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# Series of Nilpotent orbits

## 1. Introduction

### 1.1. Main results

In this paper we explore consequences of the Tits-Freudenthal construction and its variant, the triality model, for nilpotent orbits in the exceptional complex simple Lie algebras. Both models produce a Lie algebra $`𝔤(𝔸,𝔹)`$ from a pair $`𝔸,𝔹`$ of real normed algebras. When $`𝔹=𝕆`$, one obtains the exceptional Lie algebras $`𝔣_4,𝔢_6,𝔢_7,𝔢_8`$, parametrized by the dimension $`a=1,2,4,8`$ of $`𝔸`$. In , the first two authors used the triality model to explain rather mysterious formulas obtained by Deligne for the dimensions of certain series of representations of the exceptional Lie algebras. In this paper, we show that the use of the parameter $`a`$ leads to several interesting observations for nilpotent orbits in the exceptional Lie algebras.

Let us begin with any nilpotent orbit $`𝒪`$ in $`𝔣_4`$. Thanks to the natural embeddings $`𝔰𝔬_8𝔣_4𝔢_6𝔢_7𝔢_8`$, we obtain a series of orbits $`𝒪_a`$ in these Lie algebras. Their weighted Dynkin diagrams can be obtained in the following way: each series of orbits is defined by a weight of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$, which, through the triality model, defines a weight, thus a weighted Dynkin diagram, for each exceptional Lie algebra. This is how we proved and generalized the dimension formulas of Deligne for series of representations whose highest weights came from $`𝔰𝔬_8`$ in . We prove, or check from the tables compiled in , that

* the dimension of $`𝒪_a`$ is a linear function of $`a`$,
* the stabilizers of points in $`𝒪_a`$ have unipotent radicals of dimension again linear in $`a`$, while their reductive parts organize into simple series,
* the closure of $`𝒪_a`$ can be desingularized by a homogeneous vector bundle, whose dimensions of the base and of the fiber, are both linear in $`a`$,
* the number of $`𝔽_q`$-rational points on $`𝒪_a`$, for large $`q`$, is given by a polynomial in $`q`$ with a uniform expression in $`a`$,
* the unipotent characters of the finite groups of exceptional Lie type, associated to the orbits $`𝒪_a`$ through the Springer correspondence, have degrees given by polynomials that, when suitably expressed as rational functions, have uniform expressions in $`a`$.

This last fact, which is true only for $`a2`$, is the most mysterious observation of this paper, and we would like very much to have a theoretical explanation.

We observe similar phenomena for the other lines of Freudenthal’s square i.e., for the series of Lie algebras $`𝔤(𝔸,𝔹)`$ when $`𝔹`$ is $`,`$ or $``$, and also for the classical Lie algebras. In fact, a few orbits are universal (or almost universal), in the sense that they appear in every (or almost every) simple Lie algebra. We discuss certain properties of these orbits in connection with the work of Vogel and Deligne around the “universal Lie algebra”, and also with the more geometric investigations of .

### 1.2. The Freudenthal-Tits construction

We recall Tits’ construction of the exceptional Lie algebras in terms of real normed algebras .

Let $`𝔸`$ a be a real normed algebra, so that $`𝔸=,,`$ or $`𝕆`$, the Cayley algebra, and let $`a:=\mathrm{dim}𝔸=1,2,4`$ or $`8`$. The conjugation (i.e., the orthogonal symmetry with respect to the unit element) will be denoted by $`uu^{}`$. The subspace of $`𝔸`$ defined by the equation $`u^{}=u`$ is the orthogonal $`Im𝔸`$ of the unit element. Let $`𝒥_3(𝔸)`$ denote the Jordan algebra of Hermitian matrices of order three, with coefficients in $`𝔸`$. The subspace of traceless matrices is denoted $`𝒥_3(𝔸)_0`$.

Now let $`𝔸`$ and $`𝔹`$ be two real normed algebras, and let

$$𝔤(𝔸,𝔹)=Der𝔸\times Der𝒥_3(𝔹)\mathrm{}(Im𝔸\mathrm{}𝒥_3(𝔹)_0).$$

There is a natural structure of $`_2`$-graded Lie algebra on $`𝔤(𝔸,𝔹)`$.

A useful variant of this construction is the triality model, first discovered by Allison , and recently rediscovered by several authors (see e.g., ). Define the triality algebra

$$𝔱(𝔸)=\{\theta =(\theta _1,\theta _2,\theta _3)𝔰𝔬(𝔸)^3,\theta _3(xy)=\theta _1(x)y+x\theta _2(y)x,y𝔸\}.$$

We have $`𝔱()=0`$, $`𝔱()=^2`$, $`𝔱()=𝔰𝔬_3\times 𝔰𝔬_3\times 𝔰𝔬_3`$ and $`𝔱(𝕆)=𝔰𝔬_8`$.

For $`𝔸`$ and $`𝔹`$ two real normed algebras, let

$$\stackrel{~}{𝔤}(𝔸,𝔹)=𝔱(𝔸)\times 𝔱(𝔹)(𝔸_1\mathrm{}𝔹_1)(𝔸_2\mathrm{}𝔹_2)(𝔸_3\mathrm{}𝔹_3).$$

Then there is a natural structure of $`_2\times _2`$-graded semi-simple Lie algebra on $`\stackrel{~}{𝔤}(𝔸,𝔹)`$.

In what follows we will work over the complex numbers and complexify the whole construction without changing notations. We just have a new conjugation map $`x\mathrm{}\overline{x}`$ in $`𝕆`$ (which now denotes the complexified Cayley algebra) such that $`\overline{xy}=\overline{x}\times \overline{y}`$.

The result of both constructions is Freudenthal’s magic square:

|  | $``$ | $``$ | $``$ | $`𝕆`$ |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| $``$ | $`𝔰𝔩_2`$ | $`𝔰𝔩_3`$ | $`𝔰𝔭_6`$ | $`𝔣_4`$ |
| $``$ | $`𝔰𝔩_3`$ | $`𝔰𝔩_3\times 𝔰𝔩_3`$ | $`𝔰𝔩_6`$ | $`𝔢_6`$ |
| $``$ | $`𝔰𝔭_6`$ | $`𝔰𝔩_6`$ | $`𝔰𝔬_{12}`$ | $`𝔢_7`$ |
| $`𝕆`$ | $`𝔣_4`$ | $`𝔢_6`$ | $`𝔢_7`$ | $`𝔢_8`$ |

### 1.3. The exceptional series

Letting $`𝔹=𝕆`$ in the magic square, we obtain exceptional Lie algebras of types $`𝔣_4,𝔢_6,𝔢_7`$ and $`𝔢_8`$.

An important fact for what follows is the observation (, page 68) that there is a preferred cone $`𝒞`$ in the weight lattice of $`𝔱(𝕆)=𝔰𝔬_8`$ defined by the condition that a weight in $`𝒞`$ is dominant and integral when considered as a weight of each of the four Lie algebras $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)𝔰𝔬_8`$. This cone is generated by the four following weights of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$:

$$\omega (𝔤)=\omega _2,\omega (𝔤_2)=\omega _1+\omega _3+\omega _4,\omega (𝔤_3)=2\omega _1+2\omega _3,\omega (𝔤_Q)=2\omega _1.$$

(The representations we denote by $`𝔤,𝔤_2,𝔤_3,𝔤_Q`$ are denoted $`X_1,X_2,X_3,Y_2^{}`$ in .)

The following table contains the expressions of these four weights in terms of the fundamental weights of each exceptional Lie algebra.

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}& 𝔣_4& 𝔢_6& 𝔢_7& 𝔢_8\\ \hfill \omega (𝔤)& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}\\ & & & & \\ \hfill \omega (𝔤_2)& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}\\ & & & & \\ \hfill \omega (𝔤_3)& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}\\ & & & & \\ \hfill \omega (𝔤_Q)& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}\end{array}$$

## 2. Nilpotent orbits in the exceptional series

### 2.1. Series of nilpotent orbits

Since $`Der𝒥_3(𝕆)=𝔣_4`$ is a subalgebra of $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ for all $`𝔸`$, every nilpotent orbit in $`𝔣_4`$ defines a nilpotent orbit $`𝒪_a`$ in $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$, of the corresponding adjoint Lie group. More generally, any element of $`𝔣_4`$ defines a series of orbits in the Lie algebras $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$.

