Symmetric spaces and the Kashiwara-Vergne method (Q405654)

The origin of the Kashiwara-Vergne method goes back to the paper [\textit{M. Kashiwara} and \textit{M. Vergne}, Invent. Math. 47, 249--272 (1978; Zbl 0404.22012)]. This paper was a breakthrough in the field analysis on Lie groups. Before it, the proof of several significant results (notably results involving invariant differential operators, their local solvability, Duflo's isomorphism,\dots) required a detailed knowledge of the structure of the group and its Lie algebra, the use of specific subgroups, etc. Kashiwara and Vergne opened a new way, only using skillful formal manipulation of Lie brackets, thus providing a direct link to the infinitesimal structure of the group. They carried out their program for solvable Lie groups and conjectured two general identities allowing an extension of the method to arbitrary Lie groups. Two natural questions arose from their paper: 1) prove the Kashiwara-Vergne conjecture; 2) investigate possible extensions of the method to symmetric spaces. A complete solution to the former question kept us waiting for nearly 30 years. The conjecture was proved in full generality by two different methods in [\textit{A. Alekseev} and \textit{E. Meinrenken}, Invent. Math. 164, No. 3, 615--634 (2006; Zbl 1096.22007)] and [\textit{A. Alekseev} and \textit{C. Torossian}, Ann. Math. (2) 175, No. 2, 415--463 (2012; Zbl 1243.22009)]. The latter question is the main topic of the book under review. Gathering and updating results scattered in journal articles over thirty years, this self-contained monograph gives a comprehensive introduction to the subject. Its goal is to: 1) motivate and explain the method for general Lie groups, reducing the proof of deep results in invariant analysis to the verification of two formal Lie bracket identities related to the Campbell-Hausdorff formula (the ``Kashiwara-Vergne conjecture''); 2) give a detailed proof of the conjecture for quadratic and solvable Lie algebras, which is relatively elementary; 3) extend the method to symmetric spaces; here an obstruction appears, embodied in a single remarcable object called an ``\(e\)-function''; 4) explain the role of this function in invariant analysis on symmetric spaces, its relation to invariant differential operators, mean value operators and and spherical functions; 5) give an explicit \(e\)-function for rank-one spaces (the hyperbolic spaces); 6) construct an \(e\)-function for general symmetric spaces, in the spirit of Kashiwara and Vergne's original work for Lie groups. The book includes a complete rewriting of several articles by the author, updated and improved following Alekseev, Meinrenken and Torossian's recent proofs of the conjecture. Some open problems are suggested to encourage future research. This monograph is aimed at graduated students and researchers with a basic knowledge of Lie theory.