The two-boundary Temperley-Lieb algebra. (Q1014596)

The authors study the generic representation theory of the two-boundary Temperley-Lieb algebra (2BTL). It is a three parameter algebra that can be constructed as a quotient of the affine Hecke algebra of type \(C\), generalizing the construction of the original Temperley-Lieb algebra (TL) as a quotient of the Hecke algebra of type \(A\) and the construction of the one-boundary Temperley-Lieb algebra (1BTL) as a quotient of the Hecke algebra of type \(B\). (The 1BTL algebra is also known as the blob algebra or the Temperley-Lieb algebra of type \(B\).) The authors give references to recent works in the physics literature where the 2BTL algebra appears. They also recall the 2BTL diagram presentation, which generalizes the TL and 1BTL diagram presentations, but has reductions with respect to both left and right side of the diagrams. Using it they point out that the 2BTL algebra, unlike the two other algebras, is infinite dimensional. Still, they show that all irreducible representations lie in a finite dimensional quotient given by a new parameter \(b\). The main results of the paper are concerned with the study of certain diagrammatically defined representations \(W^{N, n}_{\varepsilon_1\varepsilon_2}\) and \(W^{(N)}(b)\). Their dimensions are determined. It is shown that \(W^{N, n}_{\varepsilon_1\varepsilon_2}\) is irreducible and that \(W^{(N)}(b)\) is isomorphic to a spin chain representation \(V^{ \otimes N}\). The Gram determinant of the bilinear form on \(W^{(N)}(b)\) is calculated by constructing a basis on which certain generalizations of the Murphy operators act diagonally. Using the Gram determinant the irreducibility of \(W^{(N)}(b)\) is discussed and some conjectures are formulated in the case where it is reducible. The article contains several careless formulations. For example, the first sentences of section 4.3 read: ``The representations \(W^{N, n}_{\varepsilon_1\varepsilon_2}\) and \(W^{(N)}(b)\) are irreducible if the set of basis vectors within each module is linearly independent. To find out when this is the case we introduce \dots''. Another example is the description of the bilinear form on \(W^{N, n}_{\varepsilon_1\varepsilon_2}\) as ``generically empty''.