Contravariant form on tensor product of highest weight modules (Q2633045)

Let \(\mathfrak{g}\) be a finite-dimensional complex semi-simple Lie algebra with Cartan subalgebra \(\mathfrak{h}\), and let \(\mathfrak{n}_+\) denote the sum of the positive root subspaces of \(\mathfrak{g}\). A \(\mathfrak{g}\)-module is a highest weight module if it is generated by a weight vector that is annihilated by \(\mathfrak{n}_+\). The main result of the paper under review is a criterion for the complete reducibility of a tensor product of two irreducible highest weight modules. If both modules are finite dimensional, then their tensor product is always completely reducible due to a classical result of Weyl, but if at least one of the modules is infinite dimensional, this is not necessarily the case. There is an involutive anti-automorphism \(\omega\) of \(\mathfrak{g}\) that fixes each element of \(\mathfrak{h}\) and interchanges the root subspace \(\mathfrak{g}_\alpha\) with its opposite \(\mathfrak{g}_{-\alpha}\). A symmetric bilinear form \(\langle\cdot, \cdot\rangle:V\times V\to\mathbb{C}\) on a \(\mathfrak{g}\)-module \(V\) is called contravariant if \(\langle x\cdot v,w\rangle=\langle v,\omega(x)\cdot w\rangle\) for any elements \(v,w\in V\) and \(x\in\mathfrak{g}\). It is well known that every highest weight module admits a contravariant form which is unique up to a scalar. Moreover, such a contravariant form is non-degenerate if, and only if, the module is irreducible [\textit{J. C. Jantzen}, Moduln mit einem höchsten Gewicht. Berlin etc.: Springer-Verlag (1979; Zbl 0426.17001)]. If the highest weight module is a Verma module, then the contravariant form is the Shapovalov form [\textit{N. N. Shapovalov}, Funct. Anal. Appl. 6, 307--312 (1973; Zbl 0283.17001); translation from Funkts. Anal. Prilozh. 6, No. 4, 65--70 (1972)]. One can define a canonical contravariant form on the tensor product of two highest weight modules as the product of the contravariant forms on the tensor factors. Then the author proves the equivalence of the following statements: 1) The tensor product \(V\otimes Z\) of two irreducible highest weight modules is completely reducible. 2) The restriction of the canonical contravariant form on \(V\otimes Z\) to the subspace of singular vectors in \(V\otimes Z\) (i.e., to those vectors of \(V\otimes Z\) that are annihilated by \(\mathfrak{n}_+\)) is non-degenerate. 3) The restriction of the canonical contravariant form on \(V\otimes Z\) to the sum of all highest weight submodules of \(V\otimes Z\) is non-degenerate. This result also holds for the quantized universal enveloping algebra \(U_q(\mathfrak{g})\) of \(\mathfrak{g}\) in the case that the parameter \(q\) is not a root of unity, and it is then useful in the quantization of certain equivariant vector bundles.