The adjoint representation inside the exterior algebra of a simple Lie algebra

Corrado De Concini, Paolo Papi, Claudio Procesi

Published 2013-11-18, updated 2015-04-21Version 4

For a simple complex Lie algebra $\mathfrak g$ we study the space of invariants $A=\left( \bigwedge \mathfrak g^*\otimes\mathfrak g^*\right)^{\mathfrak g}$, (which describes the isotypic component of type $\mathfrak g$ in $ \bigwedge \mathfrak g^*$) as a module over the algebra of invariants $\left(\bigwedge \mathfrak g^*\right)^{\mathfrak g}$. As main result we prove that $A$ is a free module, of rank twice the rank of $\mathfrak g$, over the exterior algebra generated by all primitive invariants in $(\bigwedge \mathfrak g^*)^{\mathfrak g}$, with the exception of the one of highest degree.