The real orthogonal so(6,R)\mathfrak{so}(6,\mathbb R) consists of skew-symmetric 6×66\times6 matrices, with commutator bracket:

so(6,R)={X∈M6(R):XT+X=0},[X,Y]=XY−YX.\mathfrak{so}(6,\mathbb R)=\{X\in M_{6}(\mathbb R):X^T+X=0\},\qquad [X,Y]=XY-YX.

The form preserved here is the positive-definite real form x12+⋯+x62x_1^2+\cdots+x_6^2.

Dimension and structure

The independent entries above the diagonal give real dimension 1515; a basis is Eij−Eji (1≤i<j≤6)E_{ij}-E_{ji}\ (1\leq i<j\leq 6).

explains its general construction.

Scalar convention

This record retains R\mathbb R as its defining field. Its complexification is a different catalogue object; a matrix presentation over complex numbers does not change this field automatically.