(a):

( ) × = ( )
×
(m, m) (m, n) (m, n) (n, n)

(b): <

( ) × = × ( )
(n, n) (n, m) (n, m) (m, m)

Fig. 18.2 Magnitude relationship between dimensions of representation matrices and M. (a) m > n.
(b) m < n. The diagram is based on (18.41) and (18.46) of the text

Schur’s Second Lemma [1, 2] Let D be a representation of ℊ. Suppose that with

8
g 2 ℊ we have

DðgÞM ¼ MDðgÞ: ð18:48Þ

Then, if D is irreducible, M ¼ cE with c being an arbitrary complex number, where

E is an identity matrix.
Proof Let c be an arbitrarily chosen complex number. From (18.48) we have

DðgÞðM  cE Þ ¼ ðM  cE ÞDðgÞ: ð18:49Þ

If D is irreducible, Schur’s First Lemma implies that we must have either

(i) M  cE ¼ 0 or (ii) det(M  cE) 6¼ 0. A matrix M has at least one proper
eigenvalue λ (Sect. 12.1), and so choosing λ for c in (18.49), we have det(M  λE) ¼ 0.
Consequently, only former case is allowed. That is, we have

M ¼ cE: ð18:50Þ

∎
Schur’s lemmas lead to important orthogonality theorem that plays a fundamental
role in many scientific fields. The orthogonality theorem includes that of matrices
and their traces (or characters).
Theorem 18.3: Grand Orthogonality Theorem (GOT) [5] Let D(1), D(2),    be
all inequivalent irreducible representations of a group ℊ ¼ {g1, g2,   , gn} of order
n. Let D(α) and D(β) be two irreducible representations chosen from among D(1), D(2),
  . Then, regarding their matrix representations, we have the following relationship:

Page 3 of 6
 X ð αÞ ðβÞ n
Dij ðgÞ Dkl ðgÞ ¼ δ δ δ , ð18:51Þ
g dα αβ ik jl

where Σg means that the summation should be taken over all n group elements; dα
denotes a dimension of the representation D(α). The symbol δαβ means that δαβ ¼ 1
when D(α) and D(β) are equivalent and that δαβ ¼ 0 when D(α) and D(β) are
inequivalent.
Proof First we prove the case where D(α) ¼ D(β). For the sake of simple expression
we omit a superscript and denote D(α) simply by D. Let us construct a matrix A such
that
X

A¼ g
DðgÞXD g1 , ð18:52Þ

where X is an arbitrary matrix. Hence,

X
1  X
1   0 1 
Dðg0 ÞA ¼ g
D ð g 0
ÞD ð g ÞXD g ¼ g
Dð g 0
ÞD ð g ÞXD g D g Dðg0 Þ
X  
1
¼ g
Dðg0 ÞDðgÞXD g1 g0 Dðg0 Þ
X h i
0 0 1
¼ g
D ð g g ÞXD ð g g Þ Dðg0 Þ:
ð18:53Þ

Thanks to the rearrangement theorem, for fixed g0 the element g0g runs through all
the group elements as g does so. Therefore, we have
X h i X

0 0 1
g
Dð g g ÞXD ð g g Þ ¼ g
DðgÞXD g1 ¼ A: ð18:54Þ

Thus,

DðgÞA ¼ ADðgÞ: ð18:55Þ

According to Schur’s Second Lemma, we have

A ¼ λE: ð18:56Þ

ðlÞ
The value of a constant λ depends upon the choice of X. Let X be δi δjðmÞ where all
the matrix elements are zero except for the (l, m)-component that takes 1 (Sects. 12.5
and 12.6). Thus from (18.53) we have
X
 X

g,p,q
Dip ðgÞδðplÞ δqðmÞ Dqj g1 ¼ D ðgÞDmj g1 ¼ λlm δij ,
g il
ð18:57Þ

where λlm is a constant to be determined. Using the unitary representation, we have

Page 4 of 6
 X
g
Dil ðgÞDjm ðgÞ ¼ λlm δij : ð18:58Þ

Next, we wish to determine coefficients λlm. To this end, setting i ¼ j and

summing over i in (18.57), we get for LHS

X X
X

1  X
1  1

g i
Dil ðg ÞD mi g ¼ g
D g Dð g Þ ¼ g
D g g
ml ml

X X
¼ g
½DðeÞml ¼ δ
g ml
¼ nδml , ð18:59Þ

where n is equal to the order of group. As for RHS, we have

X
λ δ
i lm ii
¼ λlm d, ð18:60Þ

where d is equal to a dimension of D. From (18.59) and (18.60), we get

n
λlm d ¼ nδlm or λlm ¼ δlm : ð18:61Þ
d

Therefore, from (18.58)

X n
Dil ðgÞDjm ðgÞ ¼ δlm δij : ð18:62Þ
g d

Specifying a species of the irreducible representation, we get

X ðαÞ ðαÞ n
Dil ðgÞDjm ðgÞ ¼ δ δ , ð18:63Þ
g dα lm ij

where dα is a dimension of D(α).

Next, we examine the relationship between two inequivalent irreducible repre-
sentations. Let D(α) and D(β) be such representations with dimensions dα and dβ,
respectively. Let us construct a matrix B such that
X

B¼ g
DðαÞ ðgÞXDðβÞ g1 , ð18:64Þ

where X is again an arbitrary matrix. Hence,

Page 5 of 6
 X

DðαÞ ðg0 ÞB ¼ g
D ðαÞ 0
ð g ÞD ðαÞ
ð g ÞXD ðβÞ 1
g
X
ð αÞ 0 ð αÞ

 ðβÞ  0 1  ðβÞ 0
ðβÞ 1
¼ g
D ð g ÞD ð g ÞXD g D g D ðg Þ ð18:65Þ
X h i
1
¼ g
DðαÞ ðg0 gÞXDðβÞ ðg0 gÞ DðβÞ ðg0 Þ ¼ BDðβÞ ðg0 Þ:

According to Schur’s First Lemma, we have

B ¼ 0: ð18:66Þ

ðlÞ
Putting X ¼ δi δjðmÞ as before and rewriting (18.64), we get

X ðαÞ ðβÞ
g
Dil ðgÞDjm ðgÞ ¼ 0: ð18:67Þ

Combining (18.63) and (18.67), we get (18.51). These procedures complete the
proof. ∎

Page 6 of 6