###### Proposition 2.1.

For any element of $`𝔣_4`$, the dimension of its orbit $`𝒪_a`$ in $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$, is a linear function of $`a`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`X`$ belong to $`𝔣_4`$, and let’s denote its centralizer by $`c(X)𝔣_4`$. The centralizer $`c(X)_a`$ of $`X`$ in $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ is $`Der𝔸\times c(X)\mathrm{}Im𝔸\mathrm{}k(X)`$, where $`k(X)𝒥_3(𝕆)_0`$ denotes the subspace annihilated by $`X`$. The codimension of this centralizer is obviously a linear function of $`a`$. Since it is equal to the dimension of the orbit $`𝒪_a`$ of $`X`$ in $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$, our claim is proved. ∎

Now we suppose that $`X𝔣_4`$ is nilpotent, and we complete it into a $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple $`(X,Y,H)`$ of $`𝔣_4`$. The reductive part of $`c(X)_a`$ is the centralizer $`𝔥(a):=c(X,Y,H)_a`$ of the full $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple (, Proposition 5.5.9). Moreover, the decomposition of the adjoint action of $`H`$ into eigenspaces is

$$𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)=\underset{i}{}𝔤(a,i),$$

with $`[𝔤(a,i),𝔤(a,j)]𝔤(a,i+j)`$. In particular, $`𝔤(a,0)`$ is a subalgebra, and each $`𝔤(a,i)`$ is a $`𝔤(a,0)`$-module. Note that $`𝔤(a,0)`$ contains $`𝔥(a)`$.

###### Proposition 2.2.

For every nilpotent orbit $`𝒪_1`$ in $`𝔣_4`$, let again $`𝒪_a`$ denote the corresponding series of nilpotent orbits in $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$. The dimension of the nilpotent radical $`𝔯(a)`$ of the stabilizer of an element of $`𝒪_a`$ is a linear function of $`a`$. For any $`i0`$, the dimension of the $`i`$-th part $`𝔤(a,i)`$ of the induced gradation of $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ is a linear function of $`a`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`X𝒪_1𝔣_4`$ be nilpotent, and $`(X,Y,H)`$ a $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple of $`𝔣_4`$. If $`k(X,Y,H)=k(X)k(Y)k(H)`$, the centralizer of the $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple is

$$c(X,Y,H)_a=Der𝔸\times c(X,Y,H)_1\mathrm{}Im𝔸\mathrm{}k(X,Y,H),$$

whose codimension in $`c(X)_a`$ is a linear function of $`a`$. Since this is the reductive part $`𝔥(a)`$ of this centralizer, its codimension is equal to the dimension of the nilpotent radical $`𝔯(a)`$ of $`c(X)_a`$, and our first claim is proved.

For the second claim, we just note that for $`i0`$, $`𝔤(a,i)=𝔤(0,i)\mathrm{}Im𝔸𝔨(i)`$, where $`𝔨(i)𝒥_3(𝕆)_0`$ is the $`i`$-th eigenspace of the $`H`$-action. (We thank E. Vinberg for these observations.) ∎

Remark. Note that since $`𝔥(a)`$ centralizes the $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple, $`𝔥(a)\times 𝔰𝔩_2`$ is naturally a subalgebra of $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ which can be decomposed into

$$𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)=\underset{k0}{}𝔤^{}(a,k)\mathrm{}[k],$$

where $`[k]`$ denotes the irreducible $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-module of dimension $`k+1`$, and $`𝔤^{}(a,k)`$ is a $`𝔥(a)`$-module. In particular, $`𝔤^{}(a,0)=𝔥(a)`$. By elementary properties of the representation theory of $`𝔰𝔩_2`$, the dimension of $`𝔤^{}(a,k)`$ is $`\mathrm{dim}𝔤(a,k)\mathrm{dim}𝔤(a,k+2)`$, and is again a linear function of $`a`$ for $`k0`$.

Recall that the nilpotent orbits can be classified by combinatorial data as follows: If $`X`$ belongs to some nilpotent orbit $`𝒪`$, we include it into a $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple $`(X,Y,H)`$. The semi-simple element $`H`$ can be supposed to belong to a given Cartan subalgebra $`𝔱`$, and a set of simple roots $`\mathrm{\Delta }`$ can be chosen such that $`\alpha (H)`$ is a non negative integer for all $`\alpha \mathrm{\Delta }`$. The collection of these integers, or the corresponding weighted Dynkin diagram, uniquely defines the nilpotent orbit $`𝒪`$.

To understand the weighted Dynkin diagrams of a series $`𝒪_a`$ of nilpotent orbits in the exceptional Lie algebras, it is convenient to use the triality model $`\stackrel{~}{𝔤}(𝔸,𝕆)`$ rather than the more classical Tits-Freudenthal construction. Beginning with $`𝔸=`$, we have

$$𝔣_4=\stackrel{~}{𝔤}(,𝕆)=𝔰𝔬_8\mathrm{}𝕆_1\mathrm{}𝕆_2\mathrm{}𝕆_3.$$

A Cartan subalgebra $`𝔱`$ of $`𝔣_4`$ can be chosen inside $`𝔰𝔬_8`$. We use the notations of  for the root system of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$ and choose the same simple roots. The roots of $`𝔣_4`$ are then given by those of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$, plus the weights of the three inequivalent eight-dimensional representations $`𝕆_1`$, $`𝕆_2`$, $`𝕆_3`$. We get a set of positive roots by choosing a linear form on $`𝔱^{}`$ of the form $`\mathrm{}=\mathrm{}_1\alpha _1^{}+\mathrm{}_2\alpha _2^{}+\mathrm{}_3\alpha _3^{}+\mathrm{}_4\alpha _4^{}`$, with $`\mathrm{}_1>\mathrm{}_2>\mathrm{}_3>\mathrm{}_4>0`$. The three representations $`𝕆_1`$, $`𝕆_2`$, $`𝕆_3`$ have highest weight $`\omega _1`$, $`\omega _3`$, $`\omega _4`$ respectively, and their minimal weights on which $`\mathrm{}`$ is positive are $`\varphi _1=\omega _3\omega _4`$, $`\varphi _2=\omega _1\omega _4`$, $`\varphi _3=\omega _1\omega _3`$ respectively. The simple roots of $`𝔣_4`$ must either be simple roots of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$, or among these three minimal weights. Since $`\varphi _3=\varphi _1+\varphi _2`$, $`\alpha _3=\alpha _4+2\varphi _1`$ and $`\alpha _1=\alpha _3+2\varphi _4`$, the simple roots of $`𝔣_4`$ must be $`\alpha _2,\alpha _4,\varphi _1`$ and $`\varphi _2`$. Note that our four preferred weights $`\omega (𝔤)`$, $`\omega (𝔤_2)`$, $`\omega (𝔤_3)`$, $`\omega (𝔤_Q)`$ of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$ provide us with the dual basis.

Now let $`𝔸`$ be any real normed algebra (complexified). A Cartan subalgebra of $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ is given by the sum of the Cartan subalgebra $`𝔱`$ of $`𝔱(𝕆)=𝔰𝔬_8`$, and a Cartan subalgebra of $`𝔱(𝔸)`$. The root system of $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ is the union of the roots systems of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$ and $`𝔱(𝔸)`$, plus the weights of the form $`\mu +\nu `$, for $`\mu `$ a weight of some $`𝕆_i`$, and $`\nu `$ a weight of $`𝔸_i`$. The positive roots can be chosen to be the positive roots of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$ and $`𝔱(𝔸)`$, plus the weights $`\mu +\nu `$ for which $`\mathrm{}(\mu )>0`$. The simple roots of $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ are then either simple roots of $`𝔰𝔬_8`$, of $`𝔱(𝔸)`$ (we denote them by $`\alpha _j^{}`$), or some of the $`\varphi _i\omega _i^{}`$, where $`\omega _i^{}`$ is the highest weight of $`𝔸_i`$ (and $`\omega _i^{}`$ its lowest weight, since $`𝔸_i`$ is self-dual). Since $`S^2𝔸_i`$ contains the trivial representation, $`2\omega _i^{}`$ must belong to the root lattice of $`𝔱(𝔸)`$, as well as $`\omega _1^{}+\omega _2^{}+\omega _3^{}`$ because there is an equivariant map $`𝔸_1\mathrm{}𝔸_2\mathrm{}𝔸_3`$. We easily deduce that exactly as in the case of $`𝔣_4`$, $`\varphi _3\omega _3^{}`$, $`\alpha _1`$ and $`\alpha _3`$ cannot be simple roots. The simple roots of $`\stackrel{~}{𝔤}(𝔸,𝕆)`$ are therefore given by $`\alpha _2,\alpha _4`$, the $`\alpha _j^{}`$’s, $`\varphi _1\omega _1^{}`$ and $`\varphi _2\omega _2^{}`$.

