# On quantizing nilpotent and solvable basic algebras

## 1 Introduction

We continue our study of Groenewold-Van Hove obstructions to quantization. Let $`M`$ be a symplectic manifold, and suppose that $`𝔟`$ is a finite-dimensional “basic algebra” of observables on $`M`$. Given a Lie subalgebra $`𝒪`$ of the Poisson algebra $`C^{\mathrm{}}(M)`$ containing $`𝔟`$, we are interested in determining whether the pair $`(𝒪,𝔟)`$ can be “quantized.” (See §2 for the precise definitions.) Already we know that such obstructions exist in many circumstances: In \[GGG\] we showed that there are no nontrivial quantizations of the pair $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$ on a compact symplectic manifold, where $`P(𝔟)`$ is the Poisson algebra of polynomials on $`M`$ generated by $`𝔟`$. Furthermore, in \[GG2\] we proved that there are no nontrivial finite-dimensional quantizations of $`(𝒪,𝔟)`$ on a noncompact symplectic manifold, for any such subalgebra $`𝒪.`$

It remains to understand the case when $`M`$ is noncompact and the quantizations are infinite-dimensional, which is naturally the most interesting and difficult one. Here one has little control over either the types of basic algebras that can appear (in examples they range from nilpotent to semisimple), their representations, or the structure of the polynomial algebras they generate \[Go2\].

In this paper we consider the problem of quantizing $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$ when the basic algebra is nilpotent. Our main result is (§5):

###### Theorem 1

Let $`𝔟`$ be a nilpotent basic algebra on a connected symplectic manifold. Then there is no quantization of $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$.

This in turn is a consequence of an algebraic “no-go theorem” to the effect that a nontrivial Poisson algebra cannot be realized as an associative algebra with the commutator bracket. The latter result, which is of independent general interest, is presented in §3.

When $`M=𝐑^{2n}`$ and $`𝔟`$ is the Heisenberg algebra h($`2n`$), Theorem 1 provides an entirely new proof of the classical theorem of Groenewold \[Gro, Go3\]:

###### Corollary 2

There is no quantization of the pair $`(P(\mathrm{h}(2n)),\mathrm{h}(2n))`$.

We remark that this version of the no-go theorem for $`𝐑^{2n}`$ does not use the Stone-Von Neumann theorem.

A natural question is whether this obstruction to quantization when $`𝔟`$ is nilpotent extends to the case when $`𝔟`$ is solvable. We show that it does *not*; in §6 we explicitly construct a polynomial quantization of $`T^{}𝐑_+`$ with the “affine” basic algebra a(1).

## 2 Background

Let $`M`$ be a connected symplectic manifold. A key ingredient in the quantization process is the choice of a *basic algebra of observables* in the Poisson algebra $`C^{\mathrm{}}(M)`$. This is a Lie subalgebra $`𝔟`$ of $`C^{\mathrm{}}(M)`$ such that:

1. $`𝔟`$ is finitely generated,
2. the Hamiltonian vector fields $`X_b,b𝔟`$, are complete,
3. $`𝔟`$ is transitive and separating, and
4. $`𝔟`$ is a minimal Lie algebra satisfying these requirements.

A subset $`𝔟C^{\mathrm{}}(M)`$ is “transitive” if $`\{X_b(m)|b𝔟\}`$ spans $`T_mM`$ at every point. It is “separating” provided its elements globally separate points of $`M`$.

Now fix a basic algebra $`𝔟`$, and let $`𝒪`$ be any Lie subalgebra of $`C^{\mathrm{}}(M)`$ containing $`1`$ and $`𝔟`$. Then by a *quantization* of the pair $`(𝒪,𝔟)`$ we mean a linear map $`𝒬`$ from $`𝒪`$ to the linear space Op($`D`$) of symmetric operators which preserve a fixed dense domain $`D`$ in some separable Hilbert space $``$, such that for all $`f,g𝒪`$,

1. $`𝒬(\{f,g\})=\frac{i}{\mathrm{}}[𝒬(f),𝒬(g)]`$,
2. $`𝒬(1)=I`$,
3. if the Hamiltonian vector field $`X_f`$ of $`f`$ is complete, then $`𝒬(f)`$ is essentially self-adjoint on $`D`$,
4. $`𝒬(𝔟)`$ is irreducible,
5. $`D`$ contains a dense set of separately analytic vectors for some set of Lie generators of $`𝒬(𝔟),`$ and
6. $`𝒬`$ represents $`𝔟`$ faithfully.

