The Wigner D-matrix is a unitary matrix in an irreducible representation of the groups SU(2) and SO(3). It was introduced in 1927 by Eugene Wigner, and plays a fundamental role in the quantum mechanical theory of angular momentum. The complex conjugate of the D-matrix is an eigenfunction of the Hamiltonian of spherical and symmetric rigid rotors. The letter D stands for Darstellung, which means "representation" in German.
Definition of the Wigner D-matrix Let Jx, Jy, Jz be generators of the Lie algebra of SU(2) and SO(3). In quantum mechanics, these three operators are the components of a vector operator known as angular momentum. Examples are the angular momentum of an electron in an atom, electronic spin, and the angular momentum of a rigid rotor. In all cases, the three operators satisfy the following commutation relations,
[ J x , J y ] = i J z , [ J z , J x ] = i J y , [ J y , J z ] = i J x , {\displaystyle [J_{x},J_{y}]=iJ_{z},\quad [J_{z},J_{x}]=iJ_{y},\quad [J_{y},J_{z}]=iJ_{x},}
where i is the purely imaginary number and the Planck constant ħ has been set equal to one. The Casimir operator
J 2 = J x 2 + J y 2 + J z 2 {\displaystyle J^{2}=J_{x}^{2}+J_{y}^{2}+J_{z}^{2}}
commutes with all generators of the Lie algebra. Hence, it may be diagonalized together with Jz. This defines the spherical basis used here. That is, there is a complete set of kets (i.e. orthonormal basis of joint eigenvectors labelled by quantum numbers that define the eigenvalues) with
J 2 | j m ⟩ = j ( j + 1 ) | j m ⟩ , J z | j m ⟩ = m | j m ⟩ , {\displaystyle J^{2}|jm\rangle =j(j+1)|jm\rangle ,\quad J_{z}|jm\rangle =m|jm\rangle ,}
where j = 0, 1/2, 1, 3/2, 2, ... for SU(2), and j = 0, 1, 2, ... for SO(3). In both cases, m = −j, −j + 1, ..., j. A 3-dimensional rotation operator can be written as
R ( α , β , γ ) = e − i α J z e − i β J y e − i γ J z , {\displaystyle {\mathcal {R}}(\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )=e^{-i\alpha J_{z}}e^{-i\beta J_{y}}e^{-i\gamma J_{z}},}
where α, β, γ are Euler angles (characterized by the keywords: z-y-z convention, right-handed frame, right-hand screw rule, active interpretation). The Wigner D-matrix is a unitary square matrix of dimension 2j + 1 in this spherical basis with elements
D m ′ m j ( α , β , γ ) ≡ ⟨ j m ′ | R ( α , β , γ ) | j m ⟩ = e − i m ′ α d m ′ m j ( β ) e − i m γ , {\displaystyle D_{m'm}^{j}(\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )\equiv \langle jm'|{\mathcal {R}}(\alpha ,\beta ,\gamma )|jm\rangle =e^{-im'\alpha }d_{m'm}^{j}(\beta )e^{-im\gamma },}
where
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