For a $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple $`(X,Y,H)`$ in $`𝔣_4=𝔤(,𝕆)`$, defining a nilpotent orbit $`𝒪_a`$ in $`\stackrel{~}{𝔤}(𝔸,𝕆)`$, the labels of the corresponding Dynkin diagram will be $`\alpha _2(H)`$, $`\alpha _4(H)`$, $`\alpha _j^{}(H)=0`$, $`\varphi _1(H)`$ and $`\varphi _2(H)`$, i.e., exactly the same labels as those of $`𝒪_1`$, plus some zeros on the simple roots coming from $`𝔱(𝔸)`$. We conclude:

###### Proposition 2.3.

Let the nilpotent orbit $`𝒪_1`$ in $`𝔣_4`$ define a series $`𝒪_a`$ of nilpotent orbits in the exceptional Lie algebras. Suppose that the weighted Dynkin diagram of $`𝒪_1`$ defines the weight $`p\omega (𝔤)+q\omega (𝔤_2)+r\omega (𝔤_3)+s\omega (𝔤_Q)`$. Then this remains true for the weighted Dynkin diagrams of each of the nilpotent orbits $`𝒪_a`$.

We encode the corresponding series by the symbol $`𝔤^p𝔤_2^q𝔤_3^r𝔤_Q^s`$. With this convention, the Hasse diagram of nilpotent orbits in $`𝔣_4`$ (see e.g., , p. 440), is given by the following picture:

Hasse diagram of nilpotent orbits in $`𝔣_4`$

Example. The series of nilpotent orbits $`𝔤𝔤_3𝔤_Q^2`$ will be given by the following four weighted Dynkin diagrams:

### 2.2. Series of stabilizers

For each series $`𝒪_a`$, we proved in Proposition 2.2 that the codimension of the centralizer, and the dimension of the nilpotent radical $`𝔯(a)`$, are linear functions of $`a`$. In this section we provide explicit data for each series of orbits. We also give the reductive parts $`𝔥(a)`$ of these centralizers, and observe they organize into series of Lie algebras. Most of these are either given by the other series $`𝔤(𝔸,𝔹)`$ of Freudenthal’s square, the derivation algebras $`𝒟er𝔸`$, the triality algebras $`𝔱(𝔸)=𝒟er𝔸\mathrm{}\mathrm{\hspace{0.17em}2}\mathrm{Im}𝔸`$, or the intermediate series $`𝔩(𝔸)=𝒟er𝔸\mathrm{}\mathrm{Im}𝔸`$ of Barton and Sudbery (, page 13).

Another series that appears is the inf-Severi series $`𝔨(𝔸)`$. It has two preferred representations $`V(a)`$ and $`W(a)`$, respectively of dimensions $`2a`$ and $`a+2`$. Geometrically, let $`X(a)`$ be one of the four Severi varieties, which is homogeneous under the action of the adjoint group of $`𝔤(𝔸,)`$ . Then $`𝔨(𝔸)`$ is the reductive part of the Lie algebra of the stabilizer of a point in $`X(a)`$, $`V(a)`$ is the isotropy representation, and $`W(a)`$ is the complement of the Cartan square of $`V(a)^{}`$ in $`S^2V(a)^{}`$ (except when $`a=1`$, in which case it is equal to this Cartan square).

These series of Lie algebras are given by:

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}\hfill 𝔸& & & & 𝕆\\ \hfill 𝒟er𝔸& 0& 0& 𝔰𝔩_2& 𝔤_2\\ \hfill 𝔩(𝔸)& 0& & 2𝔰𝔩_2& 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔫_7\\ \hfill 𝔱(𝔸)& 0& 2& 3𝔰𝔩_2& 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔫_8\\ \hfill 𝔨(𝔸)& 𝔰𝔩_2& 𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔤𝔩_2& 𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔩_4& 𝔰𝔭𝔦𝔫_{10}\end{array}$$

Most of the data below have been gathered from the tables in . We refer to each series of orbits by its label $`𝔤^p𝔤_2^q𝔤_3^r𝔤_Q^s`$. Then we provide the series of labels used in the tables of : in general four of them, encoding the four orbits in $`𝔣_4`$, $`𝔢_6`$, $`𝔢_7`$, $`𝔢_8`$; sometimes five, when the series comes from $`𝔰𝔬_8𝔣_4`$, in which case we also provide the partition of $`8`$ encoding the corresponding orbit (actually sometimes a trialitarian triple of orbits) in $`𝔰𝔬_8`$, which corresponds to $`a=0`$.

Remark. If an $`𝔰𝔬_8`$ orbit is symmetric about its folding, it also occurs in $`𝔤_2`$, and its dimension is given by the same formula with $`a=2/3`$. This occurs for the orbits labelled $`𝔤,𝔤_2,𝔤^2,𝔤^2𝔤_2^2`$. Similarly, the formulas for $`𝔤`$ extend to both $`𝔰𝔩_2`$ and $`𝔰𝔩_3`$ with $`a=4/3`$ and $`a=1`$, respectively, and $`𝔤^2`$ extends also to $`𝔰𝔩_3`$. That these Lie algebras should be incorporated in the exceptional series was already observed in .

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=6a+10\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=6a+9\hfill \\ [(2^21^4),A_1,A_1,A_1,A_1]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=3𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔭_6,𝔰𝔩_6,𝔰𝔬_{12},𝔢_7\hfill \end{array}$$

This is the minimal nilpotent orbit, the cone over the adjoint variety. Here $`𝔥(a)=𝔤(𝔸,)`$, $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔤(𝔸,)\times `$, $`𝔤(a,1)=𝔷_2(𝔸)`$, the Zorn representation (see for example ), and $`𝔤(a,2)=`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤_Q\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=10a+12\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=9a+6\hfill \\ [(2222),\stackrel{~}{A_1},2A_1,2A_1,2A_1]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔬_5,𝔰𝔩_4,𝔠𝔬_7,𝔰𝔬_9\times 𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔬_{13}\hfill \end{array}$$

We denoted by $`𝔠𝔬_n=𝔰𝔬_n\times `$ the conformal Lie algebra. Here $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔠𝔬_3,𝔠𝔬_7,𝔠𝔬_8,𝔠𝔬_{10}\times 𝔰𝔩_2,𝔠𝔬_{14}`$ respectively, $`𝔤(a,1)`$ is a spin representation of dimension $`8a`$, and for $`a>0`$, $`𝔤(a,2)`$ is the standard vector representation, of dimension $`a+6`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤_2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=12a+16\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=9a+9\hfill \\ [(3221),A_1+\stackrel{~}{A_1},3A_1,3A_1,3A_1]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔩_3,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔭_6,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔣_4\hfill \end{array}$$

This is the series of orbits discussed by Panyushev in . Here $`𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔤(𝔸,)`$ and $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔤(𝔸,)\times 𝔤𝔩_2`$. If $`U`$ denotes the natural two-dimensional representation of this $`𝔤𝔩_2`$, we have $`𝔤(a,1)=𝒥_3(𝔸)U`$, $`𝔤(a,2)=𝒥_3(𝔸)`$, and $`𝔤(a,3)=U`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=12a+18\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=6a+8\hfill \\ [\left(3311\right),A_2,A_2,A_2,A_2]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=2,𝔰𝔩_3,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}𝔰𝔩_3,𝔰𝔩_6,𝔢_6\hfill \end{array}$$

This is the $`a=2`$ line of the Freudenthal square, that is $`𝔥(a)=𝔤(𝔸,)`$. Moreover, since this is the orbit $`𝔤^2`$, the induced grading is the same as in the case of the minimal nilpotent orbit, with indices doubled: $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔤(𝔸,)\times `$, $`𝔤(a,1)=0`$, $`𝔤(a,2)=𝔷_2(𝔸)`$, $`𝔤(a,3)=0`$, $`𝔤(a,4)=`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤_3\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=16a+18\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=9a+6\hfill \\ [A_2+\stackrel{~}{A_1},A_2+2A_1,A_2+2A_1,A_2+2A_1]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤𝔩_2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}3}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔬_7\hfill \end{array}$$

Here $`𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔩(a)`$. Moreover, $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔤𝔩_3\times 𝔨(𝔸)`$, where $`𝔨(𝔸)`$ is the inf-Severi series discussed above. Let $`U`$ denote the natural representation of $`𝔤𝔩_3`$. Then $`𝔤(a,1)=UV(a)`$, $`𝔤(a,2)=U^{}\mathrm{}W(a)`$, $`𝔤(a,3)=V(a)`$ and $`𝔤(a,4)=U`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤^2𝔤_Q\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=16a+20\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=5a+5\hfill \\ [(44),B_2,A_3,A_3,A_3]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔠𝔬_5,𝔰𝔬_7\times 𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔬_{11}\hfill \end{array}$$

