Conformal symmetry breaking operators for differential forms on spheres (Q311360)

The goal of this book is to give a complete classification of conformally covariant differential operators between the spaces of differential \(i\)-forms on the sphere \(S^n\) and \(j\)-forms on the totally geodesic hypersphere \(S^{n-1}\) by analyzing the restriction of principal series representations of the Lie group \(\mathrm O(n+1,1)\), and to provide explicit formulas for these matrix-valued operators in the flat coordinates and find factorization identities for them. The book consists of 14 chapters. The first chapter presents the main goal of the book. Let \((X,g)\) be a pseudo-Riemannian manifold with a Lie group \(G\) acting conformally on \(X\). This means that there exists a positive-valued function \(\Omega\in C^\infty(G\times X)\) such that \(L_h^\ast g_{h\cdot x}=\Omega(h,x)^2g_x\) for all \(h\in G\), \(x\in X\), where \(L_h:X\to X,\;x\mapsto h\cdot x\) is the action of \(G\) on \(X\). When \(X\) is oriented, there is a locally constant function \(\mathrm{lc}:G\times X\to\{\pm 1\}\) defined by \(\mathrm{lc}(h)(x)=1\) if \((L_h)_{\ast x}:T_xX\to T_{L_hx}X\) is orientation-preserving, and \(\mathrm{lc}(h)(x)=-1\) if it is orientation-reversing. Since \(\Omega\) satisfies a cocycle condition, there is a family of representations \(\varpi^i_{u,\delta}\) of \(G\) with parameters \(u\in\mathbb C\) and \(\delta\in\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z\) on the space \(\mathcal E^i(X)\) of \(i\)-forms on \(X\), \(0\leq i\leq\dim X\), defined by \(\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}(h)\alpha=\mathrm{lc}(h)^\delta\Omega(h^{-1},\cdot)^uL^\ast_{h^{-1}}\alpha\), \(h\in G\). The representation \(\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}\) of the conformal group \(G\) on \(\mathcal{E}^i(X)\) will be simply denoted by \(\mathcal{E}^i(X)_{u,\delta}\) and referred to as conformal representation on \(i\)-forms. If \(Y\) is an orientable submanifold such that \(g\) is nondegenerate on the tangent space \(T_yY\) for all \(y\in Y\), then \(Y\) is endowed with a pseudo-Riemannian structure \(g_{|Y}\), and in a similar way there is a family of representations \(\varpi^{(j)}_{\nu,\varepsilon}\) on \(\mathcal E^j(Y)\), \(\nu\in\mathbb C\), \(\varepsilon\in\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z, 0\leq j\leq\dim Y\), of the group \(G'=\{h\in G;\;h\cdot Y=Y\}\) which acts conformally on \((Y,g_{|Y})\). Differential operators \(\mathcal D^{i\to j}:\mathcal E^i(X)\to\mathcal E^j(Y)\) that intertwine the two representations \({\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}}_{|G'}\) and \(\varpi^{(j)}_{\nu,\varepsilon}\) of \(G'\), where \({\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}}_{|G'}\) stands for the restriction of the \(G\)-representation \(\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}\) to the subgroup \(G'\), are called differential symmetry breaking operators and \(\mathrm{Diff}_{G'}(\mathcal E^i(X)_{u,\delta},\mathcal E^j(Y)_{\nu,\varepsilon})\) is the space of differential symmetry breaking operators. Let \(\mathrm{Conf}(X)=\{\text{conformal diffeomorphisms of }(X,g)\}\) and \(\mathrm{Conf}(X;Y)=\{\varphi\in\mathrm{Conf}(X);\;\varphi(Y)=Y\}\) be groups of conformal diffeomorphisms. There are two problems that the authors are addressing in this book. Problem A. Find a necessary and sufficient condition on the \(6\)-tuple \((i,j, u,\nu,\delta,\varepsilon)\) such that there exist nontrivial differential symmetry breaking operators. More precisely, determine the dimension of \[ \mathrm{Diff}_{\mathrm{Conf}(X;Y)}(\mathcal E^i(X)_{u,\delta},\mathcal E^j(Y)_{\nu,\varepsilon}). \] Problem B. Construct explicitly a basis of \(\mathrm{Diff}_{\mathrm{Conf}(X;Y)}(\mathcal E^i(X)_{u,\delta},\mathcal E^j(Y)_{\nu,\varepsilon})\). Also, in this chapter the authors present the main result of the book that is a complete solution to Problem A for the model space \((X,Y)=(S^n,S^{n-1})\), \(n\geq 3\). If \(n\geq 3\), \(0\leq i\leq n\), \(0\leq j\leq n-1\), \(u,\nu\in\mathbb C\), \(\delta,\varepsilon\in\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z\), then the following conditions on the \(6\)-tuple \((i,j,u,\nu,\delta,\varepsilon)\) are equivalent: (i) \(\mathrm{Diff}_{\mathrm{O}(n,1)}(\mathcal E^i(S^n)_{u,\delta},\mathcal E^j(S^{n-1})_{\nu,\varepsilon})\neq\{0\}\), (ii) \(\dim_{\mathbb C}\mathrm{Diff}_{\mathrm{O}(n,1)}(\mathcal E^i(S^n)_{u,\delta},\mathcal E^j(S^{n-1})_{\nu,\varepsilon})=1\), (iii) one of the twelve given conditions holds. The conformal compactification \(S^n\) of \(\mathbb R^n\) may be thought of as the real flag variety of the indefinite orthogonal group \(G=\mathrm{O}(n+1,1)\), and the twisted action \(\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}\) of \(G\) on \(\mathcal E^i(S^n)\) is a special case of the principal series representations of \(G\). In Chapter 2, the authors reformulate the solutions to Problems A and B for \((X,Y)=(S^n,S^{n-1})\) given in several variations of the main result in terms of symmetry breaking operators for principal series representations when \((G,G')=(\mathrm{O}(n+1,1), \mathrm{O}(n,1))\). In Chapter 3, the authors use a method based on the Fourier transform, the \(F\)-method, to find explicit formulas of differential symmetry breaking operators. They