algebraic invariant

TheInfoList

Invariant theory is a branch of
abstract algebra In algebra, which is a broad division of mathematics, abstract algebra (occasionally called modern algebra) is the study of algebraic structures. Algebraic structures include group (mathematics), groups, ring (mathematics), rings, field (mathema ...
dealing with actions of
groups A group is a number of people or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic identi ...
on
algebraic varieties Algebraic varieties are the central objects of study in algebraic geometry Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics, classically studying zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials. Modern algebraic geometry is based on the us ...
, such as vector spaces, from the point of view of their effect on functions. Classically, the theory dealt with the question of explicit description of
polynomial function In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression (mathematics), expression consisting of variable (mathematics), variables (also called indeterminate (variable), indeterminates) and coefficients, that involves only the operations of addition, subtra ...
s that do not change, or are ''invariant'', under the transformations from a given
linear groupIn mathematics Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ha ...
. For example, if we consider the action of the
special linear group In mathematics Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). I ...
''SLn'' on the space of ''n'' by ''n'' matrices by left multiplication, then the
determinant In mathematics Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...

is an invariant of this action because the determinant of ''A X'' equals the determinant of ''X'', when ''A'' is in ''SLn''.

# Introduction

Let $G$ be a
group A group is a number A number is a mathematical object used to counting, count, measurement, measure, and nominal number, label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with ...
, and $V$ a finite-dimensional
vector space In mathematics Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...
over a
field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grassl ...
$k$ (which in classical invariant theory was usually assumed to be the
complex number In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that contains the real numbers and a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit, and satisfying the equation . Moreover, every complex number can be expressed in the for ...

s). A
representation Representation may refer to: Law and politics *Representation (politics) Political representation is the activity of making citizens "present" in public policy making processes when political actors act in the best interest of citizens. This defin ...
of $G$ in $V$ is a
group homomorphism In mathematics Mathematics (from Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as numbers ( and ), formulas and related structures (), shapes and spaces in which they are contained (), and quantities and their changes ( and ). There is no ge ...

$\pi:G \to GL\left(V\right)$, which induces a
group action In mathematics Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...
of $G$ on $V$. If
finitely generated algebraIn mathematics, a finitely generated algebra (also called an algebra of finite type) is a commutative ring, commutative associative algebra ''A'' over a field (mathematics), field ''K'' where there exists a finite set of elements ''a''1,...,''a'n' ...
over $k$? For example, if $G=SL_n$ and $V=M_n$ the space of square matrices, and the action of $G$ on $V$ is given by left multiplication, then is isomorphic to a Polynomial ring, polynomial algebra in one variable, generated by the determinant. In other words, in this case, every invariant polynomial is a linear combination of powers of the determinant polynomial. So in this case, is finitely generated over $k$. If the answer is yes, then the next question is to find a minimal basis, and ask whether the module of polynomial relations between the basis elements (known as the Syzygy (mathematics), syzygies) is finitely generated over
determinant In mathematics Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). It ...

s. Another subject with strong mutual influence was projective geometry, where invariant theory was expected to play a major role in organizing the material. One of the highlights of this relationship is the symbolic method. Representation theory of semisimple Lie groups has its roots in invariant theory. David Hilbert's work on the question of the finite generation of the algebra of invariants (1890) resulted in the creation of a new mathematical discipline, abstract algebra. A later paper of Hilbert (1893) dealt with the same questions in more constructive and geometric ways, but remained virtually unknown until David Mumford brought these ideas back to life in the 1960s, in a considerably more general and modern form, in his geometric invariant theory. In large measure due to the influence of Mumford, the subject of invariant theory is seen to encompass the theory of actions of linear algebraic groups on affine variety, affine and projective variety, projective varieties. A distinct strand of invariant theory, going back to the classical constructive and combinatorial methods of the nineteenth century, has been developed by Gian-Carlo Rota and his school. A prominent example of this circle of ideas is given by the theory of standard monomials.