Here $`𝔤(a,0)=2𝔤𝔩_2,𝔠𝔬_5,𝔤𝔩_4\times ^2,𝔤𝔩_2\times 𝔠𝔬_8,𝔠𝔬_{12}\times `$ respectively. Moreover, $`𝔤(a,1)`$ and $`𝔤(a,3)`$ have dimension $`4a`$, $`𝔤(a,2)`$ and $`𝔤(a,4)`$ have dimension $`a+4`$, and $`𝔤(a,5)`$ is one-dimensional. For $`a=1`$ we get representations of dimensions $`4`$ and $`5`$, in accordance with the exceptional isomorphism $`𝔰𝔬_5𝔰𝔭_4`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤_Q^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=18a+12\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=8a\hfill \\ [\stackrel{~}{A}_2,2A_2,2A_2,2A_2]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=𝔤_2,𝔤_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔤_2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}𝔤_2\hfill \end{array}$$

For this case $`𝔥(a)=𝒟er𝔸\times 𝒟er𝕆`$, a product of derivation algebras. The grading is the doubling of the grading for $`𝔤_Q`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤_2𝔤_Q\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=18a+18\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=8a+5\hfill \\ [\stackrel{~}{A_2}+A_1,2A_2+A_1,2A_2+A_1,2A_2+A_1]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔤_2\hfill \end{array}$$

In this case $`𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝒟er𝔸`$. Moreover, $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔰𝔩_2\times ^2\times 𝔨(a)`$, with the notations of the series $`𝔤_3`$, and $`𝔤(a,1)=UW(a)\mathrm{}V(a)`$ has dimension $`4a+4`$, $`𝔤(a,2)=UV(a)\mathrm{}`$ has dimension $`4a+1`$, $`𝔤(a,3)=U\mathrm{}V(a)`$ has dimension $`2a+2`$, $`𝔤(a,4)=W(a)`$ and $`𝔤(a,5)=U`$, the natural representation of $`𝔰𝔩_2`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤𝔤_3\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=18a+20\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=7a+4\hfill \\ [C_3(a_1),A_3+A_1,\stackrel{~}{A_3}+\stackrel{~}{A_1},A_3+A_1]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤𝔩_2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}3}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔬_7\hfill \end{array}$$

This case is similar to the previous one, since $`𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔩(𝔸)`$ and $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔰𝔩_2\times \times 𝔨(𝔸)`$. But the induced grading is different: $`𝔤(a,1)=U\mathrm{}U\mathrm{}V(a)`$, $`𝔤(a,2)=V(a)\mathrm{}W(a)`$, $`𝔤(a,3)=U\mathrm{}W(a)`$, $`𝔤(a,4)=V(a)`$, $`𝔤(a,5)=U`$ and $`𝔤(a,6)=`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤_2^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=18a+22\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=6a+6\hfill \\ [(53),F_4(a_3),D_4(a_1),D_4(a_1),D_4(a_1)]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=0,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}0},\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2},\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}3}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔬_8\hfill \end{array}$$

Note that $`𝔥(a)=𝔱(𝔸)`$, the triality algebra. The induced grading is the same as for the series $`𝔤_2`$ only with indices doubled.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤^2𝔤_2^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=18a+24\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a+4\hfill \\ [(71),B_3,D_4,D_4,D_4]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=0,𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_3,𝔰𝔭_6,𝔣_4\hfill \end{array}$$

This is the line $`a=1`$ of the Freudenthal square, that is $`𝔥(a)=𝔤(𝔸,)`$.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤𝔤_3𝔤_Q^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=22a+20\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=4a+3\hfill \\ [C_3,A_5,\stackrel{~}{A_5},A_5]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔤_2\hfill \end{array}$$

Here $`𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝒟er𝔸`$. Moreover, $`𝔤(a,0)=𝔰𝔩_2\times ^3\times 𝒟er𝔸`$, and the induced grading has ten non-zero terms in positive degrees.

$$\begin{array}{cc}𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=22a+22\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=4a+4\hfill \\ [F_4(a_2),E_6(a_3),E_6(a_3),E_6(a_3)]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=0,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}0},𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤_2\hfill \\ & \\ 𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=22a+24\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a+3\hfill \\ [F_4(a_1),D_5,D_5,D_5]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=0,,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}2}𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔬_7\hfill \\ & \\ 𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=24a+24\hfill \\ & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=2a+2\hfill \\ [F_4,E_6,E_6,E_6]\hfill & 𝔥(a)=0,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}0},𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤_2\hfill \end{array}$$

We see that $`𝔥(a)=𝒟er𝔸`$ for the two series $`𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2`$ and $`𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2`$, and that $`𝔥(a)`$ is given by the intermediate series $`𝔩(𝔸)`$ in the case of $`𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2`$.

### 2.3. Desingularizations of orbit closures

Given a $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triple $`(X,H,Y)`$ in a simple complex Lie algebra $`𝔤`$, a resolution of singularities for the orbit closure $`\overline{GX}`$ of the adjoint group $`G`$ can be obtained as follows (see ): let $`𝔪=\mathrm{}_{i2}𝔤(i)`$, $`𝔭=\mathrm{}_{i0}𝔤(i)`$, let $`PG`$ be the parabolic subgroup with Lie algebra $`𝔭`$. Then $`𝔪`$ is a $`P`$-module, and the “collapsing”

$$\begin{array}{ccc}G\times _P𝔪& \mathrm{}& \overline{GX}𝔤\\ & & \\ G/P& & \end{array}$$

is a resolution of singularities. Here, as usual, $`G\times _P𝔪`$ denotes the homogeneous vector bundle over the projective variety $`G/P`$, whose fiber at the base point $`P/P`$ is the $`P`$-module $`𝔪`$. This manifold can also be defined as the quotient of the product $`G\times 𝔪`$ by the equivalence relation $`(g,m)(gp^1,p.m)`$, where $`pP`$, so that the product map $`(g,m)g.m𝔤`$ descends to $`G\times _P𝔪`$.

Now, if $`(X,H,Y)`$ defines a series $`𝒪_a`$ of nilpotent orbits in $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$, we observed that each eigenspace $`𝔤(a,i)`$ of $`ad(H)`$ for the eigenvalue $`i0`$, so a fortiori $`𝔪(a)=_{i2}𝔤(a,i)`$, has a dimension which is linear in $`a`$. This implies that the closure of $`𝒪_a`$ is birational to a homogeneous vector bundle whose fiber and base are both of dimension linear in $`a`$.

Note that in most cases the orbit $`𝒪_a`$ is even, meaning that the associated weighted Dynkin diagram has only even weights. Such an orbit is a Richardson orbit, and the desingularization above of its closure is simply given by the cotangent bundle $`T^{}G/P`$.

For another nice situation, consider an orbit $`\overline{GX}`$ corresponding to an $`𝔰𝔩_2`$ triple $`(X,H,Y)`$ such that $`H=H_\beta `$ for some simple root $`\beta `$. Suppose that $`H`$ defines a $`5`$-step grading of $`𝔤`$, which means that the coefficient of the highest root $`\stackrel{~}{\alpha }`$ over $`\beta `$ equals two. Let $`P_\beta `$ denote the standard maximal parabolic subgroup of $`G`$ defined by $`\beta `$. Consider $`\stackrel{~}{\alpha }`$ as a weight of $`P_\beta `$ and denote by $`E_\beta (\stackrel{~}{\alpha })`$ the associated irreducible vector bundle on $`G/P_\beta `$. Then the desingularisation of $`\overline{GX}`$ is

$$\begin{array}{ccc}E_\beta (\stackrel{~}{\alpha })& \mathrm{}& \overline{GX}𝔤\\ & & \\ G/P_\beta & & \end{array}$$

Recall from  that the adjoint variety $`X_{ad}𝔤`$ is uniruled by the shadows of $`G/P_\beta `$, a family of homogeneous varieties parametrized by $`G/P_\beta `$. These shadows are determined pictorially by deleting $`\beta `$ from the Dynkin diagram of $`𝔤`$ with the adjoint marking (when the adjoint representation is fundamental, this just means that we mark the node of the corresponding fundamental weight). Then the projectivization of $`\overline{GX}`$ is the union of the linear spans of the shadows, and the vector bundle $`E_\beta (\stackrel{~}{\alpha })`$ is the family of the associated vector subspaces of $`𝔤`$. (Special cases of this were observed in .) This phenomenon occurs uniformly for the series $`𝔤_Q`$.

### 2.4. Rational points

A nilpotent orbit $`𝒪G/K𝔤`$ is defined over $`𝔽_q`$ for $`q`$ large enough, and the number of its $`𝔽_q`$-points is a polynomial function of $`q`$ ( , Theorem 1.a). We can deduce this polynomial function from the data gathered in . Indeed, if $`K`$ is connected this number is equal to $`|G(𝔽_q)|/|K(𝔽_q)|`$ (see , Theorem 1.c), and can be deduced from the formulas in , pp. 75-76, and the data for $`K`$ gathered above. When the group $`K`$ is not connected, which may happen in some cases, the formulas below hold for the quotients $`|G(𝔽_q)|/|K(𝔽_q)|`$.

