Hermitian generalization of the Rarita-Schwinger operators (Q5962268)

To study invariant differential operators with respect to the action of a given Lie algebra means to find spaces of functions with values in suitable irreducible representation spaces for \(\mathfrak g\), or of sections of bundles on manifolds, in the curved case. For orthogonal geometries, where \(\mathfrak g = \mathfrak{so}(n)\) is the Lie algebra of both the rotation group SO\((n)\) and its double covering Spin\((n)\), this leads naturally to the study of the Dirac operator and some of its variations. In 2007, in two introductory papers on this subject, F.~Brackx, J.~Bureš and H.~De Schepper found a Hermitian version of the Dirac operator within this new framework, actually by means of two new operators \(\partial{\underline z}\) and \(\partial{\underline z}^\dagger\). Essentially, they discover that the associated system of differential equations splits into smaller irreducible systems, when its invariance with respect to \(\mathfrak{su}(n)\) is considered. Each piece then constitutes a (non-elliptic) invariant differential operator acting between irreducible \(\mathfrak{su}(n)\) modules of different dimensions. In this paper, the authors use such Hermitian Dirac operators as building blocks to construct two new classes of differential operators, called Hermitian twistor operators and Hermitian Rarita-Schwinger operators, respectively. They constitute analogues of the twistor operator and the Rarita-Schwinger operator in the orthogonal case. Like in the orthogonal case, they arise naturally by projecting the twisted (Hermitian) Dirac operator onto the Cartan product of the spinor representation with the standard representation of the unitary algebra, but this time the authors use the irreducible operators found for the Hermitian Dirac operators as building blocks. The authors then study some properties of the spaces of nullsolutions, and find a formulation of the Hermitian Rarita-Schwinger operators in terms of Hermitian monogenic polynomials.