Abelian subalgebras in Z_2-graded Lie algebras and affine Weyl groups

Let g=g_0+ g_1 be a simple Z_2-graded Lie algebra and let b_0 be a fixed Borel subalgebra of g_0. We describe and enumerate the abelian b_0-stable subalgebras of g_1.Comment: 21 pages, amstex file. Minor corrections. Introduction slightly expanded. To appear in IMR

Nilpotent orbits of height 2 and involutions in the affine Weyl group

Let G be an almost simple group over an algebraically closed field k of characteristic zero, let g be its Lie algebra and let B be a Borel subgroup of G. Then B acts with finitely many orbits on the variety N_2 of the nilpotent elements in g whose height is at most 2. We provide a parametrization of the B-orbits in N_2 in terms of subsets of pairwise orthogonal roots, and we provide a complete description of the inclusion order among the B-orbit closures in terms of the Bruhat order on certain involutions in the affine Weyl group of g.Comment: v2: 28 pages, 1 table. Minor revision. To appear in Indag. Mat

The W^\hat W-orbit of ρ\rho, Kostant's formula for powers of the Euler product and affine Weyl groups as permutations of Z

Let an affine Weyl group $\hat W$ act as a group of affine transformations on a real vector space V. We analyze the $\hat W$-orbit of a regular element in V and deduce applications to Kostant's formula for powers of the Euler product and to the representations of $\hat W$ as permutations of the integers.Comment: Latex, 27 pages, minor corrections, to appear in Journal of Pure and Applied Algebr

Spherical nilpotent orbits and abelian subalgebras in isotropy representations

Let $G$ be a simply connected semisimple algebraic group with Lie algebra $\mathfrak g$, let $G_0 \subset G$ be the symmetric subgroup defined by an algebraic involution $\sigma$ and let $\mathfrak g_1 \subset \mathfrak g$ be the isotropy representation of $G_0$. Given an abelian subalgebra $\mathfrak a$ of $\mathfrak g$ contained in $\mathfrak g_1$ and stable under the action of some Borel subgroup $B_0 \subset G_0$, we classify the $B_0$-orbits in $\mathfrak a$ and we characterize the sphericity of $G_0 \mathfrak a$. Our main tool is the combinatorics of $\sigma$-minuscule elements in the affine Weyl group of $\mathfrak g$ and that of strongly orthogonal roots in Hermitian symmetric spaces.Comment: Latex file, 29 pages, minor revision, to appear in Journal of the London Mathematical Societ

Multiplets of representations, twisted Dirac operators and Vogan's conjecture in affine setting

We extend classical results of Kostant and al. on multiplets of representations of finite-dimensional Lie algebras and on the cubic Dirac operator to the setting of affine Lie algebras and twisted affine cubic Dirac operator. We prove in this setting an analogue of Vogan's conjecture on infinitesimal characters of Harish-Chandra modules in terms of Dirac cohomology. For our calculations we use the machinery of Lie conformal and vertex algebras.Comment: Latex file, 89 pages. Several misprints corrected. To appear in Advances in Mathematic

Decomposition rules for conformal pairs associated to symmetric spaces and abelian subalgebras of Z_2-graded Lie algebras

We give uniform formulas for the branching rules of level 1 modules over orthogonal affine Lie algebras for all conformal pairs associated to symmetric spaces. We also provide a combinatorial intepretation of these formulas in terms of certain abelian subalgebras of simple Lie algebras.Comment: Latex, 56 pages, revised version: minor corrections, Subsection 6.2 added. To appear in Advances in Mathematic

Conformal embeddings and simple current extensions

In this paper we investigate the structure of intermediate vertex algebras associated with a maximal conformal embedding of a reductive Lie algebra in a semisimple Lie algebra of classical type.Comment: Latex file, 45 pages. Revised versio

On the Kernel of the affine Dirac operator

Let L be a finite-dimensional semisimple Lie algebra with a non-degenerate invariant bilinear form, \sigma an elliptic automorphism of L leaving the form invariant, and A a \sigma-invariant reductive subalgebra of L, such that the restriction of the form to A is non-degenerate. Consider the associated twisted affine Lie algebras L^, A^, and let F be the \sigma-twisted Clifford module over A^ associated to the orthocomplement of A in L. Under suitable hypotheses on\sigma and A, we provide a general formula for the decomposition of the kernel of the affine Dirac operator, acting on the tensor product of an integrable highest weight L^-module and F, into irreducible A^-submodules. As an application, we derive the decomposition of all level 1 integrable irreducible highest weight modules over orthogonal affine Lie algebras with respect to the affinization of the isotropy subalgebra of an arbitrary symmetric space.Comment: Comments: Latex file, 37 pages. This is a revised version of the paper published in Moscow Mathematical Journal, Vol. 8, n. 4, 2008, 759--788. The new feature in the present version is a direct argument for a key step in the proof of Theorem 1.1, which makes the paper self-containe