For each of our series $`𝒪_a`$ of nilpotent orbits, we express the resulting polynomial as a rational function involving only terms of the form $`q^{\mathrm{}}1`$, where $`\mathrm{}`$ is some linear function of $`a`$, from a very limited list.

We begin with the biggest series of orbits, whose label is $`𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2`$. The number of $`𝔽_q`$-points on these orbits is

$$Z_{𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)=q^{11a+8}\frac{\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)}.$$

For the other series, the corresponding functions are simple quotients $`Z_𝒪(q)=Z_{𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2}(q)/Y_𝒪(q)`$, with denominators given by the following table:

$`Y_𝔤\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{11a+8}\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{21a/2+6}\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+4}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤_2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{19a/2+6}\left(q^21\right)\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤^2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{8a+4}\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{a+1}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤_3}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{15a/2+4}\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤^2𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{11a/2+2}\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{6a+4}\left(q^21\right)\left(q^61\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤_2𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{6a+4}\left(q^21\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤𝔤_3}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{11a/2+2}\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤_2^2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{5a+2}\left(q^{a/2}1\right)^2,`$
$`Y_{𝔤^2𝔤_2^2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{7a/2}\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤𝔤_3𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{2a+2}\left(q^21\right),`$
$`Y_{𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{2a+2},`$
$`Y_{𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)`$ $`=`$ $`q^{3a/2}\left(q^{a/2}1\right).`$
In particular, the number of $`𝔽_q`$-points on the series of minimal nilpotent orbits is

$$Z_𝔤\left(q\right)=\frac{\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)}.$$

### 2.5. Unipotent characters

The Springer correspondence uses local systems on nilpotent orbits to define representations of Weyl groups, which themselves are in natural correspondence with unipotent characters of finite groups of the corresponding Lie type. In this section we show that the unipotent characters corresponding to our series of nilpotent orbits in the exceptional Lie algebras are accordingly organized into series. This can be seen on the polynomials giving the degrees of these characters, once we write these polynomials as rational functions. More precisely, we are able to write these functions as products of factors of type $`q^e1`$, or inverses of such factors, with $`e`$ a linear function of $`a`$. This striking fact only holds for $`a=2,4,8`$. A theoretical explanation would be most welcome. Also it would be interesting to understand what really happens when $`a=1`$, that is, when $`𝔢_6`$ is folded into $`𝔣_4`$.

Note that the fundamental groups of the nilpotent orbits in our series are well-behaved: they are constant in each series, either trivial or equal to $`_2`$, in which case we get two series of unipotent characters. Actually there is one exception to this: in the series labeled $`𝔤_Q^2`$, the nilpotent orbits of $`𝔢_6`$ and $`𝔢_7`$ are simply connected, but that of $`𝔢_8`$ has fundamental group $`_2`$.

The following data are again transcriptions of the formulas gathered in  (pp. 480-488) for the degrees of unipotent characters. Note that in this reference, these degrees are given as products of cyclotomic polynomials, a form in which the regularities that we observed are far from visible. Some work is needed to put these formulas into the form that follows. Note that only a small family of linear functions are involved in these formulas. Note also that many simplifications may occur in each degree, but in different ways.

We let $`N`$ denote the number of positive roots.

$`𝔤`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$q^{N3a5}\frac{\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)}{\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤_Q`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$q^{N5a6}\frac{\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+4}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤_2`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$\frac{1}{2}q^{N6a9}\frac{\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a+1}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)^2\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)^2\left(q^{3a/2+3}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤^2`$ : The degrees of the two associated unipotent characters are

$$\frac{1}{2}q^{N6a9}\frac{\left(q^{a+2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a+1}1\right)\left(q^{a+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+3}1\right)}$$

$$\frac{1}{2}q^{N6a9}\frac{\left(q1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+3}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)^2\left(q^{a+1}1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤^2𝔤_Q`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$q^{N8a10}\frac{\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤_2^2`$ : The degrees of the two associated unipotent characters are $`q^{N9a11}`$ times

$$\frac{\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)^3\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{6\left(q1\right)^2\left(q^2q+1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)^2\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)^3\left(q^{a+2}1\right)^2\left(q^{3a/2+3}1\right)}$$

$$\frac{\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{3\left(q^21\right)^2\left(q^{a/2}1\right)^2\left(q^{a+2}1\right)^2\left(q^{3a/2+6}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤^2𝔤_2^2`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$q^{N9a12}\frac{\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^61\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{a+4}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤_Q^2`$ : Here there is a problem: there are two associated characters for $`E_8`$, but only one for $`E_6`$ and $`E_7`$. Nevertheless, let

$$\varphi _a\left(q\right)=q^{N9a6}\frac{\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)^2\left(q^61\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)}$$

The degrees of the unipotent characters attached to this series for $`E_6`$ and $`E_7`$ are $`\varphi _2(q)`$ and $`\varphi _4(q)`$, while the two characters for $`E_8`$ have their degrees given by

$$\varphi _{8,ϵ}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{q^9ϵ}{q^3ϵ}\frac{qϵ}{q^7ϵ}\varphi _8\left(q\right),ϵ=\pm 1.$$

$`𝔤_3`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$q^{N8a9}\frac{\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{2a2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^61\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤_2𝔤_Q`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$\frac{1}{3}q^{N9a11}\frac{\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)^2\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)^3\left(q^{a+2}1\right)^2}$$

$`𝔤𝔤_3`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is

$$\frac{1}{2}q^{N9a11}\frac{\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^31\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+3}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤𝔤_3𝔤_Q^2`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is $`\frac{1}{2}q^{N11a11}`$ times

$$\frac{\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^31\right)\left(q^41\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+3}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+5}1\right)\left(q^{a+4}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2`$ : The degree of the associated character is $`\frac{1}{2}q^{N11a11}`$ times

$$\frac{\left(q^{a/2+3}1\right)\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^21\right)^2\left(q^3+1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)^3\left(q^{a/2+5}1\right)\left(q^{a+6}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_Q^2`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is $`q^{N11a12}`$ times

$$\frac{\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{2a2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^41\right)\left(q^61\right)^2\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+8}1\right)}$$

$`𝔤^2𝔤_2^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2`$ : The degree of the associated unipotent character is $`q^{N12a12}`$ times

$$\frac{\left(q^a1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^61\right)\left(q^81\right)\left(q^{12}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+8}1\right)}$$

### 2.6. Series of type $`E_6`$

We now examine how the five remaining nilpotent orbits in $`𝔢_6`$ propagate to orbits in $`𝔢_7`$ and $`𝔢_8`$. They are associated to $`𝔰𝔩_2`$-triples $`(X,H,Y)`$ for which the semi-simple element $`H`$ can be chosen to belong to $`𝔱(𝕆)=𝔰𝔬_8`$, hence can again be encoded by a label $`𝔤^p𝔤_2^q𝔤_3^r𝔤_Q^s`$.

The degrees of the associated unipotent characters do not behave as well as in the series coming from $`𝔣_4`$. A first difficulty is that in each case, there are two associated characters in type $`E_7`$ and $`E_8`$, but only one in type $`E_6`$. We already encountered a similar phenomenon for the series $`𝔤_Q^2=[A_2,2A_2,2A_2,2A_2]`$, where the degrees of the two unipotent characters were closely related. This is again true for the series of type $`E_6`$, and an a priori explanation would be welcome.

For each series of orbits, we provide the label used in , the dimension of the orbits $`𝒪_a`$ and of the unipotent radical $`𝔯(a)`$ of the generic centralizers, which again are both linear functions in $`a`$, and the reductive parts $`𝔥(a)`$ of these centralizers.

