Notes on the Poincar Group

An elementary discussion of the Poincar group is given in S. Gasiorowicz, Elementary Particle Physics. The Poincar group is the set of elements ( a, b) that appear in the linear transformation law
x = ax + b ,

(1)

where the components of x and x are the coordinates of an event in spacetime as determined in two different inertial frames, called the xframe and the x frame. The components of x are given by
x = ( x 0 , x1, x 2 , x 3 ) = (ct, x ) ,

(2)

where c is the speed of light, t is the time, and x is a three-vector that gives the spatial location. Here b is a fourvector that determines the relation between the two spacetime origins. We note that the origin in the xframe, i.e. x = 0 , is mapped to x = b . The symbol a stands for a 4 4 real matrix, i.e.,

a = a m n , m,n = 0,1, 2, 3 .
Written out in terms of components, (1) becomes x m = a m n xn + b m , where the Einstein summation convention has been adopted. The elements of a satisfy the orthogonality relation gmn a m a an
b

( )

(3)

(4)

= gab ,

(5)

where the gmn are the elements of the metric tensor g. A popular choice is

(g )
mn

1 0 0 0 0 -1 0 0 . = 0 0 -1 0 0 0 0 -1

(6)

Eq. (5) is the necessary and sufficient condition that the homogeneous form of (1), i.e., b = 0 , preserves the length of a fourvector. More precisely, the transformation preserves the dot product of a four-vector with itself. In general the dot or scalar product of two fourvectors x and y is defined by x y = x m gmn yn = x m y m = xn yn , xn = x m gmn , y m = gmn yn . 1 (7)

Here we have used the metric tensor to transform the contravariant components, e.g., the x m , to the covariant components, the xn . It follows trivially from (6) that the covariant components of x are given by

( x 0, x1, x 2, x 3 ) = (ct,- x) .
The homogeneous version of (1) leads to
x y = x y .

(8)

(9)

We say that x y is a Lorentz invariant or a Lorentz scalar. We can easily verify that (5) leads to (9) as follows:

x y = x m gmn y n = a m a xa gmn an b y b = gmn a m a an b xa y b = gab xa y b = x y .

If we let

g = gmn ,
then (5) can be written as the matrix equation
= g, aga

( )

(10)

(11)

where the tild stands for the transpose operation. We can define the Lorentz group as the set of all real, 4 4 matrices a that satisfy (11), with the multiplication law of the group being matrix multiplication. Recall that a set of elements form a group if: (i) the product of any two of them belongs to the set, (ii) one of them is a unit element, (iii) each of them has an inverse that belongs to the set, and (iv) the productive is associative. It is straightforward to show that the set of Lorentz transformations satisfy these requirements. Since g 2 = 1, we see that (11) implies that

. a -1 = gag
We recall that the metric tensor g can be used to lower indices as in (7), i.e., x m = gmn xn = xn gnm .

(12)

(13)

The metric tensor with upper indices can be used to raise indices, i.e.,

x m = g mn xn = xn gnm .
If we put (13) into (14) we find that g ma gan = d m n = g m n , so the matrix ( g mn ) is the inverse of the matrix gmn . In fact

(14)

(15)

( )

g -1 = g .
Raising and lowering indices in (5), we can write the following sequence of equations

(16)

a m l amb = glb , gal a m l amb = gal glb ,

so we see that (5) is equivalent to a ma amb = d a b = ga b . From (12) and (16) we obtain
= g, aga

(17)

(18)

which is equivalent to aa m g mn a b n = gab . Raising and lowering indices this becomes aam abm = d a b = ga b . Using (1) with b = 0 and (17) we can write x m ama = a m n ama xn = a mn ama xn = gn a xn = xa , so we have shown that the inverse Lorentz transformation is given by x m = x n an
m

(19)

(20)

= ( a -1 )

m n

x n .

(21)

It is worthwhile to remember the rule

(a )

-1 m

= an m .

(22)

Now lets consider the Poincar group which is the set of elements ( a, b) with b not necessarily zero. Since we can have b 0, this group is sometimes called the inhomogeneous Lorentz group. Consider two successive transformation, i.e,

x = ax + b, x = a x + b .
Putting the first equation into the second we find
x = a x + b , a = a a , b = a b + b .

