by Heckenberger, Istvan; Joseph, Anthony

Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a complex semisimple Lie algebra, $\mathfrak{b}$ a Borel subalgebra, and $\mathfrak{h}\subset\mathfrak{b}$ a Cartan subalgebra. Let V be a finite dimensional simple $U(\mathfrak{g})$ module. Based on a principal s-triple (e,h,f) and following work of Kostant, Brylinski (J Amer Math Soc 2(3):517–533, 1989) defined a filtration $\mathcal{F}_e$ for all weight subspaces V

_μ
of V and calculated the dimensions of the graded subspaces for μ dominant. In Joseph et al. (J Amer Math Soc 13(4):945–970, 2000) these dimensions were calculated for all μ. Let δM(0) be the finite dual of the Verma module of highest weight 0. It identifies with the global functions on a Weyl group translate of the open Bruhat cell and so inherits a natural degree filtration. On the other hand, up to an appropriate shift of weights, there is a unique $U(\mathfrak{b})$ module embedding of V into δM(0) and so the degree filtration induces a further filtration $\mathcal{F}$ on each weight subspace V

_μ
. A casual reading of Joseph et al. (J Amer Math Soc 13(4):945–970, 2000) might lead one to believe that $\mathcal{F}$ and $\mathcal{F}_e$ coincide. However this is quite false. Rather one should view $\mathcal{F}_e$ as coming from a left action of $U(\mathfrak{n})$ and then there is a second (Brylinski-Kostant) filtration $\mathcal{F}’_e$ coming from a right action. It is $\mathcal{F}’_e$ which may coincide with $\mathcal{F}$. In this paper the above claim is made precise. First it is noted that $\mathcal{F}$ is itself not canonical, but depends on a choice of variables. Then it is shown that a particular choice can be made to ensure that $\mathcal{F}=\mathcal{F}’_e$. An explicit form for the unique left $U(\mathfrak{b})$ module embedding $V\hookrightarrow\delta M(0)$ is given using the right action of $U(\mathfrak{n})$. This is used to give a purely algebraic proof of Brylinski’s main result in Brylinski (J Amer Math Soc 2(3):517–533, 1989) which is much simpler than Joseph et al. (J Amer Math Soc 13(4):945–970, 2000). It is noted that the dimensions of the graded subspaces of $\rm{gr}_{\mathcal{F}_e} V_{\!\mu}$ and $\rm{gr}_{\mathcal{F}’_e} V_{\!\mu}$ can be very different. Their interrelation may involve the Kashiwara involution. Indeed a combinatorial formula for multiplicities in tensor products involving crystal bases and the Kashiwara involution is recovered. Though the dimensions for the graded subspaces of $\rm{gr}_{\mathcal{F}’_e} V_{\!\mu}$ are determined by polynomial degree, their values remain unknown.

DOI: 10.1007/s10468-009-9159-0
Online Date: 3/27/2009
Print publication date: 10/1/2009
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