$`𝔤𝔤_Q,`$ $`A_2+A_1`$, $`\mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=15a+16`$, $`\mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=9a+5,𝔥(a)=𝔤𝔩_3,𝔤𝔩_4,𝔰𝔩_6.`$

The degree of the associated unipotent character in type $`E_6`$ is

$$\mathrm{deg}\varphi _{64,13}=q^{13}\frac{\left(q^61\right)\left(q^81\right)\left(q^{12}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^31\right)\left(q^31\right)}.$$

In type $`E_7`$ the degrees of the two unipotent characters are

$$\mathrm{deg}\varphi _{120,25}=\frac{1}{2}q^{25}\frac{\left(q^81\right)\left(q^{10}1\right)\left(q^{12}1\right)\left(q^{18}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^31\right)\left(q^41\right)\left(q^61\right)}\times \frac{\left(q^3+1\right)\left(q^7+1\right)}{\left(q^4+1\right)\left(q^6+1\right)},$$

$$\mathrm{deg}\varphi _{105,26}=\frac{1}{2}q^{25}\frac{\left(q^81\right)\left(q^{10}1\right)\left(q^{12}1\right)\left(q^{18}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^31\right)\left(q^41\right)\left(q^61\right)}\times \frac{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^71\right)}{\left(q^41\right)\left(q^61\right)}.$$

In type $`E_8`$ the degrees of the two unipotent characters are

$$\mathrm{deg}\varphi _{210,52}=\frac{1}{2}q^{52}\frac{\left(q^{14}1\right)\left(q^{18}1\right)\left(q^{20}1\right)\left(q^{30}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^41\right)\left(q^51\right)\left(q^61\right)}\times \frac{\left(q^4+1\right)\left(q^{12}+1\right)}{\left(q^7+1\right)\left(q^9+1\right)},$$

$$\mathrm{deg}\varphi _{160,55}=\frac{1}{2}q^{52}\frac{\left(q^{14}1\right)\left(q^{18}1\right)\left(q^{20}1\right)\left(q^{30}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^41\right)\left(q^51\right)\left(q^61\right)}\times \frac{\left(q^41\right)\left(q^{12}1\right)}{\left(q^71\right)\left(q^91\right)}.$$

Let us introduce the following rational function, which is close to those we already met, except for the appearance of an $`a/4`$ in the exponents of $`q`$:

$$\psi _{𝔤𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^{a/41}1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)}.$$

Then we can write the degrees above as

$$q^{N15a/28}\psi _{𝔤𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)\frac{\left(q^{a/4+2}1\right)\left(q^{5a/4+2}1\right)}{\left(q^{3a/4+1}1\right)\left(q^{3a/4+3}1\right)}\mathrm{and}q^{N15a/28}\psi _{𝔤𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)\frac{\left(q^{a/4+2}+1\right)\left(q^{5a/4+2}+1\right)}{\left(q^{3a/4+1}+1\right)\left(q^{3a/4+3}+1\right)}.$$

These formulas have several intriguing features. They are obviously closely related one to the other. For $`a=1`$, the non integer exponents cancel out. Moreover, the second part of this expression gives $`1`$ for $`a=1`$, hence the same rational expression with coefficient one half : in fact, there is only one character in this case, whose degree is given by the sum of these two equal contributions. What kind of group theoretic explanation could this phenomenon have ?

In this series, the number of $`𝔽_q`$-points is given by

$$q^{3a+4}\frac{\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)}.$$

$`𝔤^2𝔤_Q^2`$, $`A_4`$, $`\mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=20a+20,\mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=5a+4,𝔥(a)=𝔤𝔩_2,𝔤𝔩_3,𝔰𝔩_5.`$

Here we have one unipotent character $`\varphi _{81,6}`$ in type $`E_6`$, two in type $`E_7`$, $`\varphi _{420,13}`$ and $`\varphi _{336,14}`$, and again two in type $`E_8`$, $`\varphi _{2268,30}`$ and $`\varphi _{1296,33}`$. Their degrees are given by the following expressions, with the same phenomenon for $`a=1`$ as in the previous case:

$$q^{N10a10}\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)\frac{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{a+2}1\right)}{\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+3}1\right)}\mathrm{and}q^{N10a10}\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)\frac{\left(q^2+1\right)\left(q^{a+2}+1\right)}{\left(q^{a/2+1}+1\right)\left(q^{a/2+3}+1\right)},$$

$$\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\left(q^{3a/41}1\right)\left(q^{3a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a+4}1\right)\left(q^{2a2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^41\right)\left(q^61\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/4+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)^2}.$$

In this series, the number of $`𝔽_q`$-points is given by

$$q^{15a/2+6}\frac{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)}.$$

$`𝔤𝔤_3𝔤_Q`$, $`A_4+A_1`$, $`\mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=21a+20,\mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=6a+3,𝔥(a)=^2,𝔤𝔩_3.`$

Here we have one unipotent character $`\varphi _{60,5}`$ in type $`E_6`$, two in type $`E_7`$, $`\varphi _{512,11}`$ and $`\varphi _{512,12}`$, and again two in type $`E_8`$, $`\varphi _{4096,26}`$ and $`\varphi _{4096,27}`$. Their degrees are given by

$$q^{N21a/210}\psi _{𝔤𝔤_3𝔤_Q}(q),$$

(except for $`a=1`$ where the degree of the unique character is twice this quantity), with

$$\psi _{𝔤𝔤_3𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^31\right)^2\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+3}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+5}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+3}1\right)}.$$

In this series, the number of $`𝔽_q`$-points is given by

$$q^{15a/2+6}\frac{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q1\right)\left(q^31\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)}.$$

$`𝔤^2𝔤_3𝔤_Q`$, $`D_5(a_1)`$, $`\mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=21a+22,\mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=5a+3,𝔥(a)=,𝔤𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_4.`$

Here we have one unipotent character $`\varphi _{64,4}`$ in type $`E_6`$, two in type $`E_7`$, $`\varphi _{420,10}`$ and $`\varphi _{336,11}`$, and again two in type $`E_8`$, $`\varphi _{2800,25}`$ and $`\varphi _{2100,28}`$. Their degrees are given by

$$q^{N21a/211}\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3𝔤_Q}(q)\mathrm{and}q^{N21a/211}\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3𝔤_Q}^{}(q),$$

(except for $`a=1`$ where the degree of the unique character is the sum of these two – equal in this case – quantities), with

$$\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3𝔤_Q}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\left(q^{a/4+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a/4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)^2\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/4+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+8}1\right)\left(q^{3a/4+3}1\right)},$$

$$\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3𝔤_Q}^{}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\left(q^{3a/41}1\right)\left(q^{5a/41}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^51\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)^2\left(q^{3a/4}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+6}1\right)}.$$

In this series, the number of $`𝔽_q`$-points is given by

$$q^{8a+7}\frac{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/2}1\right)}.$$

$`𝔤^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2,`$ $`E_6(a_1)`$, $`\mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=24a+22,\mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a+2,𝔥(a)=0,\mathrm{\hspace{0.33em}0},𝔰𝔩_3.`$

Here again we have one unipotent character $`\varphi _{6,1}`$ in type $`E_6`$, two in type $`E_7`$, $`\varphi _{120,4}`$ and $`\varphi _{105,5}`$, and again two in type $`E_8`$, $`\varphi _{2800,13}`$ and $`\varphi _{2100,16}`$. Their degrees are given by

$$q^{N12a11}\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2}(q)\mathrm{and}q^{N21a/211}\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2}^{}(q),$$

(except for $`a=1`$ where the degree of the unique character is the sum of these two – equal in this case – quantities), with

$$\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\left(q^{a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/4}1\right)\left(q^{3a/4}1\right)\left(q^{2a2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)^2\left(q^41\right)\left(q^{12}1\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{a/4+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+1}1\right)\left(q^{a/2+5}1\right)},$$

$$\psi _{𝔤^2𝔤_3^2𝔤_Q^2}^{}\left(q\right)=\frac{1}{2}\frac{\left(q^{a/2+5}1\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^41\right)\left(q^61\right)^2\left(q^{a/4}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{a+10}1\right)}.$$

In this series, the number of $`𝔽_q`$-points is given by

$$q^{21a/2+7}\frac{\left(q^21\right)\left(q^{5a/42}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2}1\right)\left(q^{3a/2+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+2}1\right)\left(q^{2a+4}1\right)\left(q^{5a/2+4}1\right)\left(q^{3a+6}1\right)}{\left(q^31\right)\left(q^{a/4}1\right)}.$$

This accounts for all nilpotent orbits in $`𝔢_6`$, about one half of those in $`𝔢_7`$ and a little less than one third of those in $`𝔢_8`$.

## 3. Series for the other rows of Freudenthal square

The exceptional series of Lie algebras is the fourth line $`𝔤(𝔸,𝕆)`$ in the magic square of Freudenthal, and we just saw how this allows us to organize their nilpotent orbits into series.

In this section we briefly discuss the other three lines of Freudenthal square and their nilpotent orbits.

### 3.1. The subexceptional series $`𝔤(𝔸,)`$

Here the Lie algebras $`𝔤`$, and the number of positive roots $`N`$, parametrized by $`a`$ are:

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}a& 1& 2& 4& 8\\ 𝔤& 𝔰𝔭_6& 𝔰𝔩_6& 𝔰𝔬_{12}& 𝔢_7\\ N& 9& 15& 30& 63\end{array}$$

The nilpotent orbits of $`𝔰𝔬_{12}`$ are parametrized by pairs of partitions $`(\alpha ,\beta )`$ such that $`2|\alpha |+|\beta |=12`$ and $`\beta `$ has distinct parts. The nilpotent orbits of $`𝔰𝔩_6`$ are parametrized by partitions of six. The nilpotent orbits of $`𝔰𝔭_6`$ are parametrized by pairs of partitions $`(\alpha ,\beta )`$ with $`|\alpha |+|\beta |=3`$ where $`\beta `$ has distinct parts (see ).

