Cartan decomposition for complex loop groups (Q2249222)

Let \(G\) be a complex simple Lie group and \(K\) its maximal compact form. We denote by \(T\) a maximal torus and have the decomposition \(T = T_K \cdot A\) where \(T_K =T\;\cap \;K\) and \(A\) is the complement. Let \(A^+\) be a fundamental domain for the action on the Weyl group on \(A\). The Cartan decomposition is the decomposition \(G = KA^+K\, .\) A holomorphic loop group \(LG\) is the group of functions \(f: \mathbb{C}\longrightarrow G\) such that \(f\) is holomorphic. It is extended to a group \[ \mathcal{G} = LG_{hol} \rtimes \mathbb{C}^* \] where \(\mathbb{C}^*\) acts on \(LG_{hol}\) by shift of the loop parameter. The authors study its sub-semigroup \[ \mathcal{G}^+_{hol} = \mathcal{K}_{hol}\cup \{g\in \mathcal{G}_{hol} | |\omega(g)| \geq 1\}\, \] where \(\mathcal{K}_{hol}\) denotes the fixed point group of the conjugate linear Cartan involution (the equivalent object to the maximal compact subgroup of a simple Lie group) and \(\omega: G^+\longrightarrow \mathbb{C}^*\) denotes the natural isomorphism. In this note, the authors establish the existence of a Cartan decomposition for \(\mathcal{G}^+_{hol}\). This result is exciting as for groups of polynomial loops or more generally (minimal) Kac-Moody groups that are not of finite type it is assumed (and proven in certain cases), that there is no Cartan decomposition.