Paper 4, Section II, G
Let denote the set of unitary complex matrices. Show that is a smooth (real) manifold, and find its dimension. [You may use any general results from the course provided they are stated correctly.] For any matrix in and an complex matrix, determine when represents a tangent vector to at .
Consider the tangent spaces to equipped with the metric induced from the standard (Euclidean) inner product on the real vector space of complex matrices, given by , where denotes the real part and denotes the conjugate transpose of . Suppose that represents a tangent vector to at the identity matrix . Sketch an explicit construction of a geodesic curve on passing through and with tangent direction , giving a brief proof that the acceleration of the curve is always orthogonal to the tangent space to .
[Hint: You will find it easier to work directly with complex matrices, rather than the corresponding real matrices.]