Given a nilpotent orbit $`(\alpha ,\beta )`$ of $`𝔰𝔭_6`$ the elementary divisors are given by repeating each part of $`\alpha `$ twice and doubling each part of $`\beta `$. By ordering these elementary divisors we get a partition $`\lambda `$ with $`|\lambda |=6`$ which corresponds to a nilpotent orbit of $`𝔰𝔩_6`$. Given a nilpotent orbit $`\lambda `$ of $`𝔰𝔩_6`$ we can take the pair of partitions $`(\lambda ,\mathrm{})`$ which corresponds to a nilpotent orbit of $`𝔰𝔬_{12}`$. These constructions give the first three terms of each series below.

For the subexceptional series we have three preferred representations, $`𝔤,𝔤_Q=V_2,𝔤_{𝔸^2}=V`$ in the notations of . The highest weights of these representations are as follows:

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}& 𝔰𝔭_6& 𝔰𝔩_6& 𝔰𝔬_{12}& 𝔢_7\\ \hfill \omega (𝔤)& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}\\ & & & & \\ \hfill \omega (𝔤_{𝔸^2})& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}\\ & & & & \\ \hfill \omega (𝔤_Q)& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}& \text{}\end{array}$$

We obtain the following series:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}𝔤\hfill & [(11,1),(21^4),(21^4,),A_1]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=4a+2,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=4a+1,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔬_5,𝔰𝔩_4(𝔰𝔬_6),𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔬_8,𝔰𝔬_{12},\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤_Q\hfill & [(21,),(2211),(2211,),2A_1]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=6a+4,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=5a+2,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=𝔤𝔩_2,2𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔬_5,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔬_9=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔬_{a+1},\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤_{𝔸^2}\hfill & [(2,1),(222),(222,),3A_1]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=6a+6,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a+3,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_3,𝔰𝔭_6,𝔣_4=𝔤(𝔸,),\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤_Q^2\hfill & [(3,),(33),(33,),2A_2]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=10a+4,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=4a,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2,2𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔤_2=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝒟er𝔸,\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤_{𝔸^2}^2𝔤_Q\hfill & [(1,2),(411),(411,),A_3]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=10a+4,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a+1,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤𝔩_2,3𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔰𝔬_7=𝔰𝔩_2\times 𝔩(𝔸),\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤_{𝔸^2}𝔤\hfill & [(,21),(42),(42,),(A_3+A_1)^{\prime \prime }]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=10a+6,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a+2,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=0,,2𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔬_7=𝔩(𝔸),\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤^2𝔤_{𝔸^2}^2𝔤_Q^2\hfill & [(,3),(6),(6,),A_5]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=12a+6,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=2a+1,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=0,0,𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤_2=𝒟er𝔸.\hfill \end{array}$$

This leaves three nilpotent orbits of $`𝔰𝔩_6`$ not in one of these series. These correspond to the partitions $`(51)`$, $`(321)`$ and $`(3111)`$ and propagate as follows:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}𝔤^2𝔤_Q^2\hfill & [(51),(51,),A_4]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=12a+4,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=0,0,𝔰𝔩_3,\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤𝔤_Q\hfill & [(321),(321,),A_2+A_1]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=9a+4,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=5a+1,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=0,𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_4,\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤^2\hfill & [(3111),(3111,),A_2]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=8a+2,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=5a+1,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=𝔰𝔩_3,𝔰𝔬_6,𝔰𝔩_6.\hfill \end{array}$$

### 3.2. The Severi series $`𝔤(𝔸,)`$

Here the Lie algebras $`𝔤`$, and the number of positive roots $`N`$, parametrized by $`a`$ are:

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}a& 1& 2& 4& 8\\ 𝔤& 𝔰𝔩_3& 2𝔰𝔩_3& 𝔰𝔩_6& 𝔢_6\\ N& 3& 6& 15& 36\end{array}$$

The nilpotent orbits of $`𝔰𝔩_3`$ correspond to partitions of three and the nilpotent orbits of $`𝔰𝔩_6`$ correspond to partitions of six. Given a partition of three we construct a partition of six by repeating each part twice. There are two dual preferred representations $`V`$ and $`V^{}`$, of dimension $`3a+3`$, where $`V`$ can be identified with the Jordan algebra $`𝒥_3(𝔸)`$. We obtain two series (we left a $`\mathrm{?}`$ for the non-simple case, which has no standard label):

$$\begin{array}{ccc}V\hfill & [(21),(\mathrm{?}),(2211),2A_2]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=4a,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=3a,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=0,0,𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤_2=𝒟er𝔸,\hfill \\ & & \\ 𝔤_Q=VV^{}\hfill & [(3),(\mathrm{?}),(33),2A_1]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=6a,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=2a,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=0,,𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔬_7=𝔩(𝔸).\hfill \end{array}$$

### 3.3. The sub-Severi series $`𝔤(𝔸,)`$

This is the series $`𝔤(𝔸,)=𝔰𝔩_2,𝔰𝔩_3,𝔰𝔭_6,𝔣_4`$, with its preferred representation $`W=𝒥_3(𝔸)_0`$ of dimension $`3a+2`$: the space of traceless matrices in $`𝒥_3(𝔸)`$. This leads to the following series of orbits:

$$\begin{array}{ccc}𝔤_Q=W\hfill & [(2),(3),(3,),\stackrel{~}{A}_2]\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_a=4a2,\hfill \\ & & \mathrm{dim}𝔯(a)=a,\hfill \\ & & 𝔥(a)=0,0,𝔰𝔩_2,𝔤_2=𝒟er𝔸.\hfill \end{array}$$

## 4. Beyond the exceptional Lie algebras

### 4.1. General dimension formulas

There are four nonzero nilpotent orbits occuring in all simple Lie algebras of rank greater than two (and also $`𝔤_2`$):

the regular nilpotent orbit, which is the open orbit in the nilpotent cone,

the subregular nilpotent orbit, which is the open orbit in the boundary of the regular orbit,

the minimal nilpotent orbit, which we call $`𝒪_{ad}𝔤`$ (we often work with its projectivization $`X_{ad}𝔤`$), and in this paper is denoted simply $`𝔤`$ as the marked Dynkin diagram corresponds to the adjoint representation,

the orbit whose projectivization we called $`\sigma _{(1)}(X_{ad})`$ in .

Panyushev, in , calls this last orbit $`𝕆`$, but because of our usage of $`𝕆`$ to denote the octonions, we will denote it by $`𝒪_{\sigma _{(1)}(X_{ad})}`$ or $`𝔤_2`$, since its marked Dynkin diagram gives the weight of $`𝔤_2`$. Note that Panyushev only observes this orbit when the adjoint representation is fundamental, where it corresponds to the diagram marked with a $`1`$ over nodes adjacent to the node of the adjoint representation, and zeros elsewhere. Geometrically $`𝒪_{\sigma _{(1)}(X_{ad})}`$ may be described as either the union of tangent lines to the contact distribution on $`X_{ad}`$, or as the closure of the set of points in $`𝔤`$ lying on a two-parameter family of secant lines, see .

The dimension of the regular nilpotent orbit has a simple expression, either the number of roots, or the dimension of $`𝔤`$ minus the rank of $`𝔤`$, and the subregular orbit, being of codimension two in the closure of the regular orbit, inherits a dimension formula.

Nevertheless, when we study orbits in series, we see that from the series perspective, the properties of being regular and subregular are not good ones. What happens instead is that the regular and subregular orbits of the fixed algebra in a series gives rise to a series of orbits which in general are not regular or subregular. This is not surprising as the dimension of the regular and subregular orbits grow like the square of the parameter parametrizing the algebras (as do the dimensions of the algebras themselves), while we insist that the nilpotent orbits in series have linear dimension formulas.

The starting point of Vogel’s conjectured universal Lie algebra was an attempt to construct a category with analogs of the Casimir, the bracket, the Killing form and the Jacobi identity, that dominates the category of modules of any simple Lie algebra. It leads to a parametrization of the simple Lie algebras by a projective plane, whose barycentric coordinate is the eigenvalue of the Casimir operator on the adjoint representation, and the scaling is by the length of the longest root. (See  for these parameters, and  for the relation with the triality model.)

Remarkably, the minimal nilpotent orbit has a nice dimension formula in the spirit of Vogel’s work. This was first observed by W. Wang (, independently of this interpretation).

