One-parameter subgroups as integral curves
Exponentials give flows of invariant vector fields; invariant flows recover one-parameter subgroups.
Let be a Lie group with Lie algebra .
Fix , and let be the corresponding left-invariant vector field on (obtained by translating via left translations).
- The integral curve of starting at the identity is the one-parameter subgroup
where is the exponential map. In particular, solves the ODE with .
- More generally, the integral curve of starting at is
There is an analogous statement for the right-invariant vector field , whose integral curves are .
Remarks
This viewpoint explains why the bracket on can be recovered from commutators of flows: the Lie bracket is the infinitesimal failure of invariant flows to commute (compare the bracket lemma for left-invariant fields and the structure encoded by the Maurer–Cartan equation).