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# On Orbit Closures of Symmetric Subgroups in Flag Varieties

Published:2000-04-01
Printed: Apr 2000
• Michel Brion
• Aloysius G. Helminck
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## Abstract

We study $K$-orbits in $G/P$ where $G$ is a complex connected reductive group, $P \subseteq G$ is a parabolic subgroup, and $K \subseteq G$ is the fixed point subgroup of an involutive automorphism $\theta$. Generalizing work of Springer, we parametrize the (finite) orbit set $K \setminus G \slash P$ and we determine the isotropy groups. As a consequence, we describe the closed (resp. affine) orbits in terms of $\theta$-stable (resp. $\theta$-split) parabolic subgroups. We also describe the decomposition of any $(K,P)$-double coset in $G$ into $(K,B)$-double cosets, where $B \subseteq P$ is a Borel subgroup. Finally, for certain $K$-orbit closures $X \subseteq G/B$, and for any homogeneous line bundle $\mathcal{L}$ on $G/B$ having nonzero global sections, we show that the restriction map $\res_X \colon H^0 (G/B, \mathcal{L}) \to H^0 (X, \mathcal{L})$ is surjective and that $H^i (X, \mathcal{L}) = 0$ for $i \geq 1$. Moreover, we describe the $K$-module $H^0 (X, \mathcal{L})$. This gives information on the restriction to $K$ of the simple $G$-module $H^0 (G/B, \mathcal{L})$. Our construction is a geometric analogue of Vogan and Sepanski's approach to extremal $K$-types.
 Keywords: flag variety, symmetric subgroup
 MSC Classifications: 14M15 - Grassmannians, Schubert varieties, flag manifolds [See also 32M10, 51M35] 20G05 - Representation theory