Classification of 1st order symplectic spinor operators over contact projective geometries (Q953922): Difference between revisions

The conformally invariant first order differential operators acting between irreducible tensor and spinor bundles were classified by \textit{H. D.~Fegan} [Q. J. Math., Oxf. II. Ser. 27, 371--378 (1976; Zbl 0334.58016)]. Of course, in order to enjoy spinor bundles, the underlying conformal manifold must be a spin manifold. The classical Dirac, twistor, and Rarita-Schwinger operators belong to this classification. Fegan's classification extends naturally and without too much difficulty [\textit{J.~Slovák} and \textit{V.~Souček}, Sémin. Congr. 4, 251--276 (2000; Zbl 0998.53021)] to the general `parabolic geometry' modelled in the sense of Cartan on a homogeneous space of the form \(G/P\) where \(G\) is a semisimple Lie group with parabolic subgroup~\(P\). Amongst these geometries are the `contact projective' geometries modelled on \({\text{Sp}}(2n,{\mathbb {R}})/P\) for an appropriate parabolic subgroup~\(P\). As the name suggests, these geometries combine classical projective differential geometry in a compatible manner with contact geometry on a manifold of dimension \(2n-1\). Although contact projective geometry is very much akin to conformal geometry, there is one aspect in which they evidently differ. It is the lack of a suitable counterpart to the conformal spin bundles. Just looking at the construction of spinors from an exterior algebra (more precisely, a Clifford algebra) one is led to a construction of certain infinite-dimensional vector bundles from a symmetric algebra and, just as in the conformal case, for these bundles to exist a certain double-covering must be sensibly defined, here dubbed `metaplectic'. In this article, the author completes this natural correspondence between conformal geometry and contact projective geometry by allowing certain infinite-dimensional vector bundles in the metaplectic contact projective case. With the suitable care provided in this article, the classification proceeds along familiar lines. In particular, he constructs satisfactory analogues of the Dirac, twistor, and Rarita-Schwinger operators for which infinite-dimensional bundles are essential, As in the conformal case, when invariant operators exist between two bundles, they are unique up to scale.