# Examples

Simple examples of invariant theory come from computing the invariant monomials from a group action. For example, consider the $\mathbb/2\mathbb$-action on $\mathbb\left[x,y\right]$ sending :$\begin x\mapsto -x && y \mapsto -y \end$ Then, since $x^2,xy,y^2$ are the lowest degree monomials which are invariant, we have that :$\mathbb\left[x,y\right]^ \cong \mathbb\left[x^2,xy,y^2\right] \cong \frac$ This example forms the basis for doing many computations.

# The nineteenth-century origins

Cayley first established invariant theory in his "On the Theory of Linear Transformations (1845)." In the opening of his paper, Cayley credits an 1841 paper of George Boole, "investigations were suggested to me by a very elegant paper on the same subject... by Mr Boole." (Boole's paper was Exposition of a General Theory of Linear Transformations, Cambridge Mathematical Journal.) Classically, the term "invariant theory" refers to the study of invariant algebraic forms (equivalently, symmetric tensors) for the Group action (mathematics), action of linear transformations. This was a major field of study in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Current theories relating to the symmetric group and symmetric functions, commutative algebra, moduli spaces and the representations of Lie groups are rooted in this area. In greater detail, given a finite-dimensional
vector space In mathematics Mathematics (from Ancient Greek, Greek: ) includes the study of such topics as quantity (number theory), mathematical structure, structure (algebra), space (geometry), and calculus, change (mathematical analysis, analysis). ...
''V'' of dimension ''n'' we can consider the symmetric algebra ''S''(''S''''r''(''V'')) of the polynomials of degree ''r'' over ''V'', and the action on it of GL(''V''). It is actually more accurate to consider the relative invariants of GL(''V''), or representations of SL(''V''), if we are going to speak of ''invariants'': that is because a scalar multiple of the identity will act on a tensor of rank ''r'' in S(''V'') through the ''r''-th power 'weight' of the scalar. The point is then to define the subalgebra of invariants ''I''(''S''''r''(''V'')) for the action. We are, in classical language, looking at invariants of ''n''-ary ''r''-ics, where ''n'' is the dimension of ''V''. (This is not the same as finding invariants of GL(''V'') on S(''V''); this is an uninteresting problem as the only such invariants are constants.) The case that was most studied was invariants of binary forms where ''n'' = 2. Other work included that of Felix Klein in computing the invariant rings of finite group actions on $\mathbf^2$ (the binary polyhedral groups, classified by the ADE classification); these are the coordinate rings of du Val singularities. The work of David Hilbert, proving that ''I''(''V'') was finitely presented in many cases, almost put an end to classical invariant theory for several decades, though the classical epoch in the subject continued to the final publications of Alfred Young, more than 50 years later. Explicit calculations for particular purposes have been known in modern times (for example Shioda, with the binary octavics).