(23)

(24)

Since a and a are Lorentz transformations, and b and b are fourvectors; it follows that a is a Lorentz transformation and b is a fourvector. Thus (24) defines a Poincar transformation. We see that two successive Poincar transformations are equivalent to a single Poincar transformation, therefore these transformations satisfy the first requirement of a group. The identity element of the group is
a m n = d m n , b = (b m ) = (0, 0, 0, 0) , Identity element

(25)

From (23) it follows that x = a -1 x - a -1b so we see that the inverse of the transformation (a, b) is (a -1, - a -1b) , and since a -1 is a Lorentz transformation and - a -1b is a fourvector, the inverse belongs to the set. In order to see if the associative law holds, we consider three transformations: (i) x = ax + b , (ii) x = a x + b , (iii) x = a x + b . If we substitute (i) into (ii) and then (ii) into (iii), we find x = a a ax + a a b + a b + b . If instead we substitute (ii) into (iii) and then substitute (i) into the resulting equation, we find the same result. Thus the associative law holds. We have established that the set of elements ( a, b) which appear in (1), with

a = a m n , a Lorentz transformation, and b = (b m ) , a fourvector, form a group with respect to the law of combination

( )

(a, b ) o (a, b) = (a a, a b + b ) .

(26)

The socalled Poincar group or inhomogeneous Lorentz group plays an essential role in all relativistic physics; classical, as well as quantum mechanical. We now consider the subgroup of continuous transformations, which is known as the proper subgroup. These transformations can be built up of a sequence of infinitesimal transformations of the form

amn = gmn + e mn , e mn = -enm , bm = e m ,

(27)

where the e ' s are infinitesimals. The antisymmetry of e mn follows from (5). To verify this we put (27) into (5) and obtain

gmn g m a + e m a gn

)(

+ en

)= g

mn

g m a gn

+ gna en

+ e m a gmb

= gab + eab + e ba = gab .

If we put (27) into (1) and use x m x r = d m r , it is straightforward to verify that

i x m = 1 - ie r pr ( x ) + e rl Lrl ( x ) x m , 2

(28)

where the generators pm ( x ) and Lmn ( x ) are given by the differential operators

pm ( x ) = i m = i

, x m

(29) (30)

Lmn ( x ) = x m pn ( x ) - xn pm ( x ) = - Lnm ( x ) .
Since

[x , x ] = 0 ,
m n

[ x , p ] = -ig
m n

mn

(31)

it follows that the generators satisfy the commutation rules

[p , p ] = 0 ,
m n

(32)

[L
[L
mn

mn

, pr = i gnr pm - gmr pn ,

] (

(33)

, Lrl = i gml Lnr + gnr Lml - gmr Lnl - gnl Lmr .

] (

(34)

These commutation rules define the Lie algebra of the Poincar group and are referred to as the Poincar algebra. In an equation such as (28) the four components of x, i.e. the x m , are independent variables. On the other hand the four components of the fourmomentum of a particle are not independent variables since this fourvector is given by
k = ( k m ) = (w m (k), k) ,

(35)

where

w m (k) = (k 2 + m 2 ) .
12

(36)

We are now assuming units such that c = 1. The fourmomentum satisfies the socalled onmassshell condition
k 2 = k k = m2.

(37)

Clearly only three of the four components of k are independent. Under a Lorentz transformation the components of k transform according to k m = a m n kn , or for an infinitesimal transformation according to k m = k m + e m n kn . (39) (38)

For a fourvector such as k, the inhomogeneous transformation is physically meaningless, since the fourmomentum of a particle cannot be affected by shifting the spacetime origin. We now show that we can write (39) in a way analogous to (28) with e r = 0 . We note that according to (29) and (30)

i rl e Lrl ( x ) = -e rl x r l . x 2
For k, only k1, k 2 , and k 3 are independent variables, so instead of the above form we consider

-e r i kr
We now show that (39) is equivalent to

. k i

k m = 1 - e r i kr i k m . k

(40)

When m = j we can write the following sequence of equations

j ri j ri j 1 - e kr i k = k - e kr d i k = k j - e r j kr = k j + e jr kr = k j + e j n kn = k j .

