WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Everything about Gell-Mann Matrices (Part 1): Unary Operations

​
Gell–Mann
λ
i
matrices
i
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
operations
λ
i
n
λ
i
θ
λ
i

eigensystem[​
λ
i
​]
n
2
3
4
λ
1
=
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
Gell–Mann
λ
-matrices are a complete set of Hermitian
3×3
noncommuting trace-orthogonal matrices,
Tr
λ
i
λ
j
=
δ
ij
,
i=1,…,8
. They are at the heart of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), an integral part of the Standard Model. They are also used in quantum information theory to represent qutrits. Gell–Mann matrices are to
SU(3)
what the Pauli matrices are to
SU(2)
.
This Demonstration shows operations involving a single
λ
-matrix.