Poisson harmonic forms, Kostant harmonic forms, and the \(S^1\)-equivariant cohomology of \(K/T\) (Q1283428)

Let \(K\) be a compact semisimple Lie group, \(T\subset K\) a maximal torus, and \(W\) the Weyl group of \((K,T)\). This paper gives a Poisson geometrical interpretation of the Kostant harmonic forms on the flag manifold \(K/T\). In more detail, write \(\partial\) for Kostant's degree \(-1\) operator with \(\partial^2=0\) on the set of \(K\)-invariant complex valued differential forms on \(K/T\) and write \(d\) for the de Rham differential. A form on \(K/T\) is called Kostant harmonic if it is harmonic with respect to \((d,\partial)\). This notion of harmonic should not be understood in the same sense of Hodge since the authors give an example showing \(\partial\) is not always the adjoint operator of \(d\) with respect to any Hermitian metric on \(K/T\). For each \(w\in W\), Kostant has constructed certain forms \(s^w\) on \(K/T\) that are Kostant harmonic. These forms have many nice properties. For instance, they yield a basis of the de Rham cohomology \(H^\cdot(K/T, {\mathbb C})\) of \(K/T\) that, up to scalar multiples, is dual to the basis in the homology of \(K/T\) defined by the Schubert varieties. The explicit numbers \(\lambda_w\) arising from this pairing were later calculated by Kostant and Kumar. Additionally, Kostant and Kumar showed that the Schubert calculus on \(K/T\) can be recovered using the forms \(s^w\). In this paper, the authors describe \(\partial\) in terms of a Poisson structure. This allows them to give Poisson geometrical proofs of the many nice properties enjoyed by the forms \(s^w\). Using the so-called Bruhat Poisson structure on \(K/T\), the authors write \(\partial_\infty\) for the corresponding Koszul-Brylinski operator on the space of differential forms on \(K/T\). It is proved that \(\partial=J\partial_\infty J^{-1}\) on the space of \(K\)-invariant forms, where \(J\) is the standard complex structure on \(K/T\). From this and the \(s^w\), the authors then construct explicit representatives for the Schubert basis of the \(S^1\)-equivariant cohomology of \(K/T\), where the \(S^1\) action is defined by the half sum of positive roots. This is used to recover the connection between the \(s^w\) and the Schubert calculus. The authors also prove that \(\partial\) is the limit of adjoint operators of \(d\) with respect to certain Hermitian metrics that in turn arise from certain symplectic.