Nilpotent orbits over ground fields of good characteristic

Let X be an F-rational nilpotent element in the Lie algebra of a connected and reductive group G defined over the ground field F. Suppose that the Lie algebra has a non-degenerate invariant bilinear form. We show that the unipotent radical of the centralizer of X is F-split. This property has several consequences. When F is complete with respect to a discrete valuation with either finite or algebraically closed residue field, we deduce a uniform proof that G(F) has finitely many nilpotent orbits in (F). When the residue field is finite, we obtain a proof that nilpotent orbital integrals converge. Under some further (fairly mild) assumptions on G, we prove convergence for arbitrary orbital integrals on the Lie algebra and on the group. The convergence of orbital integrals in the case where F has characteristic 0 was obtained by Deligne and Ranga Rao (1972).     

Group algebras of Lie nilpotency index 12 and 13

Let G be a group and let K be a field of characteristic p>0. Lie nilpotent group algebras of strong Lie nilpotency index up to 11 have already been classified. In this paper, our aim is to classify the group algebras KG which are strongly Lie nilpotent of index 12 or 13.     

Ideals of identities of representations of nilpotent lie algebras

Let L be a Lie algebra, nilpotent of class 2, over an infinite field K, and suppose that the centre C of L is one dimensional; such Lie algebras are called Heisenberg algebras. Let ρ:L→hom _KV be a finite dimensional representation of the Heisenberg algebra L such that ρ(C) contains non-singular linear transformations of V, and denote l(ρ) the ideal of identities for the representation ρ. We prove that the ideals of identities of representations containing I(ρ) and generated by multilinear polynomials satisfy the ACC. Let sl ₂(L) be the Lie algebra of the traceless 2×2 matrices over K, and suppose the characteristic of K equals 2. As a corollary we obtain that the ideals of identities of representations of Lie algebras containing that of the regular representation of sl ₂(K) and generated by multilinear polynomials, are finitely based. In addition we show that one cannot simply dispense with the condition of multilinearity. Namely, we show that the ACC is violated for the ideals of representations of Lie algebras (over an infinite field of characteristic 2) that contain the identities of the regular representation of sl ₂(K).     

Asymptotic cone of semisimple orbits for symmetric pairs

Let G be a reductive algebraic group over C and denote its Lie algebra by g. Let Oh be a closed G-orbit through a semisimple element h∈g. By a result of Borho and Kraft (1979) [4], it is known that the asymptotic cone of the orbit Oh is the closure of a Richardson nilpotent orbit corresponding to a parabolic subgroup whose Levi component is the centralizer ZG(h) in G. In this paper, we prove an analogue on a semisimple orbit for a symmetric pair.More precisely, let θ be an involution of G, and K=Gθ a fixed point subgroup of θ. Then we have a Cartan decomposition g=k+s of the Lie algebra g=Lie(G) which is the eigenspace decomposition of θ on g. Let {x,h,y} be a normal sl₂ triple, where x,y∈s are nilpotent, and h∈k semisimple. In addition, we assume , where denotes the complex conjugation which commutes with θ. Then is a semisimple element in s, and we can consider a semisimple orbit Ad(K)a in s, which is closed. Our main result asserts that the asymptotic cone of Ad(K)a in s coincides with , if x is even nilpotent.     

Lie *-Nilpotence of Group Rings

Let KG be the group ring of a group G over a field K. Let * be an involution of a group G extended linearly to the group ring KG. Suppose that G is a torsion group without 2-elements and K is a field with characteristic different from 2. We prove that KG is Lie *-nilpotent if and only if KG is Lie nilpotent.     

Gelfand pairs attached to representations of compact Lie groups

For each compact Lie algebra g and each real representationV of g we construct a two-step nilpotent Lie groupN(g, V), endowed with a natural left-invariant riemannian metric. The main goal of this paper is to show that this construction produces many new Gelfand pairs associated with nilpotent Lie groups. Indeed, we will give a full classification of the manifoldsN(g, V) which are commutative spaces, using a characterization in terms of multiplicity-free actions.Supported by a fellowship from CONICET and research grants from CONICOR and SeCyT UNC (Argentina).     

