A Cohomological Proof that Real Representations of Semisimple Lie Algebras Have Q-Forms

Abstract

A Lie algebra gQ over Q is said to be R-universal if every homomorphism from gQ to gl(n,R) is conjugate to a homomorphism into gl(n,Q) (for every n). By using Galois cohomology, we provide a short proof of the known fact that every real semisimple Lie algebra has an R-universal Q-form. We also provide a classification of the R-universal Lie algebras that are semisimple.