Ubiquitous Lie polynomials in a two-generator universal enveloping algebra

Abstract

The universal enveloping algebra $\mathscr{U}$ of a two-dimensional nonabelian Lie algebra $L$ is a Lie algebra itself with the commutator as Lie bracket. There exists a presentation of $\mathscr{U}$ with generators $x,y$ and relation $xy-yx=x$ such that the Lie subalgebra of $\mathscr{U}$ generated by $x,y$ is isomorphic to $L$, which is only a two-dimensional vector subspace of the infinite-dimensional $\mathscr{U}$. Much then of the Lie structure of $\mathscr{U}$ is ubiquitous, yet unexamined when the characteristic of the scalar field is zero. In such a case, we show that there exists a linear complement of $L$ in $\mathscr{U}$ that contains an infinite-dimensional Lie subalgebra of $\mathscr{U}$ for which we give a presentation by generators and relations. We extend this Lie subalgebra into a filtration of $\mathscr{U}$.