A characterization of non-tube type Hermitian symmetric spaces by visible actions

Let G/K be an irreducible Hermitian symmetric space of non-compact type, and G_\mathbbC/K_\mathbbC{G_{\mathbb{C}}/K_{\mathbb{C}}} its complexification by forgetting the original complex structure. Then, D :=G_\mathbbC/[K_\mathbbC, K_\mathbbC]{D :=G_{\mathbb{C}}/[K_{\mathbb{C}}, K_{\mathbb{C}}]} is a non-symmetric Stein manifold. We prove that a maximal compact subgroup of G_\mathbbC{G_{\mathbb{C}}} acts on D in a strongly visible fashion in the sense of Kobayashi (Publ Res Inst Math Sci 41:497–549, 2005) if and only if G/K is of non-tube type. Our proof uses the theory of multiplicity-free representations and a construction of a slice and an anti-holomorphic involution on D.     

Isotropic foliations of coadjoint orbits from the Iwasawa decomposition

Let G be a noncompact real semisimple Lie group. The set of regular coadjoint orbits of G can be partitioned according to a finite set of types. We show that on each regular orbit, the Iwasawa decomposition induces a left-invariant foliation which is isotropic with respect to the Kirillov symplectic form. Moreover, the leaves are affine subspaces of the dual of the Lie algebra, and the dimension of the leaves depends only on the type of the orbit. When G is a split real form, the foliations induced from the Iwasawa decomposition are actually Lagrangian fibrations with a global transverse Lagrangian section.     

Two results on centralisers of nilpotent elements

Let g be a semisimple Lie algebra. We provide a short proof of McNinch’s result on centralisers of the sum of commuting nilpotent elements (J. Pure Appl. Algebra 206 (2006), 123-140) and characterise nilpotent elements e∈g having the property that the orbit G⋅e is the largest nilpotent orbit meeting the centraliser of e.     

On reachable elements and the boundary of nilpotent orbits in simple Lie algebras

Let g be a simple Lie algebra. An element x∈g is said to be reachable, if it is contained in the commutant of its centraliser. Any reachable element is necessarily nilpotent. We study various properties of reachable elements, and a relationship between the property of being reachable and the codimension of the boundary of the corresponding orbit. Some general estimates for the boundary of an arbitrary nilpotent orbit is given.     

Resolution of null fiber and conormal bundles on the Lagrangian Grassmannian

We study the null fiber of a moment map related to dual pairs. We construct an equivariant resolution of singularities of the null fiber, and get conormal bundles of closed K_\mathbbC{K_{\mathbb{C}}} -orbits in the Lagrangian Grassmannian as categorical quotients. The conormal bundles thus obtained turn out to be a resolution of singularities of the closure of nilpotent K_\mathbbC{K_{\mathbb{C}}} -orbits, which is a “quotient” of the resolution of the null fiber.     

Coherent Continuation on the Category of (𝔤, K)-Modules

Abstract

Let 𝔤 be a complex semisimple Lie algebra. Let K be an algebraic group acting on the flag variety of 𝔤 with finitely many orbits. We give a geometric interpretation of the coherent continuation on the category of finitely generated (𝔤, K )-modules in terms of the intertwining functors on the category of K-equivariant 𝒟-modules.     

Closed geodesics in compact nilmanifolds

We study the density of closed geodesics property on 2-step nilmanifolds Γ\N, where N is a simply connected 2-step nilpotent Lie group with a left invariant Riemannian metric and Lie algebra ?, and Γ is a lattice in N. We show the density of closedgeodesics property holds for quotients of singular, simply connected, 2-step nilpotent Lie groups N which are constructed using irreducible representations of the compact Lie group SU(2). Received: 8 November 2000 / Revised version: 9 April 2001     

Relatively Free Nilpotent Torsion-Free Groups and Their Lie Algebras

Let K be a field of characteristic zero. For a torsion-free finitely generated nilpotent group G, we naturally associate four finite dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras over K, ? _K (G), grad^(?)(? _K (G)), grad^(g)(exp ? _K (G)), and L _K (G). Let 𝔗 _c be a torsion-free variety of nilpotent groups of class at most c. For a positive integer n, with n ≥ 2, let F _n (𝔗 _c ) be the relatively free group of rank n in 𝔗 _c . We prove that ? _K (F _n (𝔗 _c )) is relatively free in some variety of nilpotent Lie algebras, and ? _K (F _n (𝔗 _c )) ? L _K (F _n (𝔗 _c )) ? grad^(?)(? _K (F _n (𝔗 _c ))) ? grad^(g)(exp ? _K (F _n (𝔗 _c ))) as Lie algebras in a natural way. Furthermore, F _n (𝔗 _c ) is a Magnus nilpotent group. Let G ₁ and G ₂ be torsion-free finitely generated nilpotent groups which are quasi-isometric. We prove that if G ₁ and G ₂ are relatively free of finite rank, then they are isomorphic. Let L be a relatively free nilpotent Lie algebra over ? of finite rank freely generated by a set X. Give on L the structure of a group R, say, by means of the Baker–Campbell–Hausdorff formula, and let H be the subgroup of R generated by the set X. We show that H is relatively free in some variety of nilpotent groups; freely generated by the set X, H is Magnus and L ? ?_?(H) ? L _?(H) as Lie algebras. For relatively free residually torsion-free nilpotent groups, we prove that ? _K and L _K are isomorphic as Lie algebras. We also give an example of a finitely generated Magnus nilpotent group G, not relatively free, such that ?_?(G) is not isomorphic to L _?(G) as Lie algebras.     