Here $`\{,\}`$ is the Poisson bracket and $`\mathrm{}`$ is Planck’s reduced constant.

In this paper we are interested in “polynomial quantizations,” i.e. quantizations of $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$.

We refer the reader to \[Go2\] for an extensive discussion of these definitions. However, we wish to elaborate on (Q4). There we mean irreducible in the analytic sense, viz. the only bounded operators which strongly commute with all $`𝒬(b)𝒬(𝔟)`$ are scalar multiples of the identity. There is another notion of irreducibility which is useful for our purposes: We say that $`𝒬(𝔟)`$ is *algebraically irreducible* provided the only operators in Op$`(D)`$ which (weakly) commute with all $`𝒬(b)𝒬(𝔟)`$ are scalar multiples of the identity. It turns out that a quantization is automatically algebraically irreducible.

###### Proposition 3

Let $`𝒬`$ be a representation of a finite-dimensional Lie algebra $`𝔟`$ by symmetric operators on an invariant dense domain $`D`$ in a separable Hilbert space $``$. If $`𝒬`$ satisfies (Q4) and (Q5), then $`𝒬(𝔟)`$ is algebraically irreducible.

*Proof*. We need the following two technical results, which are proven in \[Go3\]. Denote the closure of an operator $`R`$ by $`\overline{R}`$.

###### Lemma 1

Let $`R`$ be an essentially self-adjoint operator and $`S`$ a closable operator which have a common dense invariant domain $`D`$. Suppose that $`D`$ consists of analytic vectors for $`R`$, and that $`R`$ (weakly) commutes with $`S`$. Then $`\mathrm{exp}(i\overline{R})`$ (weakly) commutes with $`\overline{S}`$ on $`D`$.

###### Lemma 2

Let $`S`$ be a closable operator. If a bounded operator (weakly) commutes with $`\overline{S}`$ on $`D(S)`$, then they also commute on $`D(\overline{S})`$.

By virtue of (Q5) and Corollary 1 and Theorem 3 of \[FS\], we may assume that there is a dense space $`D_\omega D`$ of separately analytic vectors for some basis $`=\{B_1,\mathrm{},B_K\}`$ of $`𝒬(𝔟)`$. Suppose $`T\mathrm{Op}(D)`$ (weakly) commutes with every $`B_k`$. According to \[FS, Prop. 1\], $`T`$ leaves $`D_\omega `$ invariant. Now by \[RS, §X.6, Cor. 2\] each $`B_kD_\omega `$ is essentially self-adjoint; moreover, $`T_\omega :=TD_\omega `$ is symmetric and hence closable. Upon taking $`R=B_kD_\omega `$ and $`S=T_\omega `$ in Lemma 1, it follows that $`\mathrm{exp}(i\overline{B_kD_\omega })=\mathrm{exp}(i\overline{B_k})`$ and $`\overline{T_\omega }`$ commute on $`D_\omega `$. Lemma 2 then shows that $`\mathrm{exp}(i\overline{B_k})`$ and $`\overline{T_\omega }`$ commute on $`D(\overline{T_\omega })`$ for all $`B_k`$.

