p-adic analog of the Kazhdan-Lusztig Hypothesis

Arun Ram
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
University of Melbourne
Parkville, VIC 3010 Australia
aram@unimelb.edu.au

Last update: 15 April 2014

Notes and References

This is an excerpt of the paper p-adic analog of the Kazhdan-Lusztig Hypothesis by A. V. Zelevinskii. Terrestrial Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR. Translated from Funktsional'nyi Analiz i Ego Prilozheniya, Vol. 15, No. 2, pp. 9-21, April-June, 1981. Original article submitted November 27, 1980.

4. Duality

4.1. Involution ω→ωt. Let ρ∈𝒞 and Π be the line in 𝒞 that contains ρ (see Sees. 1.4 and 1.5). It follows from Theorem 7.1 of [Zel1980] (see also Sec. 2.1) that ℛ Π is the ring of polynomials over ℤ in the variables ⟨ Δ⟩(ρ), Δ∈𝒥. Suppose that ω→ωt is an endomorphism of the ring ℛ Π that transforms ⟨[i,j]⟩(ρ) into the representation ⟨{i},{i+1},…,{j}⟩(ρ), corresponding to the collection of one-point segments (obviously, this endomorphism does not depend on the choice of ρ). It is proved in [Zel1980, Sec, 9] that it is an involutive automorphism of ℛ Π, and the hypothesis that it transforms irreducible representations into irreducible representations is put forth. This hypothesis has recently been proved by I. N. Bernshtein. Thus, for each ρ∈𝒞 the equality (⟨a⟩(ρ))t=⟨ai⟩(ρ) defines an involution a→at on the set of graded partitions; obviously, it transforms each of the sets M(𝒥)φ into itself.

Hypothesis. This involution does not depend on ρ.

This hypothesis follows from Hypothesis 1.7 and the results of [Zel1980, Sec. 9] (and, namely, from the fact that the expansion of (πa(ρ))t with respect to the basis {πb(ρ)} does not depend on ρ; see [Zel1980], 9.14).

4.2. Example. We fix a φ∈M(ℤ). Let amin and amax be the minimum and the maximum elements of M(𝒥)φ [amin is defined in Sec. 2.8, b) or in [Zel1980], Sec. 9.10; amax consists of one-point segments, i.e., amax( Δ)=0 for Δ∈𝒥, | Δ|≥2]. Then amint=amax, amaxt=amin (see [Zel1980, 4.2 and 9.7]).

Corollary. mamin,a(ρ)=1 for a∈M(𝒥)φ.

Proof. It is sufficient to verify that mamin,amax(ρ)=1. Let us apply the automorphism ω→ωt to the equation πamax(ρ)=∑ama,amax(ρ)·⟨a⟩(ρ). Since (πamax(ρ))t=πamax(ρ), we see that ma,amax(ρ)=mat,amax(ρ) for all a∈M(𝒮)φ. In particular, mamin,amax(ρ)=mamax,amax(ρ)=1, which was required to be proved.

4.3. Involution on the Cells Xa. We will use the following theorem of V. S. Pyasetskii.

Theorem (See [Pya1975]). Let E be a finite-dimensional vector space over ℂ, G be a connected complex Lie group, σ:G→GL(E) be an analytic representation, and σ*:G→GL(E*) be the adjoint representation. Suppose that the action σ of the group G on E has a finite number of orbits. Then the action σ* of the group G* on E* also has a finite number of orbits and there exists a natural bijection between the G-orbits on E and on E*. More precisely, suppose that 𝔤 is the Lie algebra of G, the algebraic set M(σ)⊂E×E* is defined by the equality M(σ)= { (T,T′)∈E×E*  | ⟨dσ(X)·T,T′⟩ =0 for all X∈𝔤 } and π1:M(σ)→E and π2:M(σ)→E* are projections. Then for each G-orbit X on E there exists exactly one G-orbit X* on E* such that π1-1(X)‾=π2-1(X*)‾ (the bar denotes the Zariski closure); the correspondence X→X* is a bijection between the G-orbits on E and on E*.

Let us apply this theorem in the following situation: E=E(V)=Eφ, G=Aut V, and σ(g)T=g∘T∘g-1. Let E′(V) be the space of the operators T′:V→V of degree (-1). We define a pairing between E(V) and E′(V) by the equality ⟨T,T′⟩=tr(T∘T′). It is easily seen that it is nondegenerate, i.e., it identifies E* with E′(V) and, in addition, the action σ* of the group G on E′(V) is given by the equality σ*(g)T′=g∘T′∘g-1. As in Sec. 1.8, it is proved that the G-orbits in E′(V) can be enumerated by the elements of M(𝒮)φ: With an element a is associated the orbit Xa′ that consists of the operators having exactly a( Δ) Jordan cells of the form ve( Δ)→ve( Δ)-1⋯→vb( Δ)→0 (vi∈Vi) for each Δ∈𝒮. We can verify this in another way by passage to the adjoint operators: We have V*=⨁n∈ℤVn*, and the mapping T′→(T′)* obviously defines an isomorphism E′(V)→E(V*)=Eφ that transforms each Xa′ into Xa.

Thus, Pyasetskii's construction leads to the bijection a→a* of the set M(𝒮)φ onto itself, defined by the equality (Xa)*=Xa*′. It is easily seen that it is an involution, i.e., (a*)*=a for all a∈M(𝒮); This follows from the fact that the definition of M(σ) is symmetric with respect to E and E*: M(σ*)={(T′,T) | (T,T′)∈M(σ)}.

4.4. Proposition. In the notation of Sec. 4.3 M(σ)= { (T,T′)∈E(V) ×E′(V) | T  and T′ commute with one another } .

Proof. Obviously, 𝔤=End V=⨁n∈ℤEnd Vn and dσ(X)T=X∘T-T∘X for X∈𝔤 and T∈E(V). Hence ⟨dσ(X)T,T′⟩=tr((X∘T-T∘X)∘T′)=tr(X∘(T∘T′-T′∘T)). Since the form ⟨X,Y⟩=tr(X∘Y) is nondegenerate on 𝔤, the proposition is proved.

The following practically convenient method of computing the involution a→a* follows from this proposition. For T∈E(V) we set Z(T)={T′∈E′(V) | T′ commutes with T}. If T∈Xa, then a* is characterized by the condition that Xa*∩Z(T) is Zariski-open in Z(T).

4.5. Hypothesis. at=a* for all a∈M(𝒮).

We leave the verification of this hypothesis in all the cases, where at is known to us, to the reader (see [Zel1980, Sec. 11]).

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