Structure of \(\alpha\)-stratified modules for finite-dimensional Lie algebras. I (Q1921920)

Let \({\mathcal G}\) be a complex simple finite-dimensional Lie algebra, \({\mathcal H}\) a Cartan subalgebra, \(\Delta\) the corresponding root system, and \(\alpha\) a fixed root. For \(\beta \in \Delta\) let \(X_{\beta}\) denote the corresponding root element. Let \({\mathcal G}^{\alpha}\) be the subalgebra generated by \(X_{\alpha}\) and \(X_{-\alpha}\). A \({\mathcal G}\)-module \(V\) is called weight, if it is a direct sum of weight spaces (w.r.t. \({\mathcal H}\)), and \(\alpha\)-stratified, if \(V\) is weight and \(X_{\alpha}\) and \(X_{-\alpha}\) act injectively on \(V\). Universal objects in the category of \(\alpha\)-stratified modules can be constructed as follows. Any pair \((a,b)\) of complex numbers defines a \({\mathcal G}^{\alpha}\)-module \(N(a,b)\) with a \(\mathbb{Z}\)-basis \((v_{i})\) such that \(X_{-\alpha}(v_{i}) = v_{i-1}\), \(H_{\alpha}(v_{i}) = (a+2i)v_{i}\), \(X_{\alpha}(v_{i}) = \frac{1}{4}(b-(a+2i+1)^{2})v_{i+1}\). If \({\mathcal B}_{\alpha}\) denotes the minimal parabolic subalgebra corresponding to \(\alpha\) and \(\lambda \in {\mathcal H}^{*}\), then one can define an action of \({\mathcal B}_{\alpha}\) on \(N(a,b)\) in terms of \(\lambda\) and \(a,b\). The modules \(M_{\alpha}(\lambda,b) = U({\mathcal G}) \otimes_{U({\mathcal B}_{\alpha})}N(a,b)\), called generalized Verma modules, are the main object of the paper. The authors give a criterion of irreducibility of \(M_{\alpha}(\lambda,b)\), and a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a non-trivial homomorphism between such modules. These results are analogous to the classical results of \textit{I. N. Bernstein, I. M. Gelfand} and \textit{S. I. Gelfand} on Verma modules.