Invariant Polynomials under Rotations

First fix an $n \geq 0$, and define the rotation map $$ R: \mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}^2, \quad R = \begin{pmatrix} \cos(2 \pi / n) & -\sin(2 \pi / n) \\ \sin(2 \pi / n) & \cos(2 \pi / n) \end{pmatrix}$$ Now, denote the space of all two-variable real polynomials by $\mathbb{R}[x, y]$, and thinking of a polynomial $P \in \mathbb{R}[x, y]$ as a function $P: \mathbb{R}^2 \to \mathbb{R}$, define a linear map $L$ to be precomposition with the rotation $R$: $$ L: \mathbb{R}[x, y] \to \mathbb{R}[x, y], \quad LP = P \circ R$$ An invariant polynomial $Q$ is precisely one satisfying $LQ = Q$, i.e. an eigenvector of $L$ with eigenvalue $1$. So the question is essentially to examine the $1$-eigenspace of $L$.

Now, let $\mathbb{R}[x, y]_d$ denote the subspace of all homogeneous degree-$d$ polynomials, for example $\mathbb{R}[x, y]_3 = \operatorname{span}\{x^3, x^2y, xy^2, y^3\}$. As noticed in the comments, we have $L(\mathbb{R}[x, y]_d) \subseteq \mathbb{R}[x, y]_d$, meaning that we can examine what $L$ does on each degree-$d$ subspace individually. Denote this restricted operator by $L_d: \mathbb{R}[x, y]_d \to \mathbb{R}[x, y]_d$.

What are the eigenvalues of $L_d$? If $\lambda, \mu$ denote the two eigenvalues of $R$, then the eigenvalues of $L_d$ must be precisely $\lambda^d, \lambda^{d-1} \mu, \ldots, \lambda \mu^{d-1}, \mu^d$. (Short justification: if we go up to the complex numbers, $R$ diagonalises, with some eigenvectors $u$, $v$ corresponding to $ \lambda$ and $\mu$. After changing coordinates from $(x, y)$ to $(u, v)$, we have $L$ acting by $L(u^a v^b) = \lambda^a \mu^b u^a v^b$, and so on). Of course, we know exactly what the eigenvalues of $R$ are: they are $\omega$ and $\omega^{-1}$, where $\omega = \exp(2 \pi i / n)$ is a primitive $n$th root of unity. Hence the eigenvalues of $L_d$ are $\omega^{-d}, \omega^{-d+2}, \ldots, \omega^{d-2}, \omega^d$. Then dimension of the $1$-eigenspace of $L_d$ is the number of these eigenvalues which are equal to $1$, and $\omega^i = 1$ precisely when $n$ divides $i$.

So finally, to answer the original question, what is the dimension of the subspace of polynomials of degree at most $d$ which are invariant under $L$? We tabulate the eigenvalues of the operators $L_0, L_1, \ldots, L_d$, where the first row is the eigenvalue of $L_0$, the second are the eigenvalues of $L_1$, and so on: $$ \begin{matrix} &&&&&\omega^0&&&&& \\ &&&&\omega^{-1}&&\omega^1&&&& \\ &&&\omega^{-2}&&\omega^0&&\omega^2&&& \\ &&\omega^{-3}&&\omega^{-1}&&\omega^1&&\omega^{3}&& \\ &\omega^{-4}&&\omega^{-2}&&\omega^0&&\omega^2&&\omega^4& \\ \omega^{-5}&&\omega^{-3}&&\omega^{-1}&&\omega^1&&\omega^{3}&&\omega^5 \\ \end{matrix}$$ So for $n = 3$ and $d \leq 5$, the answer will be the number of $\omega^i$ in the above table where $3$ divides $i$. There are 7 of them: $\omega^0$ for $L_0, L_2, L_4$, then the $\omega^3$ and $\omega^{-3}$ for both $L_3$ and $L_5$.


It's also interesting to point out some of the actual invariant functions in the table. The $L_0$ entry always refers to a constant function. After that the middle column could be identified with the functions $x^2 + y^2, x^4 + 2x^2 y^2 + y^4$ and so on, which are all rotationally symmetric since they are powers of the length function $\sqrt{x^2 + y^2}$. The $\omega^3, \omega^{-3}$ functions in the $L_3$ row could mean the third-of-a-turn symmetric functions $x^3 + 3xy^2$ and $-3y^2 x + y^3$.


Addressing some questions from the comments:

It is enough to check only the algebraic multiplicities of the eigenvalues of $L_d$. This is because $L_d$ is a linear transformation of a finite-dimensional vector space of finite order ($L_d^n = 1$), and so it must be a semisimple operator. (The minimal polynomial of $L_d$ must divide $x^n - 1$, but $x^n - 1$ splits into distinct linear and quadratic factors over the real numbers, hence the minimal polynomial is $x^n - 1$.) Semisimple operators always have geometric and algebraic multiplicities matching up. Equivalently, if you prefer complex matrices, when we change up to the complex numbers then $L_d$ is diagonalisable.

Secondly, how do you find the invariant functions? Lets follow through the change of coordinates I alluded to but never worked out. Let's back up a bit: we have a rotation matrix $$ R = \begin{pmatrix} \cos(2 \pi / n) & -\sin(2 \pi / n) \\ \sin(2 \pi / n) & \cos(2 \pi / n) \end{pmatrix}$$ acting on functions $x = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & 0\end{pmatrix}$ and $y = \begin{pmatrix} 0 & 1\end{pmatrix}$. We can see that $$ \begin{pmatrix} 1 & i \end{pmatrix} R = \begin{pmatrix} \omega & i\omega \end{pmatrix}, \quad \begin{pmatrix} 1 & -i \end{pmatrix} R = \begin{pmatrix} \omega^{-1} & i\omega^{-1} \end{pmatrix}$$ and hence $u = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & i \end{pmatrix} = x + iy$ and $v = \begin{pmatrix} 1 & -i \end{pmatrix} = x-iy$ are complex eigenvectors of $R$ with eigenvalues $\omega$ and $\omega^{-1}$.

Finding which of the monomials $u^a v^b$ are invariant is easy, since $L(u^a v^b) = \omega^{a - b} u^a v^b$, and so we only need $a - b$ to be divisible by $n$. Continuing the $n = 3$ example, this will be the two monomials $u^3, v^3$. We can't immediately just expand $u^3$ and $v^3$ in terms of $(x+iy)^3$ and $(x - iy)^3$, since this would have imaginary numbers hanging around. Instead, since $u$ and $v$ are kind of like complex conjugates, we can "take a real part" $$ \frac{u^3 + v^3}{2} = \frac{(x + iy)^3 + (x - iy)^3}{2} = x^3 - x y^2$$ and "take an imaginary part" $$ \frac{u^3 - v^3}{2i} = \frac{(x + iy)^3 - (x - iy)^3}{2i} = 3x^2 y - y^3$$ to recover the two linearly independent real symmetric polynomials.