Bounded generalized Harish-Chandra modules

TL;DR

This paper studies bounded modules over complex reductive Lie algebras, providing classification results for maximal bounded subalgebras and detailed analysis of simple bounded modules for (2), including character formulas and minimal types.

Contribution

It establishes necessary and sufficient conditions for subalgebras to be bounded and classifies all maximal bounded reductive subalgebras of (n), also analyzing (2)-modules in detail.

Findings

Classified all maximal bounded reductive subalgebras of (n).

Computed characters and minimal (2)-types of simple bounded modules.

Identified five possible embeddings of (2) as a bounded subalgebra in (n).

Abstract

Let $\gg$ be a complex reductive Lie algebra and $\kk\subset\gg$ be any reductive in $\gg$ subalgebra. We call a $(\gg,\kk)$-module $M$ bounded if the $\kk$-multiplicities of $M$ are uniformly bounded. In this paper we initiate a general study of simple bounded $(\gg,\kk)$-modules. We prove a strong necessary condition for a subalgebra $\kk$ to be bounded (Corollary \ref{cor1.6}), i.e. to admit an infinite-dimensional simple bounded $(\gg,\kk)$-module, and then establish a sufficient condition for a subalgebra $\kk$ to be bounded (Theorem \ref{thGroups2}). As a result we are able to classify all maximal bounded reductive subalgebras of $\gg=\sl(n)$. In the second half of the paper we describe in detail simple bounded infinite-dimensional $(\gg,\sl(2))$-modules, and in particular compute their characters and minimal $\sl(2)$-types. We show that if $\sl(2)$ is a bounded subalgebra of $\gg$ which is not contained in a proper ideal of $\gg$, then $\gg\simeq \sl(2)\oplus \sl(2), \sl(3),\sp(4)$; alltogether, up to conjugation there are five possible embeddings of $\sl(2)$ as a bounded subalgebra into $\gg$ as above. In two of these cases $\sl(2)$ is a symmetric subalgebra, and many results about simple bounded $(\gg,\sl(2))$-modules are known. A case where our results are entirely new is the case of a principal $\sl(2)$-subalgebra in $\sp(4)$.