This verifies (40) when m = j . We now consider m = 0 .

w m ( k ) 0 ri 0 ri 1 - e kr i k = k - e kr k k i ki = k 0 + e r i kr 0 k ki ki = k 0 + e 0 i k0 0 + e jik j 0 k k 0 0i 0 0 = k + e ki = k + e i k i = k 0 + e 0 n kn = k0 . This verifies (40) when m = 0 . We can make (40) look like (28) if we define

L( k ) = ( L23 ( k ), L31 ( k ), L12 ( k )) = i k k , K( k ) = ( L10 ( k ), L20 ( k ), L30 ( k )) = -iw m ( k ) k , Lmn ( k ) = - Lnm ( k ) ,

then (40) becomes
i k m = 1 + e rl Lrl ( k ) k m . 2

(41a) (41b) (41c)

(42)

In order to see that this is true we write

1 - e r i kr

j i0 ij k i = 1 + ie Li 0 + ie i k i k = 1 + i(e i 0 Li 0 + e 12 L12 + e 31 L31 + e 23 L23 )

i = 1 + e rl Lrl . 2
It is straightforward to verify that k m and Lmn ( k ) satisfy the Poincar algebra, i.e., they satisfy (32)(34) with pm ( x ) km and Lmn ( x ) Lmn ( k ). We now turn out attention to relativistic quantum mechanics. If the state of a physical system is described by the state vectors y and y in the xframe and x frame, respectively; then it is assumed that

y = U ( a, b) y ,

(43)

where U is a unitary operator that corresponds to the transformation (1). The assumption that U is unitary ensures that the inner product of state vectors are preserved in going

from one frame to another. If c = U ( a, b) c , then c y = c U U y = c y . In correspondence with (23) and (24), we have

y = U ( a, b ) y ,
y = U ( a, b ) y .
Putting (43) into (44a) and comparing with (44b), we find

(44a) (44b)

U ( a, b ) = U ( a, b )U ( a, b) = U ( a a, a b + b ) ,

(45)

which corresponds to (26). We see that the unitary operators satisfy the multiplication law of the Poincar group, and we say that the Us form a unitary representation of the Poincar group. Taking ( a, b) to be the infinitesimal transformation (27), we assume that we can expand U ( a, b) in the form

i U ( a, b) = U gmn + e mn ,e m = 1 + ie m P m - e mn J mn , 2

(46)

where the P m and J mn are hermitian operators. It is easy to verify that this form satisfies the requirements that U 1 when ( a, b) ( g, 0) , and that U -1 = U . It should be noted that it can be assumed that

J mn = - J nm ,

(47)

since for a symmetric object S mn = Snm , we have e mn S mn = 0. The requirement that the operators U ( a, b) satisfy (45) places strong restrictions on the P m and J mn . They must satisfy the commutation rules

[P , P ] = 0 ,
m n

(48)

[J [J
mn

mn

, Pr = i gnr Pm - gmr Pn ,

] (

(49)

, J rl = i gml Jnr + gnr J ml - gmr Jnl - gnl J mr .

] (

(50)

Letting U ( a) = U ( a,0) , it can also be shown that U ( a) P mU -1 ( a) = Pn an m = ( a -1 )

m n

Pn ,

(51) (52)

U ( a) J mnU -1 ( a) = J ab aa m ab n ,

We now indicate how these relations are derived. We let U ( a ) = U ( a, 0 ) and U (b ) = U (1, b ) . It follows from (45) that

U (b )U ( a ) = U ( a, b ) , U ( a )U (b ) = U ( a, ab ) ,

(53a) (53b)

so we see that Lorentz transformations and spacetime translations do not commute. From (45) with a = a = 1 it follows that

U (b )U (b) = U (b + b) = U (b + b ) = U (b)U (b ) ,

(54)

so we see that the fourvectors that determine successive spacetime translations simply add and moreover spacetime translations commute. From (46) and (54) is follows that

U (b + e ) - U (b) = ie PU (b) .
If we make a Taylors series of the left hand side of this equation we find

em

U (b) = ie m PmU (b) . m b

Since the e m are arbitrary this leads to the 4 equations

U (b) = iPmU (b) , b m

the solution of which is

U (b) = exp ib m Pm = exp(ib P ) .

