Spin representationIn mathematics, the spin representations are particular projective representations of the orthogonal or special orthogonal groups in arbitrary dimension and signature (i.e., including indefinite orthogonal groups). More precisely, they are two equivalent representations of the spin groups, which are double covers of the special orthogonal groups. They are usually studied over the real or complex numbers, but they can be defined over other fields. Elements of a spin representation are called spinors.
Reflection groupIn group theory and geometry, a reflection group is a discrete group which is generated by a set of reflections of a finite-dimensional Euclidean space. The symmetry group of a regular polytope or of a tiling of the Euclidean space by congruent copies of a regular polytope is necessarily a reflection group. Reflection groups also include Weyl groups and crystallographic Coxeter groups. While the orthogonal group is generated by reflections (by the Cartan–Dieudonné theorem), it is a continuous group (indeed, Lie group), not a discrete group, and is generally considered separately.
Real form (Lie theory)In mathematics, the notion of a real form relates objects defined over the field of real and complex numbers. A real Lie algebra g0 is called a real form of a complex Lie algebra g if g is the complexification of g0: The notion of a real form can also be defined for complex Lie groups. Real forms of complex semisimple Lie groups and Lie algebras have been completely classified by Élie Cartan. Using the Lie correspondence between Lie groups and Lie algebras, the notion of a real form can be defined for Lie groups.
Weight (representation theory)In the mathematical field of representation theory, a weight of an algebra A over a field F is an algebra homomorphism from A to F, or equivalently, a one-dimensional representation of A over F. It is the algebra analogue of a multiplicative character of a group. The importance of the concept, however, stems from its application to representations of Lie algebras and hence also to representations of algebraic and Lie groups. In this context, a weight of a representation is a generalization of the notion of an eigenvalue, and the corresponding eigenspace is called a weight space.
Exceptional objectMany branches of mathematics study objects of a given type and prove a classification theorem. A common theme is that the classification results in a number of series of objects and a finite number of exceptions — often with desirable properties — that do not fit into any series. These are known as exceptional objects. In many cases, these exceptional objects play a further and important role in the subject. Furthermore, the exceptional objects in one branch of mathematics often relate to the exceptional objects in others.
SO(8)In mathematics, SO(8) is the special orthogonal group acting on eight-dimensional Euclidean space. It could be either a real or complex simple Lie group of rank 4 and dimension 28. Like all special orthogonal groups of , SO(8) is not simply connected, having a fundamental group isomorphic to Z2. The universal cover of SO(8) is the spin group Spin(8). The center of SO(8) is Z2, the diagonal matrices {±I} (as for all SO(2n) with 2n ≥ 4), while the center of Spin(8) is Z2×Z2 (as for all Spin(4n), 4n ≥ 4).