# Hilbert's theorems

proved that if ''V'' is a finite-dimensional representation of the complex algebraic group ''G'' = SL''n''(''C'') then the ring of invariants of ''G'' acting on the ring of polynomials ''R'' = ''S''(''V'') is finitely generated. His proof used the Reynolds operator ρ from ''R'' to ''R''''G'' with the properties *''ρ''(1) = 1 *''ρ''(''a'' + ''b'') = ''ρ''(''a'') + ''ρ''(''b'') *''ρ''(''ab'') = ''a'' ''ρ''(''b'') whenever ''a'' is an invariant. Hilbert constructed the Reynolds operator explicitly using Cayley's omega process Ω, though now it is more common to construct ρ indirectly as follows: for compact groups ''G'', the Reynolds operator is given by taking the average over ''G'', and non-compact reductive groups can be reduced to the case of compact groups using Weyl's unitarian trick. Given the Reynolds operator, Hilbert's theorem is proved as follows. The ring ''R'' is a polynomial ring so is graded by degrees, and the ideal ''I'' is defined to be the ideal generated by the homogeneous invariants of positive degrees. By Hilbert's basis theorem the ideal ''I'' is finitely generated (as an ideal). Hence, ''I'' is finitely generated ''by finitely many invariants of G'' (because if we are given any – possibly infinite – subset ''S'' that generates a finitely generated ideal ''I'', then ''I'' is already generated by some finite subset of ''S''). Let ''i''1,...,''i''''n'' be a finite set of invariants of ''G'' generating ''I'' (as an ideal). The key idea is to show that these generate the ring ''R''''G'' of invariants. Suppose that ''x'' is some homogeneous invariant of degree ''d'' > 0. Then :''x'' = ''a''1''i''1 + ... + ''a''n''i''n for some ''a''''j'' in the ring ''R'' because ''x'' is in the ideal ''I''. We can assume that ''a''''j'' is homogeneous of degree ''d'' − deg ''i''''j'' for every ''j'' (otherwise, we replace ''a''''j'' by its homogeneous component of degree ''d'' − deg ''i''''j''; if we do this for every ''j'', the equation ''x'' = ''a''1''i''1 + ... + ''a''''n''''i''n will remain valid). Now, applying the Reynolds operator to ''x'' = ''a''1''i''1 + ... + ''a''''n''''i''n gives :''x'' = ρ(''a''1)''i''1 + ... + ''ρ''(''a''''n'')''i''''n'' We are now going to show that ''x'' lies in the ''R''-algebra generated by ''i''1,...,''i''''n''. First, let us do this in the case when the elements ρ(''a''''k'') all have degree less than ''d''. In this case, they are all in the ''R''-algebra generated by ''i''1,...,''i''''n'' (by our induction assumption). Therefore, ''x'' is also in this ''R''-algebra (since ''x'' = ''ρ''(''a''1)''i''1 + ... + ρ(''a''n)''i''n). In the general case, we cannot be sure that the elements ρ(''a''''k'') all have degree less than ''d''. But we can replace each ρ(''a''''k'') by its homogeneous component of degree ''d'' − deg ''i''''j''. As a result, these modified ρ(''a''''k'') are still ''G''-invariants (because every homogeneous component of a ''G''-invariant is a ''G''-invariant) and have degree less than ''d'' (since deg ''i''''k'' > 0). The equation ''x'' = ρ(''a''1)''i''1 + ... + ρ(''a''n)''i''n still holds for our modified ρ(''a''''k''), so we can again conclude that ''x'' lies in the ''R''-algebra generated by ''i''1,...,''i''''n''. Hence, by induction on the degree, all elements of ''R''''G'' are in the ''R''-algebra generated by ''i''1,...,''i''''n''.

# Geometric invariant theory

The modern formulation of geometric invariant theory is due to David Mumford, and emphasizes the construction of a quotient by the group action that should capture invariant information through its coordinate ring. It is a subtle theory, in that success is obtained by excluding some 'bad' orbits and identifying others with 'good' orbits. In a separate development the symbolic method of invariant theory, an apparently heuristic combinatorial notation, has been rehabilitated. One motivation was to construct moduli spaces in algebraic geometry as quotients of schemes parametrizing marked objects. In the 1970s and 1980s the theory developed interactions with symplectic geometry and equivariant topology, and was used to construct moduli spaces of objects in differential geometry, such as instantons and monopole (mathematics), monopoles.

# See also

* Gram's theorem * Representation theory of finite groups * Molien series * Invariant (mathematics) * Invariant of a binary form * First and second fundamental theorems of invariant theory

# References

* Reprinted as * * * * * * * A recent resource for learning about modular invariants of finite groups. * An undergraduate level introduction to the classical theory of invariants of binary forms, including the Omega process starting at page 87. * * An older but still useful survey. * A beautiful introduction to the theory of invariants of finite groups and techniques for computing them using Gröbner bases. * *

# External links

*H. Kraft, C. Procesi
Classical Invariant Theory, a Primer
* V. L. Popov, E. B. Vinberg, Invariant Theory", in ''Algebraic geometry''. IV. Encyclopaedia of Mathematical Sciences, 55 (translated from 1989 Russian edition) Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1994; vi+284 pp.; {{ISBN, 3-540-54682-0 Invariant theory,