By (Q5) the representation $`𝒬`$ of $`𝔟`$ can be integrated to a unitary representation $`𝔔`$ of the corresponding connected, simply connected group $`G`$ on $``$ \[FS, Cor. 1\] which, according to (Q4), is irreducible. From the construction of coordinates of the second kind on $`𝔔(G)`$, the map $`𝐑^K𝔔(G)`$ given by

$$(t_1,\mathrm{},t_K)\mathrm{exp}(it_1\overline{B_1})\mathrm{}\mathrm{exp}(it_K\overline{B_K})$$

is a diffeomorphism of an open neighborhood of $`0𝐑^K`$ onto an open neighborhood of $`I𝔔(G)`$. Since $`𝔔(G)`$ is connected, the subgroup generated by such a neighborhood is all of $`𝔔(G)`$. It follows that as $`\overline{T_\omega }`$ commutes with each $`\mathrm{exp}(it_k\overline{B_k})`$, it commutes with every element of $`𝔔(G)`$. The unbounded version of Schur’s lemma \[Ro, (15.12)\] then implies that $`\overline{T_\omega }=\lambda I`$ for some constant $`\lambda `$ on $`D(\overline{T_\omega })=.`$ Since $`\overline{T_\omega }`$ is the smallest closed extension of $`T_\omega `$ and $`T_\omega T\overline{T}`$, we see that $`\overline{T}=\lambda I`$, whence $`T`$ itself is a constant multiple of the identity. $`\mathrm{}`$

## 3 An Algebraic No-Go Theorem

We first derive an algebraic obstruction to quantization. The idea is to compare the algebraic structures of Poisson algebras on the one hand with associative algebras of operators with the commutator bracket on the other.

###### Theorem 4

Let $`𝒫`$ be a unital Poisson subalgebra of $`C^{\mathrm{}}(M)`$ or $`C^{\mathrm{}}(M,𝐂)`$. If as a Lie algebra $`𝒫`$ is not commutative, it cannot be realized as an associative algebra with the commutator bracket.

Proof. To the contrary, let us assume that there is a Lie algebra isomorphism $`𝒬:𝒫𝒜`$ onto an associative algebra $`𝒜`$ with the commutator bracket. Let us take $`mM`$ and $`f,g𝒫`$ such that $`\{f,g\}(m)0`$. In particular, then, $`X_g(m)0`$. Replacing $`g`$ by $`gg(m)1`$, we can assume that $`g(m)=0`$. The Lie subalgebra $`𝒫_m=\{h𝒫|X_h(m)=0\}`$ is clearly of finite codimension in $`𝒫`$. Let us put $`L=ad^1(𝒫_m)=\{h𝒫|\{𝒫,h\}𝒫_m\}`$. Since $`𝒬(𝒫_m)`$ is a finite-codimensional Lie subalgebra of $`𝒜`$, there is a finite-codimensional two-sided associative ideal $`J`$ contained in $`ad^1(𝒬(𝒫_m))=𝒬(L)`$ \[Gra1, Prop. 2.1\]. But associative ideals are Lie ideals with respect to the commutator bracket! Hence $`𝒬^1(J)`$ is a finite-codimensional (say $`(l2)`$-codimensional) Lie ideal of $`𝒫`$ contained in $`L`$. In particular, some linear combination of $`g^2,g^3,\mathrm{},g^l`$, say $`\widehat{g}=g^k+_{i=k+1}^la_ig^i,`$ $`k2,`$ belongs to $`𝒬^1(J)`$. Then $`ad_f^{k2}\widehat{g}𝒬^1(J)L`$, where $`ad_f\widehat{g}:=\{f,\widehat{g}\}`$, and thus $`ad_f^{k1}\widehat{g}=ad_f(ad_f^{k2}\widehat{g})𝒫_m`$. But, as $`g(m)=0`$, an easy calculation gives

$$X_{ad_f^{k1}\widehat{g}}(m)=k!\{f,g\}^{k1}(m)X_g(m)0,$$

a contradiction. $`\mathrm{}`$

See \[Jo\] for complementary results regarding $`P(\mathrm{h}(2n))`$ vis-à-vis the Weyl algebra.

In §5 we will use this result to prove the nonexistence of polynomial quantizations of $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$ when $`𝔟`$ is nilpotent.

