On some structural properties of semidirect sums of \(\mathfrak{so}(3)\) and abelian Lie algebras (Q1980308)

The underlying theme of this work is the question of stability (or rigidity) of a (real or complex) Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{g}\) (informally meaning that ``nearby'' Lie algebras are isomorphic to \(\mathfrak{g}\)). One well-known condition for stability is vanishing of the second cohomology with respect to the adjoint representation, i.e., that \(H^2(\mathfrak{g},\mathfrak{g}) = 0\). However, there are known examples of Lie algebras that are stable but have \(H^2(\mathfrak{g},\mathfrak{g}) \neq 0\). In such cases \(\mathfrak{g}\) is said to be \textit{geometrically} stable but not \textit{cohomologically} stable. Of interest in this paper is the situation when \(\mathfrak{g}\) is a semi-direct product \(\mathfrak{s}\overset{\to}{\oplus}_R V\) for a (semi-simple) real Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{s}\) with representation \(R\) of \(\mathfrak{s}\) on a vector space \(V\) (which may be considered as an abelian Lie algebra). This paper follows in a sense the work of \textit{Y. Folly} [Rend. Semin. Fac. Sci. Univ. Cagliari 67, 1--8 (1997; Zbl 0939.17006)] who considered the case that \(\mathfrak{s}\) was the complex Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{C})\). Here the author considers the compact real form \(\mathfrak{s} = \mathfrak{so}(3)\) of \(\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{C})\). \par The author considers the cases where \(R\) is an irreducible \(\mathfrak{so}(3)\)-representation or a sum of two such. The irreducible \(\mathfrak{so}(3)\)-representations fall into two types depending on whether the complexification remains irreducible (type I) or not (type II), and different arguments are used depending on this distinction. In the case of a single type I irreducible, known results for \(\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{C})\) may be applied. It is shown that there is an infinite family of algebras \(\mathfrak{so}(3)\overset{\to}{\oplus}_R V\) that are cohomologically (and hence geometrically) stable, a second infinite family that is not cohomologically stable but is geometrically stable, and a finite list of cases which are not geometrically stable. In these last cases, the Lie algebras are seen to be contractions of (explicitly identified) semisimple Lie algebras. In the type II situation, the Hochschild-Serre factorization theorem relating \(H^2(\mathfrak{g},\mathfrak{g})\) to cohomology over \(\mathfrak{s}\) and \(V\) is used to show that \(H^2(\mathfrak{g},\mathfrak{g}) = 0\) in all cases. \par The case of \(R\) being a sum of two irreducible representations is broken down into a number of cases: a type I or type II irreducible with the trivial representation; a type I irreducible with another type I irreducible; a type II irreducible with another type II irreducible; and a type I irreducible with a type II irreducible. Some of these cases are addressed in a similar manner as above, while others are investigated non-cohomologically through the use of the Jacobi scheme to compare Jacobi identities between Lie algebras. See for example the work of \textit{R. Carles} and \textit{M. Márquez} [Ann. Inst. Fourier 61, No. 2, 453--490 (2011; Zbl 1272.17016)] for a discussion of the Jacobi scheme. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1468.53002].