Inverses of Cartan matrices of Lie algebras and Lie superalgebras (Q5919693)

The inverse of the Cartan matrix of a given simple finite-dimensional Lie algebra over \(\mathbb{C}\) is a tool to obtain the set of fundamental weights from the set of simple roots. Fundamental weights are important since they form a basis in the weight lattice, and any finite-dimensional irreducible representation of a simple finite-dimensional Lie algebra over \(\mathbb{C}\) is a direct summand in the tensor product of tensor powers of fundamental representations. The authors, D. Leites and O. Lozhechnyk, learned that their results in fields of positive characteristic are related to the Duflo-Serganova functor, an important tool in the representation theory of Lie superalgebras. Finally, the authors provide another reason to invert the Cartan matrices due to the fact that the Cartan matrix of \(\mathfrak{sl}_{n+1}\) is the matrix of the difference operator corresponding to \(-(\frac{d}{dx})^2\), which is known to experts in the method of finite differences under the name Toeplitz matrix. The inverses of indecomposable Cartan matrices are computed for finite-dimensional Lie algebras and Lie superalgebras over fields of any characteristic, and for hyperbolic (almost affine) complex Lie algebras and Lie superalgebras. These computations lead to three new phenomena, which are several of the inverses of Cartan matrices have all their elements negative (not just nonpositive), the zeros only occur on the main diagonals of the inverses, and the determinants of inequivalent Cartan matrices of the simple Lie algebra and Lie superalgebra of any dimension may differ, in any characteristic.