Annihilators of tensor density modules (Q2370228)

This paper concerns the representation theory of the ubiquitous Lie algebras of vector fields on the line \(\text{Vec}(\mathbb R)\) and on the circle \(\text{Vec}(S^1)\) (also known as one-sided and two-sided Witt algebras, respectively). First the authors get the results in the one-sided case, and then derive from it the two-sided one. From the (slightly edited) abstract: ``We describe the two-sided ideals in the universal enveloping algebras of \(\text{Vec}(\mathbb R)\) and \(\text{Vec}(S^1)\) which annihilate the tensor density modules. Both of these Lie algebras contain the projective subalgebra, a copy of \(sl_2\). The restrictions of the tensor density modules to this subalgebra are duals of Verma modules (of \(sl_2\)) for \(\text{Vec}(\mathbb R)\) and principal series modules (of \(sl_2\)) for \(\text{Vec}(S^1)\). Thus our results are related to the well-known theorem of Duflo describing the annihilating ideals of Verma modules of reductive Lie algebras. We find that, in general, the annihilator of a tensor density module is generated by the Duflo generator of its annihilator over \(sl_2\) (the Casimir operator minus a scalar) together with one other generator, a cubic element of the universal enveloping algebra of \(\text{Vec}(\mathbb R)\)''. The authors also make some remarks and pose questions about modules of differential operators between tensor density modules, and what happens in the multi-dimensional case of \(\text{Vec}(\mathbb R^n)\).