## 4 Nilpotent Basic Algebras

Let $`𝔟`$ be a nilpotent basic algebra on a $`2n`$-dimensional connected symplectic manifold $`M`$. Since by (B1) $`𝔟`$ is finitely generated and as every finitely generated nilpotent Lie algebra is finite-dimensional, \[Go2, Prop. 2\] shows that $`M`$ must be a coadjoint orbit in $`𝔟^{}`$. Now we have the “bundlization” results of Arnal *et al.* \[ACMP\], Pedersen \[Pe\], Vergne \[Ve\], and Wildberger \[Wi\], which assert:

###### Theorem 5

Let $`𝔟`$ be a finite-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebra. For each $`2n`$-dimensional coadjoint orbit $`O𝔟^{}`$, there exists a symplectomorphism (“bundlization”) $`\phi _O:T^{}𝐑^nO`$. We may consider $`b𝔟`$ as a (linear) function on $`𝔟^{}`$, and form $`\mathrm{\Phi }_O(b)=b|O\phi _O.`$ Then cotangent coordinates $`(q_1,\mathrm{},q_n,p_1,\mathrm{},p_n)`$ on $`T^{}𝐑^n`$ may be chosen in such a way that $`\mathrm{\Phi }_O(b)`$ has the form

$$\varphi _0p_1+\varphi _1(q_1)p_2+\mathrm{}+\varphi _{n1}(q_1,\mathrm{},q_{n1})p_n+\varphi _n(q_1,\mathrm{},q_n),$$
(1)   
where the $`\varphi _\alpha `$ are polynomials.

Thus we may assume that $`M=T^{}𝐑^n`$ and that $`𝔟`$ consists of elements of the form (1). See \[Gra2\] for an analogous characterization of transitive nilpotent Lie algebras of vector fields.

The canonical example of a nilpotent basic algebra on $`T^{}𝐑^n`$ is the Heisenberg algebra h$`(2n)=\mathrm{span}_𝐑\{1,q_\alpha ,p_\alpha |\alpha =1,\mathrm{},n\}.`$ It is not difficult to see from (1) that, up to isomorphism, h(2) is the only nilpotent *basic* algebra on $`T^{}𝐑`$. This is not true in higher dimensions, however:

$$𝔟=\mathrm{span}_𝐑\{1,q_1,p_2,q_1p_2+q_2,p_1\}$$

is a nilpotent basic algebra on $`T^{}𝐑^2`$ which is not isomorphic to h(4). Regardless, all nilpotent basic algebras on $`T^{}𝐑^n`$ enjoy the following property. We write $`𝐪=(q_1,\mathrm{},q_n)`$, etc.

###### Proposition 6

If $`𝔟`$ is a nilpotent basic algebra on $`T^{}𝐑^n`$, then as Poisson algebras $`P(𝔟)=𝐑[𝐪,𝐩].`$

*Proof.* That $`P(𝔟)𝐑[𝐪,𝐩]`$ is evident from Theorem 5. The opposite inclusion follows from an algorithm, developed in \[Pe, §5.4\], which constructs the $`\{q_\alpha ,p_\alpha |\alpha =1,\mathrm{},n\}`$ as polynomial functions of elements of a basis of $`𝔟`$. That $`P(𝔟)`$ and $`𝐑[𝐪,𝐩]`$ coincide as Lie algebras is due to the fact that the bundlization $`\phi _O`$ is a symplectomorphism or, equivalently, that the coordinates $`q_\alpha ,p_\alpha `$ are canonical. $`\mathrm{}`$

We will establish a quantum analogue of this result in the next section.

Recall that the central ascending series for $`𝔟`$ is

$$\{0\}=𝔟^0𝔟^1\mathrm{}𝔟^{\mathrm{}}=𝔟$$

for some positive integer $`\mathrm{}`$, where $`𝔟^{s+1}=ad^1(𝔟^s)`$. Then $`\{𝔟,𝔟^s\}𝔟^{s1}.`$ Also note that $`𝔟^1`$ is the center of $`𝔟`$ which, according to the transitivity condition in (B3), consists of constants. Choose a Jordan-Hölder basis $`\{b_1,\mathrm{},b_K\}`$ of $`𝔟`$. Then $`\{b_i,b_j\}=_{k=1}^Kc_{ij}^kb_k`$, where the structure constants $`c_{ij}^k=0`$ whenever $`k\mathrm{min}\{i,j\}`$. We take $`b_1=1.`$ We call the smallest integer $`N`$ such that $`b𝔟^{N+1}`$ the “nildegree” of $`b𝔟`$. Then nildeg$`(b_i)`$ nildeg$`(b_j)`$ whenever $`i<j.`$ The nildegree of a polynomial $`fP(𝔟)`$ is then the smallest integer $`N`$ such that

$$\left(ad(b_{i_1})\mathrm{}ad(b_{i_{N+1}})\right)f=0$$

for all $`i_1,\mathrm{},i_{N+1}\{1,\mathrm{},K\}.`$

## 5 Proof of Theorem 1 and Related Results

Before proving Theorem 1 we establish several results which are useful in their own right.

