Short antichains in root systems, semi-Catalan arrangements, and B-stable subspaces

Abstract

Let $\be$ be a Borel subalgebra of a complex simple Lie algebra $\g$. An ideal of $\be$ is called ad-nilpotent, if it is contained in $[\be,\be]$. The generators of an ad-nilpotent ideal give rise to an antichain in the poset of positive roots, and the whole theory can be expressed in a combinatorial fashion, in terms of antichains. The aim of this paper is to present a refinement of the enumerative theory of ad-nilpotent ideals for the case in which $\g$ has roots of different length. An antichain is called short, if it consists of short roots. We obtain, for short antichains, analogues of all results known for the usual antichains.

LaTeX2e, 20 pages