Simple smooth modules over the Lie algebras of polynomial vector fields

TL;DR

This paper classifies simple smooth modules over the Lie algebra of polynomial vector fields, showing they coincide with modules over the Witt algebra and providing explicit classification methods.

Contribution

It establishes an elementary classification of simple smooth modules over polynomial vector field Lie algebras, linking them to modules over the Witt algebra and tensor modules.

Findings

Simple smooth modules over alg g are exactly those over alg L.

Classification depends on the height alg V and dimension n, with explicit descriptions.

A module is smooth iff certain vectors act locally finitely.

Abstract

Let $\mathfrak{g}:={\rm Der}(\mathbb{C}[t_1, t_2,\cdots, t_n])$ and $\mathcal{L}:={\rm Der}(\mathbb{C}[[t_1, t_2,\cdots, t_n]])$ be the Witt Lie algebras. Clearly, $\mathfrak{g}$ is a proper subalegbra of $\mathcal{L}$. Surprisingly, we prove that simple smooth modules over $\mathfrak{g}$ are exactly the simple modules over $\mathcal{L}$ studied by Rodakov (no need to take completion). Then we find an easy and elementary way to classify all simple smooth modules over $\mathfrak{g}$. When the height $\ell_{V}\geq2$ or $n=1$, any nontrivial simple smooth $\mathfrak{g}$-module $V$ is isomorphic to an induced module from a simple smooth $\mathfrak{g}_{\geq0}$-module $V^{(\ell_{V})}$. When $\ell_{V}=1$ and $n\geq2$, any such module $V$ is the unique simple quotient of the tensor module $F(P_{0},M)$ for some simple $\gl_{n}$-module $M$, where $P_0$ is a particular simple module over the Weyl algebra $\mathcal{K}^+_n$. We further show that a simple $\mathfrak{g}$-module $V$ is a smooth module if and only if the action of each of $n$ particular vectors in $\mathfrak{g}$ is locally finite on $V$.