Finite-dimensional linear representation
This article describes a property to be evaluated for a linear representation of a group, i.e. a homomorphism from the group to the general linear group of a vector space over a field
This article gives a basic definition in the following area: linear representation theory
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Definition
Symbol-free definition
A linear representation of a group is termed finite-dimensional if its vector space is finite-dimensional as a vector space over the field.
Definition with symbols
Let 
be a group and 
a field. A finite-dimensional linear representation of over is a homomorphism 
where 
is a finite-dimensional vector space over . The representation is typically expressed by the pair 
.
Equivalence of representations
Further information: equivalent linear representations
The notion of equivalence of finite-dimensional linear representations is the same as the notion of equivalence as linear representations. Namely, given two finite-dimensional linear representations 
and 
of , an equivalence between them is a map 
such that for all 
:
In particular, when 
, then two representations on are equivalent if they are conjugate by an element of 
.
Invariants
If is a finite-dimensional linear representation of , and has dimension 
, there is an isomorphism 
between and 
(i.e., a choice of basis for ). Define a representation 
on as 
. Then, associates, to every element of , an invertible 
matrix.
Conjugacy class of image
For a finite-dimensional linear representation of , we can associate to every , the conjugacy class of 
in . This conjugacy class is invariant under equivalence of representations, because any equivalence of representations involves conjugating by an element of .
Trace and character
Further information: character of a representation
For a finite-dimensional linear representation of , we can associate to every 
, the trace of . (In the concrete situation where 
and is viewed as a matrix, this is the sum of the diagonal entries of ). Since the trace depends only on the conjugacy class of the representation, it is invariant under equivalence of representations.
The function sending each element of the group to its trace is termed the character of the representation. The character is thus a function from the group to the field.
Degree
Further information: Degree of a representation
The degree of a finite-dimensional linear representation, also called the dimension of the representation, is the dimension of the vector space on which it acts. Equivalently, it is the character evaluated at the identity element of the group.
Constructions
Direct sum
Further information: Direct sum of linear representations
Let and be two finite-dimensional linear representations. Then, the direct sum of these is given as:
- The vector space for it is
- The action is:
In other words acts component-wise.
If we are thinking of both representations in terms of matrices, i.e. 
and 
, then 
is a block matrix looking like:
Tensor product
Further information: Tensor product of linear representations
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