It is shown that under certain conditions one may associatively matrix-multiply Lie-algebra-valued matrices with a componentwise Lie bracket. Using this, a simple algebraic constraint on a Lie-algebra-valued antisymmetric n×n matrix F, which in n=4 is essentially self-duality or anti-self-duality, is described. Somewhat in analogy with Liouville’s theorem for the Cauchy–Riemann equations in n=2, it is shown that, for n>4, the constraint implies that the Lie subalgebra generated by the matrix elements {Fμν } decomposes into copies of S_O_(n) plus a few degenerate cases. The result may be relevant to the structure of the quantum chromodynamic vacuum.
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