Exponential actions and maximal ?-invariant ideals

Let V be an exponential ?-module, ? being an exponential Lie algebra. Put ? = exp ?. Then every orbit of V under the action of ? admits a closed orbit in its closure. If G= exp ? is a nilpotent Lie group and ? an exponential algebra of derivations of ?, then ? = exp ? acts on G, L ¹(G), (?) and the maximal ?-invariant ideals of L ¹(G), resp. of (?) coincide with the kernels Ker Ω, resp. Ker Ω∩ (?), where Ω is a closed orbit of ?^*. Received: 6 December 1996 / Revised version: 7 December 1997     

Spanning L 2 of a nilpotent Lie group by eigenvectors of invariant differential operators

Let be a non-abelian, connected, simply connected, nilpotent Lie group. We show that the eigenvectors of a finite number of families of left invariant differential operators and their conjugates span a dense subspace of L ² (G). The restriction of the left regular representation to each one of these (left invariant) eigenspaces disintegrates into irreducible unitary representations with multiplicities 0 and 1 only. J. Ludwig and C. Molitor-Braun are supported by the research grant R1F104C09 of the University of Luxembourg.     

Howe Duality for Lie Superalgebras

We study a dual pair of general linear Lie superalgebras in the sense of R. Howe. We give an explicit multiplicity-free decomposition of a symmetric and skew-symmetric algebra (in the super sense) under the action of the dual pair and present explicit formulas for the highest-weight vectors in each isotypic subspace of the symmetric algebra. We give an explicit multiplicity-free decomposition into irreducible gl(m|n)-modules of the symmetric and skew-symmetric algebras of the symmetric square of the natural representation of gl(m|n). In the former case, we also find explicit formulas for the highest-weight vectors. Our work unifies and generalizes the classical results in symmetric and skew-symmetric models and admits several applications.     

Classes of 2-step nilpotent lie algebras

We give a characterization of the Lie algebras of H-type independent of the inner product used in the definition. We classify the real 2-step nilpotent Lie algebras with 2-dimensional center. Using these results we give examples of regular Lie algebras that are not H-type.     

On the conormal bundle of a G-stable subvariety

Let G be a reductive algebraic group and X a smooth G-variety. For a smooth locally closed G-stable subvariety M⊂X, we prove that the G-complexity of the (co)normal bundle of M is equal to the G-complexity of X. In particular, if X is spherical, then all (co)normal bundles are again spherical G-varieties. If X is a G-module with finitely many orbits, the closures of the conormal bundles of the orbits coincide with the irreducible components of the commuting variety. We describe properties of these closures for the representations associated with short gradings of simple Lie algebras. Received: 22 April 1998     

The Space of Bounded Spherical Functions on the Free 2-Step Nilpotent Lie Group

Let N be a connected and simply connected 2-step nilpotent Lie group and let K be a compact subgroup of Aut(N). We say that (K, N) is a Gelfand pair when the set of integrable K-invariant functions on N forms an abelian algebra under convolution. In this paper we construct a one-to-one correspondence between the set Δ(K, N) of bounded spherical functions for such a Gelfand pair and a set of K-orbits in the dual of the Lie algebra for N. The construction involves an application of the Orbit Method to spherical representations of K ⋉ N. We conjecture that the correspondence is a homeomorphism. Our main result shows that this is the case for the Gelfand pair given by the action of the orthogonal group on the free 2-step nilpotent Lie group. In addition, we show how to embed the space Δ(K, N) for this example in a Euclidean space by taking eigenvalues for an explicit set of invariant differential operators. These results provide geometric models for the space of bounded spherical functions on the free 2-step group.