Irreps collectively distinguish group elements
Let
such that
Proof
This follows from the existence of the Regular group representation
. For we can define Ξ : πΊ β β [ πΊ ] π π₯ ( π¦ ) = β¨ πΏ π₯ | Ξ ( π¦ ) πΏ π β© using the unnormalised inner product on
, which has the required property, and since β [ πΊ ] is a representation it is unitarily equivalent to a direct sum of irreps, i.e. Ξ Ξ = β¨ π π Ξ π π β Ξ π π ( π¦ ) = β π , π , π π π π π Ξ πΌ π π π ( π¦ ) βββ π π π π and so treating
and π₯ as indices π π ( π¦ ) = Ξ π₯ π ( π¦ ) = β π , π , π π π π₯ π Ξ πΌ π π π ( π¦ ) βββ π π π π as required.