Computations of sheaves associated to the representation theory of \(\mathfrak{sl}_2\) (Q402660)

For a restricted Lie algebra \(\mathfrak{g}\) over a field \(k\) of positive characteristic \(p\), the \textit{restricted nullcone} \(\mathcal{N}_p(\mathfrak{g})\) is the set of vectors in \(\mathfrak{g}\) that vanish under the \(p\)-operation \(x\mapsto x^{[p]}\). The projectivization of the restricted nullcone, which the author J. Stark of the present paper denotes \(\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\), is projective variety whose set of points are the lines through the origin in \(\mathcal{N}_p(\mathfrak{g})\). This projectivization \(\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\) is the primary object of study of the paper under review. \textit{E. M. Friedlander} and \textit{J. Pevtsova} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 363, No. 11, 6007--6061 (2011; Zbl 1241.20051)] have considered sheaves over \(\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\) that are constructed from \(\mathfrak{g}\)-modules; the geometric properties of these sheaves reflect some of the representation-theoretic information about \(M\). To a \(\mathfrak{g}\)-module \(M\), we have the associated sheaf \(\widetilde{M} := \mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})}\otimes_k M\) on \(\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\). If \(\Theta_{\mathfrak{g}} = x_1\otimes g_1 + \cdots + x_n\otimes g_n\) where \(\{g_i\}\) is a basis of \(\mathfrak{g}\) and \(\{x_i\}\) is the corresponding dual basis then \(\Theta_{\mathfrak{g}}\) acts on \(k[\mathcal{N}_p(\mathfrak{g})]\otimes_k M\) as a degree \(1\) endomorphism and induces a sheaf map \(\Theta_M:\widetilde{M}\to\widetilde{M}(1)\). Sheaves are constructed from this operator. To motivate their construction, recall that the Jordan type of a \(p\)-nilpotent \(n\times n\) matrix \(A\) (i.e., \(A^p = 0\)) is the partition of \(n\) that is the sizes of its Jordan blocks in weakly decreasing order. The local Jordan type of a module is a function \(\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\) giving the Jordan type of a point on each line \(v\in \mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\), which is well-defined. The \(j\)-rank of a partition is the number of boxes in the Young diagram of that partition not contained in the first \(j\)-columns. The \(j\)-rank and local \(j\)-rank for a \(\mathfrak{g}\)-module are then obviously defined in terms of the Jordan type and local Jordan type. To make a long story short, the geometric properties of \(M\) are encoded in the sheaves associated to \(\Theta_M\). For instance, \textit{J. Stark} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 219, No. 5, 1826--1849 (2015; Zbl 1330.14080)] has shown that the local \(j\)-rank is constant on an open subset \(U\subseteq\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\) if and only if \(\mathrm{coker}(\Theta_M^j|_U)\) is locally free. We note that \(\mathrm{coker}(\Theta_M^j) = \mathrm{coker}[\Theta_M(-1)\circ\cdots\circ \Theta_M(1-j)\circ\theta_M(-j)]\) and the various other ``self-iterations'' of \(\Theta_M\) are defined in a similar way. The main point of the current paper is the computation of sheaves such as \(\ker\Theta_M\) and other sheaves associated to \(\Theta_M\) when \(\mathfrak{g} = \mathfrak{sl}_2\), greatly extending the computations of Friedlander and Pevtsova [Zbl 1241.20051]. Since \(\mathbb{P}(\mathfrak{g})\cong\mathbb{P}^1\), every locally free sheaf may be written as a direct sum of line bundles, or twists of \(\mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}^1}\). For example, the author computes \(\ker\Theta_M\) for each indecomposable \(\mathfrak{sl}_2\)-modules. For example, write \(V(\lambda)\) for the Weyl module of dimension \(\lambda + 1\). Write \(\lambda = pr + a\) for some integer \(r\) and \(0\leq a < p\). One of Stark's calculations is \(\ker \Theta_{V(\lambda)} \cong \mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}_1}(-\lambda)\oplus \mathcal{O}_{\mathbb{P}_1}(a + 2 - p)^{\oplus r}\). This twenty-one page paper is reasonably elementary, and in addition to providing concrete insight into some interesting examples of sheaves appearing in representation theory, also contains a review of \(\mathfrak{sl}_2\)-modules.