K-Loops, gyrogroups and symmetric spaces

Abstract

In this paper we present a new class of K-Loops consisting of homogeneous symmetric spaces of the noncompact type. The most famous physical example of a representative of this class is found in special relativity: The set of all relativistically admissible velocities, R _c ³:= {υ ∈ R3: ¦v¦< c} (c the speed of light), together with the relativistic velocity composition law forms a K-Loop, as was already shown by A. Ungar in 1988. The set of the corresponding boosts turns out to be the effective homogeneous symmetric space SO (1,3)⁰/SO(3), where SO(1,3)⁰ denotes the proper orthochronous Lorentz group and SO(3) the subgroup of proper rotations in three dimensions, which is also found to be the set of fixed points of an automorphism σ: SO(1,3)⁰ → SO(1,3)⁰, whose action on a matrix A in the defining representation is given by σ(A) = (AT)−1. Moreover, the triple (so(l,3),so(3),s) consisting of the Lie algebras of SO(1,3) and SO(3) and the induced automorphism s = (dσ)e is an orthogonal symmetric Lie algebra of the noncompact type. This property of the Lie algebra makes SO(l, 3)/SO(3) an (effective) homogeneous symmetric space of the noncompact type. The method of exact decomposition allows endowing each homogeneous symmetric space of the noncompact type with the structure of a K-Loop in a similar manner. Finally, we treat some alternative approaches which lead to K-Loops that are isomorphic to the one described above.