Generalized double crossproducts associated with the quantized enveloping algebras (Q4380602)

The main goal of the paper under review is to establish a connection between the quantized enveloping algebras of Jimbo and Drinfel'd and certain generalized double cross products. This was motivated by the realization of the Drinfel'd double of a finite-dimensional Hopf algebra as a double cross product. Along the way, the author also obtains a generalization of Rosso's triangular decomposition theorem. Then the author constructs a braided monoidal category of representations for a general double cross product. Objects of this category are determined by a left module as well as a right comodule structure over a certain Hopf algebra (which by pull-back to the quantized enveloping algebras can roughly be thought of as the quantum analogue of the negative standard Borel subalgebra). In particular, the universal \(R\)-matrix is locally encoded via the braiding structure in the objects which also have a natural ``weight'' theory (where the ``highest weight'' vectors are just the generators of one-dimensional subcomodules). It turns out that \(U_q(sl_2)\) itself is isomorphic to a suitable generalized double cross product, and the techniques developed in this paper are applied to determine the simple objects for \(U_q(sl_2)\) over an arbitrary field.