Contact fundamental forms and adjoint varieties

Abstract

We introduce contact symbol systems, a noncommutative analogue of symbol systems for projective fundamental forms, by replacing the polynomial algebra on a vector space by the graded dual of the universal enveloping algebra of a Heisenberg algebra. For a complex projective submanifold equipped with a contact structure, we define contact fundamental forms and prove that, at a general point, they form a contact symbol system, which gives a contact version of the classical result due to E. Cartan. Conversely, we prove that every contact symbol system can be realized as the contact fundamental forms of a projective variety with a dense open Heisenberg orbit, called the Heisenberg-symmetric variety associated to the contact symbol system. We show that the closure of a projectivized nilpotent orbit in a simple Lie algebra is Heisenberg-symmetric if and only if it is the adjoint variety, namely, the projectivization of the minimal nilpotent orbit. For adjoint varieties of non-symplectic simple Lie algebras, we prove the contact analogue of the Landsberg--Manivel strict prolongation property by using Yamaguchi's prolongation theory.