Skip to content

Classification of N-(super)-extended Poincaré algebras and bilinear invariants of the spinor representation of Spin(p,q)

Dmitry V. Alekseevsky, Vicente Cortés

math.RTarXiv:math/9511215

Abstract

We classify extended Poincaré Lie super algebras and Lie algebras of any signature (p,q), that is Lie super algebras and Z2-graded Lie algebras g = g0 + g1, where g0 = so(V) + V is the (generalized) Poincaré Lie algebra of the pseudo Euclidean vector space V = Rp,q of signature (p,q) and g1 = S is the spinor so(V)-module extended to a g0-module with kernel V. The remaining super commutators g1,g1 (respectively, commutators [g1, g1]) are defined by an so(V)-equivariant linear mapping vee2 g1 -> V (respectively, wedge2 g1 -> V). Denote by P+(n,s) (respectively, P-(n,s)) the vector space of all such Lie super algebras (respectively, Lie algebras), where n = p + q = dim V and s = p - q is the signature. The description of P+-(n,s) reduces to the construction of all so(V)-invariant bilinear forms on S and to the calculation of three Z2-valued invariants for some of them. This calculation is based on a simple explicit model of an irreducible Clifford module S for the Clifford algebra Clp,q of arbitrary signature (p,q). As a result of the classification, we obtain the numbers L+-(n,s) = P+-(n,s) of independent Lie super algebras and algebras, which take values 0,1,2,3,4 or 6. Due to Bott periodicity, L+-(n,s) may be considered as periodic functions with period 8 in each argument. They are invariant under the group Gamma generated by the four reflections with respect to the axes n=-2, n=2, s-1 = -2 and s-1 = 2. Moreover, the reflection (n,s) -> (-n,s) with respect to the axis s=0 interchanges L+ and L- : L+(-n,s) = L-(n,s).

Create a lesson