Pseudo-symmetric pairs for Kac-Moody algebras

Abstract

Lie algebra involutions and their fixed-point subalgebras give rise to symmetric spaces and real forms of complex Lie algebras, and are well-studied in the context of symmetrizable Kac-Moody algebras. In this paper we study a generalization. Namely, we introduce the concept of a pseudo-involution, an automorphism which is only required to act involutively on a stable Cartan subalgebra, and the concept of a pseudo-fixed-point subalgebra, a natural substitute for the fixed-point subalgebra. In the symmetrizable Kac-Moody setting, we give a comprehensive discussion of pseudo-involutions of the second kind, the associated pseudo-fixed-point subalgebras, restricted root systems and Weyl groups, in terms of generalizations of Satake diagrams.