Let the basic algebra $`𝔟`$ be nilpotent. Fix a Lie subalgebra $`𝒪`$ of $`P(𝔟)`$ containing $`𝔟.`$ Suppose that $`𝒬:𝒪\mathrm{Op}(D)`$ is a quantization of $`(𝒪,𝔟)`$ on some invariant dense domain $`D`$ in a Hilbert space.

###### Proposition 7

$`𝒬`$ is injective.

*Proof.* Let $`L=\mathrm{ker}𝒬`$; then given $`gL`$, there is a $`k`$ such that $`g𝒪^k`$, where $`𝒪^k`$ is the subspace of $`𝒪`$ consisting of polynomials of nildegree at most $`k`$ in the elements of $`𝔟`$. Consider the adjoint representation of $`𝔟`$ on $`𝒪^kL.`$ (This makes sense as $`L`$ is a Lie ideal.) This is a nilrepresentation, so by Engel’s theorem \[NS, §X.2\] there exists a nonzero element $`f𝒪^kL`$ such that $`\{f,b\}=0`$ for all $`b𝔟.`$ But then transitivity implies that $`f`$ is a constant, which contradicts (Q2). Thus $`L=\{0\}`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

Thus condition (Q6) is actually redundant in the case of nilpotent basic algebras.

Let $`𝒜`$ be the associative algebra generated over $`𝐂`$ by $`\{𝒬(b)|b𝔟\}`$. The next result generalizes Proposition 6 to the quantum context.

###### Proposition 8

$`𝒜`$ is isomorphic to a Weyl algebra.<sup>1</sup><sup>1</sup>1 Recall that the Weyl algebra $`W(2k)`$ is the associative algebra over $`𝐂`$ generated by $`\{z_\alpha ,w_\beta |\alpha ,\beta =1,\mathrm{},k\}`$ and the relations $`[z_\alpha ,w_\beta ]=i\delta _{\alpha \beta }`$, $`[z_\alpha ,z_\beta ]=0=[w_\alpha ,w_\beta ]`$.

*Proof.* First we claim that the center of $`𝒜`$ is just $`𝐂I`$. Indeed, suppose $`[A,𝒬(b)]=0`$ for all $`b𝔟`$. Since by construction every $`A𝒜`$ has an adjoint, we may decompose $`A`$ into its symmetric $`A_s`$ and skew-symmetric $`A_a`$ components. Algebraic irreducibility then implies that the symmetric operators $`A_s`$ and $`iA_a`$ are both scalar multiples of the identity.

Next let $`\psi `$ be the homomorphism of the universal enveloping algebra $`U(𝒬(𝔟_𝐂))`$ into $`𝒜`$ determined by the inclusion $`𝒬(𝔟_𝐂)𝒜`$. Then $`J=\mathrm{ker}\psi `$ is a two-sided ideal in $`U(𝒬(𝔟_𝐂))`$. Clearly, $`\psi `$ is an epimorphism and thus $`U(𝒬(𝔟_𝐂))/J𝒜`$.

Since furthermore $`𝒬(𝔟_𝐂)`$ is nilpotent, the desired result now follows from \[Di, Thm. 4.7.9\]. $`\mathrm{}`$

By requiring $`𝒬`$ to be complex linear, we may view it as a quantization of the complexification $`𝒪_𝐂`$. We next prove that $`𝒬`$ maps $`𝒪_𝐂`$ into $`𝒜`$. That “polynomials quantize to polynomials” can be regarded as a generalized “Von Neumann rule,” cf. \[Go2\].

