Cosine functions revisited (Q638178)

The author gives an elementary proof of the small dimension lemma: If \(K\) is a closed, irreducible subgroup of \(SU(n)\), where \(n\in\mathbb{N}\), such that \(k+ k^{-1}\in\mathbb{C} I\) for all \(k\in K\), then \(n=1\), or \(n=2\) and \(K\subseteq SU(2)\). She uses the lemma in a short proof of one of her earlier results about the structure of non-zero continuous cosine functions on a compact group \(G\): Each such one is the normalized character of a continuous representation of \(G\) into \(SU(2)\).