Clebsch-Gordan coefficients.

PART 2:

THEOREM:

$V^{\mu}\left(\psi,\chi\right)$ defined above is a Lorentz 4-vector (i.e. they are components of a Lorentz 4-vector seen as a generic member of a vector space carrying the fundamental representation of the restricted Lorentz group $\mathfrak{Lor}(1,3)$).

PROOF:

$V'^{\mu}\equiv \left( \phi ^{\prime }\right) ^{\alpha }\left( \sigma ^{\mu }\right) _{\alpha \stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( \overline{\chi }^{\prime }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}=-\left( \overline{\chi }^{\prime }\right) _{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\mu }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }\beta }\left( \phi ^{\prime }\right) _{\beta }=-\left( M^{*}\right) _{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}{}^{\stackrel{% \bullet }{\beta }}\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\mu }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }\beta }M_{\beta }{}^{\gamma }\phi _{\gamma } \\ =-\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( M^{\dagger }\right) ^{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}{}_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\mu }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }\beta }M_{\beta }{}^{\gamma }\phi _{\gamma } \\ =-\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\delta _{\stackrel{\bullet }{% \gamma }}^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( M^{\dagger }\right) ^{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}{}_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\mu }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }\beta }M_{\beta }{}^{\gamma }\delta _{\gamma }^{\zeta }\phi _{\zeta } \\ =-\frac{1}{2}\overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( \overline{% \sigma }^{\nu }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }\zeta }\left( \sigma _{\nu }\right) _{\gamma \stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}\left( M^{\dagger }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}{}_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }% }\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\mu }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }\beta }M_{\beta }{}^{\gamma }\phi _{\zeta } \\ =-\frac{1}{2}\left[ \left( M^{\dagger }\right) ^{\stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }% }{}_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }}\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\mu }\right) ^{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\alpha }\beta }M_{\beta }{}^{\gamma }\left( \sigma _{\nu }\right) _{\gamma \stackrel{\bullet }{\gamma }}\right] \left[ \overline{\chi }_{\stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }}\left( \overline{\sigma }^{\nu }\right) ^{% \stackrel{\bullet }{\beta }\zeta }\phi _{\zeta }\right] \\ =-\frac{1}{2}Tr\left( M^{\dagger }\overline{\sigma }^{\mu }M\sigma _{\nu }\right) \left( \overline{\chi }\overline{\sigma }^{\nu }\phi \right) \\ =-\Lambda ^{\mu }{}_{\nu }\left( M\right) \left( \overline{\chi }\overline{% \sigma }^{\nu }\phi \right) \\ =\Lambda ^{\mu }{}_{\nu }\left( M\right) \left( \phi \sigma ^{\nu }\overline{% \chi }\right) \equiv \Lambda ^{\mu }{}_{\nu }\left( M\right) V^{\nu} $

*is = in the sense of group representation theory, it means that the carrier vector spaces of the two representations are isomorphic which is the content of the lemma. Note to the reader: the proof of the theorem uses the fact that these "classical" spinors have Grassmann parity 1. This explains the appearance and disappearance of the "-" sign.