develop the \(F\)-method for matrix-valued operators. A new ingredient is a canonical decomposition of the algebraic Fourier transform of the vector-valued principal series representations into the scalar part involving differential operators of higher order and into the vector part of first order. Chapter 4 summarizes a strategy and technical details in applying the \(F\)-method to find matrix-valued symmetry breaking operators in the setting where \((G,G')=(\mathrm{O}(n+1, 1), \mathrm{O}(n,1))\). In Chapter 5, the authors prepare some results on finite-dimensional representations that will be used in applying the general theory developed in previous chapters to symmetry breaking operators for differential forms. For this, they construct an explicit basis of \(\mathrm{Hom}_{\mathrm{O}(n-1)}(V,W\otimes \mathrm{Pol}[\zeta_1,\dots,\zeta_n])\) for \(V=\bigwedge^j(\mathbb C^n)\) and \(W=\bigwedge^j(\mathbb C^{n-1})\). At the end of this chapter, they give a proof of one implication in the main result. The \(F\)-method establishes a natural bijection between the space \(\mathrm{Diff}_{G'}(I(i,\lambda)_\alpha,J(j,\nu)_\beta)\) of differential symmetry breaking operators and the space \(\mathrm{Sol}\left({n}_+;\;\sigma^{(i)}_{\lambda,\alpha},\tau^{(j)}_{\nu,\beta}\right)\) of \(\mathrm{Hom}_{\mathbb C}(V,W)\)-valued polynomial solutions to the \(F\)-system. In Chapters 6 and 7, the authors solve the \(F\)-systems for \(j=i-1\) and \(j=i+1\), respectively, and give a complete classification of differential symmetry breaking operators. In Chapter 8, they collect some elementary properties of basic operators such as the Hodge star operator, the codifferential \(d^\ast\), and the interior multiplication \(\imath_{N_Y(X)}\) by the normal vector field for hypersurfaces \(Y\) in pseudo-Riemannian manifolds \(X\). These operators are invariant under isometries, but also satisfy certain conformal covariance which the authors formulate in terms of the representations \(\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}\) of the conformal group on the space \(\mathcal E^i(X)\) of \(i\)-forms. In Chapter 9, the authors derive identities for the scalar-valued differential operators \(\mathcal D^\mu_l\) systematically from those for the Gegenbauer polynomials given in the last chapter. Using these identities together with the results of the previous chapter they study matrix-valued symmetry breaking operators \(\mathcal D^{i\to j}_{u,a}\) in detail. In particular, the vanishing conditions for the operators \(\mathcal D^{i\to i-1}_{u,a}\) and \(\mathcal D^{i\to i}_{u,a}\) are proved. Chapter 10 is devoted to the completion of the proof of another special case of the main result by providing explicit formulas of differential symmetry breaking operators \(\mathcal E^i(\mathbb R^n)\to\mathcal E^j(\mathbb R^{n-1})\). In Chapter 11, the authors provide the complete proof of the main result, that is, they solve Problems A and B of conformal geometry for the model space \((X,Y)=(S^n,S^{n-1})\), respectively. Chapter 12 determines all conformally covariant differential operators between the spaces of differential forms on the standard Riemannian sphere \(S^n\), and thus solve Problems A and B in the case where \(X=Y=S^n\). The differential \(d:\mathcal E^i(X)\to\mathcal E^{i+1}(X)\) intertwines two representations \(\varpi^{(i)}_{u,\delta}\) and \(\varpi^{(i+1)}_{\nu,\varepsilon}\) of the conformal group of any oriented pseudo-Riemannian manifold \(X\) for appropriate twisting parameters \((u,\delta)\) and \((\nu,\varepsilon)\), respectively. In this chapter, the authors show that \(d\) is the unique differential operator from \(\mathcal E^i(S^n)\) to \(\mathcal E^{i+1}(S^n)\) that commutes with conformal diffeomorphisms of \(S^n\). Also, they prove that the codifferential \(d^\ast\) is characterized as the unique differential operator \(\mathcal E^{i+1}(S^n)\to\mathcal E^i(S^n)\) that intertwines twisted representations of the conformal group of \(S^n\). On the other hand, the authors find countably many bases of conformally covariant differential operators of higher order that map \(\mathcal E^i(S^n)\) into \(\mathcal E^j(S^n)\). Differential symmetry breaking operators may be expressed as a composition of two equivariant differential operators for some special values of the parameters. Such formulas in the scalar case are called factorization identities or functional identities for symmetry breaking operators. In Chapter 13, the authors establish factorization identities for conformally covariant differential operators on differential forms. The setting they consider is \((X,Y)=(S^n,S^{n-1})\) and \((G,G')=(\mathrm{O}(n+1,1), \mathrm{O}(n,1))\) and the method used is matrix-valued factorization identities. Chapter 14 collects some properties of the Gegenbauer polynomials that are used throughout this book, in particular, in the proof of the explicit formulas for differential symmetry breaking operators and the factorization identities for special parameters. The book offers a self-contained introduction to the analysis of symmetry breaking operators for infinite-dimensional representations of reductive Lie groups. This feature will be helpful for active scientists and accessible to graduate students and young researchers in differential geometry, representation theory, and theoretical physics.