On the determinant of Shapovalov form for generalized Verma modules (Q1291112)

A classical result of Bernstein, Gelfand, and Gelfand gives a criteria for the existence of a nontrivial homomorphism between two Verma modules over a complex semisimple Lie algebra. The original proof is nontrivial. However, Kac and Kazhdan made the proof very simple by use of the Shapovalov form. This paper seeks to generalize this simple proof to the case of \(\alpha\)-stratified generalized Verma modules. In particular, the authors introduce a generalization of the Shapovalov form on the enveloping algebra of a contragradient Lie algebra. The form is then used to study a family of GVMs containing all \(\alpha\)-stratified GVMs. In fact, the authors' results both cover and generalize all previously known theorems on the structure of GVMs.