Joseph-like ideals and harmonic analysis for osp(m|2n)

Abstract

The Joseph ideal in the universal enveloping algebra U(so(m)) is the annihilator ideal of the so(m)-representation on the harmonic functions on R^{m-2}. The Joseph ideal for sp(2n) is the annihilator ideal of the Segal-Shale-Weil (metaplectic) representation. Both ideals can be constructed in a unified way from a quadratic relation in the tensor algebra of g for g equal to so(m) or sp(2n). In this paper we construct two analogous ideals in the tensor algebra of g and U(g) for g the orthosymplectic Lie superalgebra osp(m|2n)=spo(2n|m) and prove that they have unique characterizations that naturally extend the classical case. Then we show that these two ideals are the annihilator ideals of respectively the osp(m|2n)-representation on the spherical harmonics on R^{m-2|2n} and a generalization of the metaplectic representation to spo(2n|m). This proves that these ideals are reasonable candidates to establish the theory of Joseph-like ideals for Lie superalgebras. We also discuss the relation between the Joseph ideal of osp(m|2n) and the algebra of symmetries of the super conformal Laplace operator, regarded as an intertwining operator between principal series representations for osp(m|2n).