Ternary algebras associated with irreducible tensor representations of SO(3) and the quark model.

We show that each irreducible tensor representation of weight 2 of the rotation group in the space of rank 3 tensors over three-dimensional space gives rise to an associative algebra with unity. We find the algebraic conditions to be satisfied by the generators of these algebras. Part of these relations is of binary, and another part is of ternary type. The structure of the latter one is based on the use of the cyclic group ℤ 3 generated by the primitive cubic root of unity given by q = exp (2 π i / 3). The subspace of each algebra spanned by triple products of generators is five-dimensional (5D) and is identical with the space of irreducible tensor representation of weight 2 of the rotation group SO (3). We define a Hermitian scalar product in this 5D subspace and construct its orthonormal basis in terms of triple products of generators. Then we find an explicit formula for the Lie algebra homomorphism so (3) → su (5). We suggest that the algebras constructed in this way, with binary and ternary constitutive relations, may find applications in the quark model and the Grand Unified Theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]