Primitive ideals in enveloping algebras (Q1241794): Difference between revisions

The author proves the following characterization of primitive ideals in the enveloping algebra \(U(\mathfrak g)\) of \(\mathfrak g\). (The term ``ideal'' here always means two-sided ideals in \(U(\mathfrak g)\).) Theorem C: The following three properties of an ideal \(I\) are equivalent: (1) \(I\) is primitive. (2) The center of the simple quotient ring of \(U(\mathfrak g)/I\) reduces to \(\mathbb C\). (3) There exists a sequence of ideals \(I_r\), \((r\in\mathbb N)\) with \(I_r\supset I\), such that each ideal \(J\supsetneq I\) contains some \(I_r\). For \(\mathfrak g\) solvable or semisimple, the theorem was well-known, even in the stronger version with (3) replaced by condition (3') below: (3') \(I\) is not an intersection of prime ideals strictly containing \(I\). In general, (3') \(\Rightarrow\) (3) is trivial, but (3) \(\Rightarrow\) (3') is still only a conjecture. The proof of the theorem is highly complicated, and also remarkable because of its organization: The implications (1) \(\Rightarrow\) (2) \(\Rightarrow\) (3) (of which the first one was known) are established first, and are already used for the most difficult step (3) \(\Rightarrow\) (1). This last step is artfully interlaced with the proof of two other new theorems A, B, by a double induction argument with respect to the dimension of \(\mathfrak g\). Theorem B may be stated as a result on the Jacobson topology of the set of all primitive ideals of \(U(\mathfrak g)\): Every irreducible subspace is a Baire space (i.e. each countable intersection of dense open subsets is dense). Theorem A is a result on induced representations of \(\mathfrak g\), which is a partial analogue of a certain theorem of Mackey on induced representations of groups. Finally Theorem C is applied to prove the following remarkable result on unitary continuous representations \(\pi\) of a real connected Lie group \(G\) in a Hilbert space. Let \(\mathfrak g\) denote the complexified Lie algebra of \(G\), and let \(\pi_\infty\) denote the corresponding representation of \(U(\mathfrak g)\) on the set of \(\infty\)-differentiable vectors for \(\pi\). Theorem: If \(\pi\) is topologically irreducible, then the kernel of \(\pi_\infty\) is a primitive ideal. This generalizes theorems of Harish Chandra (case \(G\) semisimple) and the author (case \(G\) solvable) to arbitrary \(G\).