Four examples of Beilinson-Bernstein localization

Abstract

Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a complex semisimple Lie algebra. The Beilinson-Bernstein localization theorem establishes an equivalence of the category of $\mathfrak{g}$-modules of a fixed infinitesimal character and a category of modules over a twisted sheaf of differential operators on the flag variety of $\mathfrak{g}$. In this expository paper, we give four detailed examples of this theorem when $\mathfrak{g}=\mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{C})$. Specifically, we describe the $\mathcal{D}$-modules associated to finite-dimensional irreducible $\mathfrak{g}$-modules, Verma modules, Whittaker modules, discrete series representations of $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$, and principal series representations of $SL(2,\mathbb{R})$.

21 pages; final version, proof of Theorem 7.4 has been modified, slight changes to exposition. To appear in Proceedings of Representation Theory XVI, Dubrovnik, Croatia