###### Proposition 9

$`𝒬(𝒪_𝐂)𝒜`$.

*Proof.* We argue inductively on the nildegree of $`f𝒪`$ that $`𝒬(f)𝒜`$. In nildegree 0 this follows immediately from transitivity and (Q2). Now suppose it is also true for polynomials in $`𝒪`$ of nildegree $`JN`$, and let $`f𝒪`$ have nildegree $`N+1`$. Then for each $`b𝔟,`$

$$[𝒬(f),𝒬(b)]=i\mathrm{}𝒬\left(\{f,b\}\right)𝒜$$

by (Q1) and the inductive hypothesis, since $`\text{nildeg}\left(\{f,b\}\right)<\text{nildeg}(f).`$ Thus the map

$$W[𝒬(f),W]$$

defines a derivation of the associative algebra $`𝒜`$. As it is well known that every derivation of a Weyl algebra is inner \[Di, §4.6.8\], by Proposition 1 there is thus an $`A𝒜`$ such that $`[𝒬(f),W]=[A,W]`$ for all $`W𝒜`$. Algebraic irreducibility then implies that the symmetric operator $`𝒬(f)`$ and the symmetric component $`A_s`$ of $`A`$ differ by a constant multiple of $`I`$. Thus the inductive step is proved and so $`𝒬(𝒪)`$, and hence $`𝒬(𝒪_𝐂)`$, are contained in $`𝒜`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

We are finally ready to show that there is no quantization of $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$. Set $`B_i=𝒬(b_i)`$. As $`𝒬(𝔟_𝐂)`$ is nilpotent, we may likewise define the nildegree of the $`B_i`$ etc.<sup>2</sup><sup>2</sup>2 This is so even though $`𝒬`$ need not be a nilrepresentation. Since $`𝒬`$ is faithful we have that nildeg$`(B_i)=`$ nildeg$`(b_i)`$.

*Proof of Theorem 1*. Suppose that $`𝒬:P(𝔟)\mathrm{Op}(D)`$ were a quantization of $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$. Let $`𝒫=P(𝔟)_𝐂`$. From Proposition 9 we know that $`𝒬(𝒫)𝒜`$, and from Proposition 7 we have that $`𝒬`$ is injective. Thus if we can show that $`𝒬`$ is surjective, then $`𝒬`$ will be a Lie algebra isomorphism of $`𝒫`$ onto $`𝒜`$, thereby contradicting Theorem 4.

To this end, we shall prove inductively that

1. If the monomial $`b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K}P(𝔟)`$ is of nildegree $`J`$, $`JN`$, then

$$𝒬(b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K})=𝒮(B_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}B_K^{r_K})+\mathrm{𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠}\mathrm{𝑜𝑓}\mathrm{𝑛𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒}<J,$$

where $`𝒮`$ denotes symmetrization over all factors.

We have already seen that condition ($`_0`$) holds. Now assume that $`b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K}`$ has nildegree $`N+1.`$ By (Q1),

$`[𝒬(b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K}),B_j]`$ $`=`$ $`i\mathrm{}𝒬\left(\{b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K},b_j\}\right)`$   
$`=`$ $`i\mathrm{}𝒬\left({\displaystyle \underset{l=1}{\overset{K}{}}}r_lb_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_l^{r_l1}\{b_l,b_j\}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K}\right)`$   
$`=`$ $`i\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \underset{l,m=1}{\overset{K}{}}}r_lc_{lj}^m𝒬\left(b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_m^{r_m+1}\mathrm{}b_l^{r_l1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K}\right)`$   
$`=`$ $`i\mathrm{}{\displaystyle \underset{l,m=1}{\overset{K}{}}}r_lc_{lj}^m𝒮(B_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}B_m^{r_m+1}\mathrm{}B_l^{r_l1}\mathrm{}B_K^{r_K})`$   
$`+\mathrm{𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠}\mathrm{𝑜𝑓}\mathrm{𝑛𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒}<N`$   
where the last equality follows from ($`_N`$), since