Using this and (53) we can write

(55)

U ( a ) exp(ib P )U -1 ( a ) = U ( ab ) = exp(ib P ) , b = ab .
If we let b be an infinitesimal and expand to first order in e , we find

U ( a ) 1 + ie m P m U -1 ( a ) = 1 + ian m e m P n ,
which leads to (51). We now let the Lorentz transformation in (51) be the infinitesimal transformation amn = gmn + e mn so that U ( a) is given by (46) with e m = 0 . This leads to

i 1 - eab Jab , Pm = Pn en m = eab gbm Pa - gam Pb , 2 2

which in turns gives us (49). The other commutation rules can be derived in a similar way. Some of these ideas can be illustrated by assuming that we have a quantum mechanical system that possesses a set of single particle eigenstates that satisfy

Pm k = km k ,
where ( k m ) is given by (35) and (36). Clearly

(56)

U (b) k = k exp(ik b) ,

(57)

so the unitary operator corresponding to a translation only changes the eigenstates by an unobservable phase factor. Now consider U ( a) k . From (51) with a a -1 , we have P mU ( a) = a m n U ( a) Pn , where we have used U ( a -1 ) = U -1 ( a) . Thus P mU ( a) k = a m n U ( a) Pn k = a m n knU ( a) k , or

P mU ( a) k = k mU ( a) k , k = ak ,

(58)

so U ( a) maps the state k into one that describes a particle with fourmomentum k = ak . Assuming that there is no degeneracy, this implies that U ( a) k = k f ( a, k ) . We can normalize our single particle states according to
k1 k2 = (2p ) 2w m (k1 )d 3 (k1 - k 2 ) ,
3

(59)

where it can be shown that the right hand side of this equation is a Lorentz invariant function of k1 and k 2 . Using this invariance we can write

k1 U ( a)U ( a) k2 = k1 k2 = f * ( a, k1 ) k1 k2 f ( a, k2 ) = f ( a, k1 ) k1 k2 ,
2

so we see that f ( a, k ) = 1 . This implies that f ( a, k ) is a phase factor, which we choose to be one. We now have
2

U ( a) k = k = ak .
Keeping in mind that only three components of k are independent, we can use (39), (40), (42), (46), and (60) to write the sequence of equations

(60)

10

 k = 1 + e in kn i k = 1 - eni kn i k k k i i = 1 + e rl Lrl (k) k = 1 - e rl J rl k , 2 2

so J rl k = - Lrl (k) k , or since J rl is hermitian, and Lrl is given by (41), we find

k J rl = k Lrl (k) .
If F is an arbitrary single particle state then

(61)

k F = F(k)
is the momentum space wavefunction of the state, and

(62)

k Pm F = km F(k) , k J mn F = Lmn (k)F(k) .

Consider the superposition of single particle states given by

(63) (64)

x = k

d 3k exp(ik x ) , (2p ) 3 2w m (k)

(65)

where x is an arbitrary spacetime fourvector. The integration element is Lorentz invariant, i.e.,

d 3k d 3k = , k = ak . w m (k) w m (k )
Using (53), (60), (66), and (57) we have
U ( a, b) x = U (b)U ( a) x d 3k = U (b) k exp[ik ( ax )] (2p ) 3 2w m (k ) = k d 3k exp[ik ( ax + b)] , (2p ) 3 2w m (k )

(66)

so

U ( a, b) x = x = ax + b .

(67)

11

Taking ( a, b) to be (27), so that x m = x m + e m n xn + e m , we have with the help of (29), (30), and (46)

x = 1 + e m n xn + e m x x m i = 1 - ie m pm ( x ) + e mn Lmn ( x ) x 2 i = 1 + ie m Pm - e mn J mn x , 2

so

x Pm = pm ( x ) x , x J mn = Lmn ( x ) x .
The function

(68) (69)

F( x ) x F
is said to be manifestly covariant since it treats space and time in a symmetrical way. Using (43) and (67), we find

(70)

F( x ) = x U ( a, b)U ( a, b) F = x F = F ( x ) ,
which is the transformation law for a scalar function.

(71)

12