Schur $Q$-functions and the Capelli eigenvalue problem for the Lie superalgebra $\mathfrak q(n)$

Abstract

Let $\mathfrak l:= \mathfrak q(n)\times\mathfrak q(n)$, where $\mathfrak q(n)$ denotes the queer Lie superalgebra. The associative superalgebra $V$ of type $Q(n)$ has a left and right action of $\mathfrak q(n)$, and hence is equipped with a canonical $\mathfrak l$-module structure. We consider a distinguished basis $\{D_\lambda\}$ of the algebra of $\mathfrak l$-invariant super-polynomial differential operators on $V$, which is indexed by strict partitions of length at most $n$. We show that the spectrum of the operator $D_\lambda$, when it acts on the algebra $\mathscr P(V)$ of super-polynomials on $V$, is given by the factorial Schur $Q$-function of Okounkov and Ivanov. This constitutes a refinement and a new proof of a result of Nazarov, who computed the top-degree homogeneous part of the Harish-Chandra image of $D_\lambda$. As a further application, we show that the radial projections of the spherical super-polynomials corresponding to the diagonal symmetric pair $(\mathfrak l,\mathfrak m)$, where $\mathfrak m:=\mathfrak q(n)$, of irreducible $\mathfrak l$-submodules of $\mathscr P(V)$ are the classical Schur $Q$-functions.