Chains of roots and weights #
Given roots α and β of a Lie algebra, together with elements x in the α-root space and
y in the β-root space, it follows from the Leibniz identity that ⁅x, y⁆ is either zero or
belongs to the α + β-root space. Iterating this operation leads to the study of families of
roots of the form k • α + β. Such a family is known as the α-chain through β (or sometimes,
the α-string through β) and the study of the sum of the corresponding root spaces is an
important technique.
More generally if α is a root and χ is a weight of a representation, it is useful to study the
α-chain through χ.
We provide basic definitions and results to support α-chain techniques in this file.
Main definitions / results #
LieModule.exists₂_genWeightSpace_smul_add_eq_bot: given weightsχ₁,χ₂ifχ₁ ≠ 0, we can findp < 0andq > 0such that the weight spacesp • χ₁ + χ₂andq • χ₁ + χ₂are both trivial.LieModule.genWeightSpaceChain: given weightsχ₁,χ₂together with integerspandq, this is the sum of the weight spacesk • χ₁ + χ₂forp < k < q.LieModule.trace_toEnd_genWeightSpaceChain_eq_zero: given a rootαrelative to a Cartan subalgebraH, there is a natural idealcorootSpace αinH. This lemma states that this ideal acts by trace-zero endomorphisms on the sum of root spaces of anyα-chain, provided the weight spaces at the endpoints are both trivial.LieModule.exists_forall_mem_corootSpace_smul_add_eq_zero: given a (potential) rootαrelative to a Cartan subalgebraH, if we restrict to the idealcorootSpace αofH, we may find an integral linear combination betweenαand any weightχof a representation.
TODO #
It should be possible to unify some of the definitions here such as LieModule.chainBotCoeff,
LieModule.chainTopCoeff with corresponding definitions such as RootPairing.chainBotCoeff,
RootPairing.chainTopCoeff. This is not quite trivial since:
- The definitions here allow for chains in representations of Lie algebras.
- The proof that the roots of a Lie algebra are a root system currently depends on these results. (This can be resolved by proving the root reflection formula using the approach outlined in Bourbaki Ch. VIII §2.2 Lemma 1 (page 80 of English translation, 88 of English PDF).)
Given two (potential) weights χ₁ and χ₂ together with integers p and q, it is often
useful to study the sum of weight spaces associated to the family of weights k • χ₁ + χ₂ for
p < k < q.
Equations
- LieModule.genWeightSpaceChain M χ₁ χ₂ p q = ⨆ k ∈ Set.Ioo p q, LieModule.genWeightSpace M (k • χ₁ + χ₂)
Instances For
Given a (potential) root α relative to a Cartan subalgebra H, if we restrict to the ideal
I = corootSpace α of H (informally, I = ⁅H(α), H(-α)⁆), we may find an
integral linear combination between α and any weight χ of a representation.
This is Proposition 4.4 from [carter2005] and is a key step in the proof that the roots of a
semisimple Lie algebra form a root system. It shows that the restriction of α to I vanishes iff
the restriction of every root to I vanishes (which cannot happen in a semisimple Lie algebra).
This is the largest n : ℕ such that i • α + β is a weight for all 0 ≤ i ≤ n.
Equations
- LieModule.chainTopCoeff α β = if hα : α = 0 then 0 else (Nat.find ⋯).pred
Instances For
This is the largest n : ℕ such that -i • α + β is a weight for all 0 ≤ i ≤ n.
Equations
- LieModule.chainBotCoeff α β = LieModule.chainTopCoeff (-α) β
Instances For
The last weight in an α-chain through β.
Equations
- LieModule.chainTop α β = { toFun := LieModule.chainTopCoeff α β • α + ⇑β, genWeightSpace_ne_bot' := ⋯ }
Instances For
The first weight in an α-chain through β.
Equations
- LieModule.chainBot α β = { toFun := -↑(LieModule.chainBotCoeff α β) • α + ⇑β, genWeightSpace_ne_bot' := ⋯ }