E6, the Group: The structure of SL(3,O)

Abstract

We present the subalgebra structure of sl(3,O), a particular real form of e6 chosen for its relevance to particle physics and its close relation to generalized Lorentz groups. We use an explicit representation of the Lie group SL(3,O) to construct the multiplication table of the corresponding Lie algebra sl(3,O). Both the multiplication table and the group are then utilized to find various nested chains of subalgebras of sl(3,O), in which the corresponding Cartan subalgebras are also nested where possible. Because our construction involves the Lie group, we simultaneously obtain an explicit representation of the corresponding nested chains of subgroups of SL(3,O).