$`\text{nildeg}\left(c_{lj}^mb_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_m^{r_m+1}\mathrm{}b_l^{r_l1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K}\right)`$ $``$ $`\text{nildeg}\left(\{b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K},b_j\}\right)`$   
$`<`$ $`\text{nildeg}\left(b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K}\right).`$   
Furthermore, direct computation yields

$$[𝒮(B_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}B_K^{r_K}),B_j]=i\mathrm{}\underset{l,m=1}{\overset{K}{}}r_lc_{lj}^m𝒮(B_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}B_m^{r_m+1}\mathrm{}B_l^{r_l1}\mathrm{}B_K^{r_K}).$$

Consequently for each $`j=1,\mathrm{},K`$,

$$[𝒬(b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K})𝒮(B_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}B_K^{r_K}),B_j]=\mathrm{𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑦𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑎𝑙𝑠}\mathrm{𝑜𝑓}\mathrm{𝑛𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒}<N.$$

This implies that the polynomial $`𝒬(b_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}b_K^{r_K})𝒮(B_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}B_K^{r_K})𝒜`$ has nildegree at most $`N`$, and ($`_{N+1}`$) follows.

Applying ($`_N`$) recursively, we see that as the $`𝒮(B_1^{r_1}\mathrm{}B_K^{r_K})`$ form a basis for $`𝒜`$, $`𝒬`$ maps onto $`𝒜`$. $`\mathrm{}`$

Even though one cannot quantize *all* of $`P(𝔟)`$, it is possible to quantize ‘sufficiently small’ Lie subalgebras thereof (see, e.g. \[Go3\]). We emphasize that Propositions 79 are valid in this context. It is an open problem to determine the maximal quantizable Lie subalgebras of $`P(𝔟).`$

## 6 Solvable Basic Algebras

We have shown that there is an obstruction to quantizing symplectic manifolds with nilpotent basic algebras. It is also known that there is an obstruction to quantizing $`T^{}S^1`$ with the Euclidean basic algebra e(2), which is solvable \[GG1\]. Thus it is natural to wonder if the nilpotent no-go theorem extends to the solvable case. It turn out that it does *not*: We now show that there is a polynomial quantization of $`T^{}𝐑_+=\{(q,p)𝐑^2|q>0\}`$ with the “affine” basic algebra

$$\mathrm{a}(1)=\mathrm{span}_𝐑\{pq,q^2\}.$$

Upon writing $`x=pq,`$ $`y=q^2`$, the bracket relation becomes $`\{x,y\}=2y.`$ Thus a(1) is the simplest example of a solvable algebra which is not nilpotent. The corresponding polynomial algebra $`P=𝐑[x,y]`$ is free, and has the crucial feature that for each $`k0`$, the subspaces $`P_k`$ are *ad*-invariant, i.e.,

$$\{P_1,P_k\}P_k.$$
(2)   
(Here $`P_k`$ denotes the subspace of homogeneous polynomials of degree $`k`$ in $`x`$ and $`y`$, and $`P^k=_{l=0}^kP_l`$. Note that $`P_1=\mathrm{a}(1)`$). Because of this $`\{P_k,P_l\}P_{k+l1},`$ whence each $`P_{(k)}=_{lk}P_l`$ is a Lie ideal. We thus have the semidirect sum decomposition

$$P=P^1P_{(2)}.$$
(3)   
Now on to quantization. In view of (3), we can obtain a quantization $`𝒬`$ of $`P`$ simply by finding an appropriate representation of $`P^1=𝐑P_1`$ and setting $`𝒬(P_{(2)})=\{0\}`$!

The connected, simply connected covering group of a(1) is $`\mathrm{A}(1)_+=𝐑𝐑_+`$ with the composition law

$$(\nu ,\lambda )(\beta ,\delta )=(\nu +\lambda ^2\beta ,\lambda \delta ).$$

(A(1)<sub>+</sub> is isomorphic to the group of orientation-preserving affine transformations of the line, whence the terminology.) Since A(1)<sub>+</sub> is a semidirect product we can generate its unitary representations by induction. Following the recipe in \[BR, §17.1\] we obtain two one-parameter families of unitary representations $`U_\pm `$ of A(1)<sub>+</sub> on $`L^2(𝐑_+,dq/q)`$ given by

$$\left(U_\pm (\nu ,\lambda )\psi \right)(q)=e^{\pm i\mu \nu q^2}\psi (\lambda q)$$

with $`\mu >0.`$ We identify the parameter $`\mu `$ with $`\mathrm{}^1`$. According to Theorems 4 and 5 in \[BR, §17.1\] the remaining two representations (one for each choice of sign) are irreducible and inequivalent; moreover, up to equivalence these are the only nontrivial irreducible ones.

