ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses in detail the case of two-level systems and the associated Lie group. It gives an example of a general decomposition of SU(n), namely the decomposition into planar rotation, which is quite simple and can be obtained by straightforward computations. This decomposition gives a direct way to parametrize the special unitary group. The chapter presents the basics of Cartan decompositions of semisimple Lie groups. It gives some examples of applications of Lie group decompositions and introduces some notions of Lie group and Lie algebra theory. The chapter discusses Cartan decompositions of Lie groups. Cartan decompositions appear to be ubiquitous in quantum control and dynamics and in quantum information theory.
