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_weightSpace_smul_add_eq_bot: given weightsχ₁,χ₂ifχ₁ ≠ 0, we can findp < 0andq > 0such that the weight spacesp • χ₁ + χ₂andq • χ₁ + χ₂are both trivial.LieModule.weightSpaceChain: given weightsχ₁,χ₂together with integerspandq, this is the sum of the weight spacesk • χ₁ + χ₂forp < k < q.LieModule.trace_toEndomorphism_weightSpaceChain_eq_zero: given a rootαrelative to a Cartan subalgebraH, there is a natural ideal(rootSpaceProductNegSelf α).rangeinH. 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_rootSpaceProductNegSelf_smul_add_eq_zero: given a (potential) rootαrelative to a Cartan subalgebraH, if we restrict to the ideal(rootSpaceProductNegSelf α).rangeofH, we may find an integral linear combination betweenαand any weightχof a representation.
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.weightSpaceChain M χ₁ χ₂ p q = ⨆ k ∈ Set.Ioo p q, LieModule.weightSpace M (k • χ₁ + χ₂)
Instances For
Given a (potential) root α relative to a Cartan subalgebra H, if we restrict to the ideal
I = (rootSpaceProductNegSelf α).range 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).