Example: basis of left invariants vector fields and MC form
The case of
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Consider the euclidean group . It can be realized as a matrix group with a local chart given by
for .
I am looking for a basis of the left invariant vector fields. In the parameter space I take a basis of , and apply to all of them, being and
the left translation by .
This way I obtain the basis of left invariants vector fields
But now I want to see this basis in .
Because even if this example is fairly easy to work with it in parameter space, with a group with a more complicated "product" can be difficult to deal. In , left translation takes the shape of left multiplication by the matrix , satisfying the commutative diagram
A basis for is , that is,
Multiplying by the left with
we obtain the left invariant vector fields in
It can be checked that they are precisely .
By the way, given any left invariant vector field, its coordinates in the basis above are the Maurer-Cartan forms. Consider a vector field . It yields a vector field :
but, what are the real valued Maurer-Cartan forms? Since we are working with basis above, we have
Question
Coming from this question.
I find the approach of Chern, @griffiths1974cartan and Clelland very misleading. They consider maps from to , , and express their differentials in terms of the frame in which we are. But for me that doesn't seem natural because is something very particular of this example: the frame can be described in terms of the objects it describe. I consider more natural the general approach: the group can be seen like a matrix group of a special type, that one with elements of the form
with and . And now you only have to apply the formula for MC form for a matrix group, obtaining the same 1-forms.
Is this true for every Lie group of this type? That is, whenever we have a group it can be seen as a subgroup of as above (see this QA in MSE) and we can interpret the columns as vectors in the homogeneous space . Then, does the Maurer-Cartan form tell us the variation of these vectors expressed in the current frame?
Back to the case of , for simplicity. The MC form is
If we consider the basis of given by
we have
with
In this case the Maurer-Cartan form has "two parts": on the one hand, and on the other hand. I think that corresponds to the canonical solder form and is the Levi-Civita connection.
Why is this the Levi-Civita connection? What relationship does it have (if any) with the group reduction of to by means of the standard metric? See Euclidean plane.