Singular dual pairs. (Q1405276)

In [J. Differ. Geom. 18, 523--557 (1983; Zbl 0524.58011)] \textit{A. Weinstein} introduced the notion of dual pair and polarity. For a symplectic manifold \((M,\omega)\) and two Poisson manifolds \((P_ 1,\{\cdot,\cdot\}_ {P_ 1})\) and \((P_ 2,\{\cdot,\cdot\}_ {P_ 2})\), let \(\pi_ 1 : M\to P_ 1\) and \(\pi_ 2 : M\to P_ 2\) be two Poisson surjective submersions. \((\pi_ 1, \pi_ 2)\) is called a dual pair if the Poisson subalgebras \(\pi_ 1^ *C^\infty(P_ 1)\) and \(\pi_ 2^ *C^\infty(P_ 2)\) centralize each other with respect to the Poisson structure in \(M\) associated to the symplectic form \(\omega\). If \(D\) is an integrable distribution on \((M,\omega)\) that is everywhere spanned by locally Hamiltonian vector fields and the canonical projection \(\pi_ D: M\to M/D\) is a Poisson surjective submersion, then \(D^ *=\{V\); \(\omega(V,W)=0\), \(W\in D\}\) is the distribution polar to \(D\) and \((\pi_ D, \pi_ {D^ *})\) is a dual pair (Howe pair), where \(\pi_ {D^ *} : M\to P/D^ *\). In this paper, the author generalizes the notions of dual pair and polarity. The new notion of polarity is designed to deal with the loss of smoothness caused by the presence of singularities that are encountered in many problems in Poisson and symplectic geometry. The relation between the newly introduced dual pairs, the quantum notion of Howe pair, and the symplectic leaf correspondence of Poisson manifolds in duality are studied in detail. The new definitions of dual pair and polarity are applied to study the optimal momentum maps introduced by the author and \textit{T. S. Ratiu} in [Newton, Paul (ed.) et al., Geometry, mechanics, and dynamics. Volume in honor of the 60th birthday of J. E. Marsden. New York, Springer, 329--362 (2002; Zbl 1015.53053)].