Let $`DL^2(𝐑_+,dq/q)`$ be the linear span of the functions $`\sqrt{q}h_k(q)`$, where the $`h_k`$ are the Hermite functions. Writing $`\pi _\pm =i\mathrm{}dU_\pm `$ we get the representation(s) of a(1) on the dense subspace $`D`$:

$$\pi _\pm (pq)=i\mathrm{}q\frac{d}{dq},\pi _\pm (q^2)=\pm q^2.$$

Extend these to $`P^1`$ by taking $`\pi _\pm (1)=I`$, and set $`𝒬_\pm =\pi _\pm 0`$ (cf. (3)). Clearly (Q1)–(Q3) hold, by construction (Q4) is satisfied, and $`𝒬_\pm \mathrm{a}(1)=\pi _\pm `$ is faithful. Finally, it is straightforward to verify that $`D`$ consists of analytic vectors for both $`\pi _\pm (pq)`$ and $`\pi _\pm (q^2)`$. Thus $`𝒬_\pm `$ are the required quantization(s) of $`(P,P_1)`$.

*Remarks.* 1. The $`+`$ quantization of a(1) is exactly what one obtains by geometrically quantizing $`T^{}𝐑_+`$ in the vertical polarization. Carrying this out, we get $`=L^2(𝐑_+,dq)`$ and

$$pqi\mathrm{}\left(q\frac{d}{dq}+\frac{1}{2}\right),q^2q^2.$$

The $`+`$ quantization is unitarily equivalent to this via the transformation $`L^2(𝐑_+,dq/q)L^2(𝐑_+,dq)`$ which takes $`f(q)f(q)/\sqrt{q}.`$

2. Note that $`\mathrm{a}(1)\text{sp}(2,𝐑)`$. In fact, the $`+`$ quantization is equivalent to the restrictions to a(1) of the metaplectic representations of sp$`(2,𝐑)`$ on both $`L_{\text{even}}^2(𝐑,dq)`$ and $`L_{\text{odd}}^2(𝐑,dq)`$ \[Go2, §5.1\].

3. Since $`𝒬(P_{(2)})=0`$, the quantization is somewhat ‘trivial.’ However, there are quantizations which are nonzero on $`P_{(2)}`$: for instance, set $`𝒬(x^k)=k𝒬(x)`$ for $`k>0`$, $`𝒬(x^ly)=𝒬(y)`$, and $`𝒬(x^ly^m)=0`$ for $`m>1.`$

4. Our quantization of $`T^{}𝐑_+`$ should be contrasted with that given in \[Is, §4.5\]. Also, we observe that this example is symplectomorphic to $`𝐑^2`$ with the basic algebra $`\mathrm{span}\{p,e^{2q}\}`$.

5. This is not the first example of a polynomial quantization; in \[Go1\] a quantization of the entire Poisson algebra of the torus was constructed. However, the basic algebra in that example was *infinite*-dimensional.

What makes this example work? After comparing it with other examples, it is evident that this polynomial quantization exists because we cannot decrease degree *in* $`P`$ by taking Poisson brackets. (That is, we have (2) as opposed to merely $`\{P_1,P_k\}P^k.`$) Based on this observation, it seems reasonable to suspect that there is an obstruction to quantizing $`(P(𝔟),𝔟)`$ iff it is possible to lower degree in $`P(𝔟)`$ by taking Poisson brackets. We shall pursue this line of investigation elsewhere (cf. also \[Go2\]).

We thank M. Gerstenhaber, B. Kaneshige, and N. Wildberger for providing us with helpful comments and references.