Commuting varieties of \(r\)-tuples over Lie algebras. (Q2439304)

Let \(\mathfrak g\) denote a Lie algebra over an algebraically closed field \(k\), and let \(V\subset\mathfrak g\) denote a closed subvariety. Given a positiver integer \(r\), associated to \(V\) is the commuting variety \(C_r(V)\subset V^r\) consisting of all pairwise commuting \(r\)-tuples of elements in \(V\). Of potential interest is knowing the dimension of such a variety and what geometric properties it has, such as being irreducible, normal, or Cohen-Macaulay. Historically, the case when \(r=2\) and \(V=\mathfrak g\) has seen extensive study, with more recent work for higher \(r\) when \(V=\mathfrak{gl}_n\). Another case of more recent interest is when \(V=\mathcal N(\mathfrak g)\), the nilpotent cone of \(\mathfrak g\). This latter case is of particular interest because the \(r\)-th-commuting variety for the nilpotent cone of a Lie algebra of an affine algebraic group \(G\) can be identified with the spectrum of the (even-dimensional) cohomology ring of the \(r\)-th Frobenius kernel \(G_r\) of \(G\) over a field of sufficiently large prime characteristic. The main result in this paper is that, for all \(r\geq 1\), \(C_r(\mathfrak{gl}_2)\), \(C_r(\mathfrak{sl}_2)\), and \(C_r(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{gl}_2))\) (equivalently, \(C_r(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_2))\)) are irreducible, normal, and Cohen-Macaulay if the characteristic of \(k\) is not equal to two. The reader should be aware that there is a typographical error on the condition on the prime in the statement of this result in Theorem 1.2.1. It is correctly stated later in the paper in Theorem 5.8.1. The proof makes use of a relationship between \(C_r(\mathfrak{gl}_2)\) and \(C_r(\mathfrak{sl}_2)\), determinantal rings, and the moment map \(G\times^BC_r(\mathfrak u)\to C_r(\mathcal N(\mathfrak g))\). Here \(G\) is a simple algebraic group with Borel subgroup \(B\), \(\mathfrak g=\text{Lie}(G)\), and \(\mathfrak u=\text{Lie}(U)\) where \(U\) is the unipotent radical of \(B\). For \(G=\text{SL}_2\), the author applies these results to obtain a new proof of the relationship between \(C_r(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_2))\) and the cohomology of \(G_r\) (over a field of prime characteristic). He also describes the characters of the coordinate algebra of \(C_r(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_2))\) and shows that the coordinate algebra admits a good filtration. The author introduces the notion of a ``mixed'' pairwise commuting variety where entries in the tuples come from possibly different varieties. In particular, he considers the case of \(C(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_2),\ldots,\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_2),\mathfrak{sl}_2,\ldots,\mathfrak{sl}_2)\), where both \(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_2)\) and \(\mathfrak{sl}_2\) appear at least once. Again, assuming the characteristic is not two, their dimensions are computed, and they are shown to be reducible and not normal. Further, such a variety is Cohen-Macaulay if and only if there is precisely one appearance of \(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_2)\). Lastly, the author considers \(G=\text{SL}_3\) with \(\mathfrak g=\mathfrak{sl}_3\). The variety \(C_r(\mathfrak u)\) is shown to be irreducible, normal, and Cohen-Macaulay. The variety \(C_r(\mathcal N(\mathfrak g))\) is shown to be irreducible of dimension \(2r+4\), and information is given on its locus of singular points. In this direction, the reader may be interested in more recent work of the author with \textit{K. Šivic} [Linear Algebra Appl. 452, 237-262 (2014; Zbl 1291.15045)], where the reducibility of \(C_r(\mathcal N(\mathfrak{sl}_n))\) is studied for general \(r,n\).