###### Proposition 4.1.

Let $`𝔤`$ be a complex simple Lie algebra. After an invariant quadratic form has been chosen, let $`\sqrt{a}`$ denote the length of the longest root, and $`C`$ the Casimir eigenvalue for $`𝔤`$. Then

$$\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{ad}=\frac{2C}{a}2.$$

Wang’s formula is actually $`\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{ad}=2\stackrel{ˇ}{h}2`$, where $`\stackrel{ˇ}{h}`$ denotes the dual Coxeter number. But, once we have fixed an invariant scalar product on the root lattice, we can write

$$\frac{C}{a}=\frac{\stackrel{~}{\alpha }+2\rho ,\stackrel{~}{\alpha }}{\stackrel{~}{\alpha },\stackrel{~}{\alpha }}=1+2\frac{\rho ,\stackrel{~}{\alpha }}{\stackrel{~}{\alpha },\stackrel{~}{\alpha }}=\stackrel{ˇ}{h},$$

the last equality being a definition. Here $`\stackrel{~}{a}`$ denotes the highest root, and $`2\rho `$ the sum of all positive roots. Note that this is just a linear formula, while Vogel’s dimension formulas for the modules are much more complicated.

In  we discuss two other series of nilpotent orbits that are not completely general. We revert to the notation of , discussing the projectivizations of the orbit closures in $`𝔤`$. In particular the dimension of the corresponding orbit closure is one more than that of its projectivization.

$`𝒪_{\sigma _{(3)}(X_{ad})}`$, : this orbit occurs in the exceptional series (with label $`𝔤^2`$) and the $`𝔰𝔩`$ series. Geometrically, it is the union of tangent lines to $`X_{ad}`$ that are tangent to the quartic cone inside each hyperplane in the contact distribution. In terms of weighted Dynkin diagrams, one marks the adjoint nodes with a $`2`$ and puts zeros elsewhere.

$`𝒪_{\sigma _Q(X_{ad})}`$ : here $`Q`$ denotes an unextendable quadric on $`X_{ad}`$. This series occurs in the exceptional series (with label $`𝔤_Q`$) and there are two different series of such orbits in the $`𝔰𝔬`$-series (even three for $`𝔰𝔬_8`$, but they are all isomorphic). In each series the dimension of $`Q`$ is a linear function of the parameter parametrizing the series. Geometrically, these orbits are obtained by taking a uniruling of $`X_{ad}`$ by unextendable quadrics and taking the union of their projective spans. In terms of weighted Dynkin diagrams, one marks with a $`1`$ the node such that, when erased, the connected component of the node marked for the adjoint representation is a marked Dynkin diagram corresponding to a quadric hypersurface, see .

The dimensions of these orbits for the exceptional series were computed in . For the classical series they can be extracted from , and we get :

###### Corollary 4.1.

$$\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{\sigma _{(1)}(X_{ad})}=\frac{4C}{a}5,\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{\sigma _{(3)}(X_{ad})}=\frac{4C}{a}9,\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{\sigma _Q(X_{ad})}=\frac{4C}{a}\mathrm{dim}Q5.$$

Remark. Note that in the classical series, if one extends a partition by zero, one obtains a series of nilpotent orbits in our sense, in that the dimensions of the orbits are given as linear functions of the parameters. More precisely, we have:

###### Proposition 4.2.

Fix $`f`$, and respectively let $`𝔤_f=𝔰𝔩_f,𝔰𝔬_f,𝔰𝔭_{2f}`$ and $`𝔤(t)=𝔤_{f+t}`$. Let $`𝒪`$ be a nilpotent orbit in $`𝔤_f`$. Let $`r_i`$ denote the number of elementary divisors with exponent $`i`$ in the partition defining $`𝒪`$ (following ). Let $`𝒪_t𝔤_t`$ be the corresponding orbit with $`r_1(t)=t+r_1`$ and all the other $`r_i`$’s the same. Then $`\mathrm{dim}𝒪_t`$ is a linear function of $`t`$. More precisely we have

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}(1)\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_t\hfill & =& 2t(f(r_1+\mathrm{}+r_n))+\mathrm{dim}𝒪\hfill & \mathrm{sl}\mathrm{case}\hfill \\ (2)\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_t\hfill & =& t(f(r_1+\mathrm{}+r_n)\frac{3}{4})+\mathrm{dim}𝒪\hfill & \mathrm{so}\mathrm{case}\hfill \\ (3)\hfill & \mathrm{dim}𝒪_t\hfill & =& 2t(f(r_1+\mathrm{}+r_n)+\frac{3}{4})+\mathrm{dim}𝒪\hfill & \mathrm{sp}\mathrm{case}\hfill \end{array}$$

As with the exceptional series, these orbits also share a common geometry. Their desingularizations by vector bundles $`E\mathrm{}G/P`$ are such that the spaces $`G/P`$ have uniform geometric interpretations, which are obvious in the classical cases, and can be understood uniformly in terms of their shadows on the adjoint varieties $`X_{ad}𝔤`$. The $`P`$-modules defining $`E`$ also have uniform interpretations in terms of Tits geometries.

### 4.2. The generalized magic square

This is the following $`3\times 3`$ square, with parameters $`n4`$ and $`a,b=1,2,4`$:

$$\begin{array}{cccc}& a=1& a=2& a=4\\ \hfill b=1& 𝔰𝔬_n& 𝔰𝔩_n& 𝔰𝔭_{2n}\\ \hfill b=2& 𝔰𝔩_n& 2𝔰𝔩_n& 𝔰𝔩_{2n}\\ \hfill b=4& 𝔰𝔭_{2n}& 𝔰𝔩_{2n}& 𝔰𝔬_{4n}\end{array}$$

Recall from  or  §5.1, that nilpotent orbits in $`𝔰𝔩_n`$, respectively $`𝔰𝔭_{2n},𝔰𝔬_{2n+1},𝔰𝔬_{2n}`$ are in one to one correspondence with partitions $`(d_1,\mathrm{},d_n)`$ of $`n`$, respectively partitions of $`2n`$ in which odd parts occur with even multiplicity, partitions of $`2n+1`$ in which even parts occur with even multiplicity, partitions of $`2n`$ in which even parts occur with even multiplicity (with a slight modification for partitions with only even parts). We let $`r_i`$ be the number of times $`i`$ occurs in the partition.

###### Proposition 4.3.

For every nilpotent orbit $`𝒪_{1,1}`$ in $`𝔰𝔬_n`$, there is a nilpotent orbit $`𝒪_{a,b}`$ for each element of the generalized magic square, whose dimension is a bilinear function of $`a`$ and $`b`$. More precisely, let $`(r_1,\mathrm{},r_n)`$ be as above for the partition parametrizing the orbit $`𝒪_{1,1}𝔰𝔬_n`$. Then

$$\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{a,b}=\frac{ab}{2}(n^2\mathrm{\Sigma }_i(\mathrm{\Sigma }_{ji}r_j)^2n+\mathrm{\Sigma }_{iodd}r_i)+(a+b2)(n\mathrm{\Sigma }_{iodd}r_i).$$

More generally one can take a nilpotent orbit for any algebra in the square and extend it across and below to get a bilinear function in $`a,b`$.

###### Proof.

Given a partition of $`n`$ admissible for $`𝔰𝔬_n`$, just use it as a partition for $`𝔰𝔩_n`$ to get a nilpotent orbit. Given a partition of $`𝔰𝔩_n`$, double it to get an admissible partition for $`𝔰𝔭_{2n}`$. Given a partition for $`𝔰𝔩_n`$ use it twice to get a partition for $`2𝔰𝔩_n`$. Given two partitions of length $`n`$ (parametrizing a nilpotent orbit in $`2𝔰𝔩_n`$) put them together to get a partition for $`𝔰𝔩_{2n}`$. Given a partition admissible for $`𝔰𝔭_{2n}`$, just use it to get a partition for $`𝔰𝔩_{2n}`$. Given a partition of $`𝔰𝔩_{2n}`$, double it to get an admissible partition for $`𝔰𝔬_{4n}`$. These are the partitions we use to define $`𝒪_{a,b}`$ from $`𝒪_{1,1}`$. Note that the process is symmetric in how one moves across the chart.

Now the proof just consists in checking that for each value of $`a,b`$, the dimension given by the above formula is consistent with those given in  for the classical Lie algebras. ∎

Note that this works also for the $`n=3`$ chart including the exceptional groups, and also that one can begin anywhere in the chart to get orbits to the right and below. Finally, specializing to each row, one gets linear functions of $`a`$ for the dimensions.

Examples.

1. The regular nilpotent orbit in $`𝔰𝔬_n`$ induces a series with

$$\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{a,b}=\frac{ab}{2}(n^2n1+ϵ)+(a+b+2)(nϵ),$$

where $`ϵ=1`$ if $`n`$ is odd and $`0`$ if $`n`$ is even.

2. (A magical orbit.) Consider the partition $`(3,1,\mathrm{},1)`$ and the resulting three parameter family of orbits $`𝒪_{a,b,n}`$. We get the following dimension formula, which has the very nice property of being linear in each of the parameters:

$$\mathrm{dim}𝒪_{a,b,n}=2(ab(n2)+a+b2).$$

Note that this orbit is universal in that it occurs in all simple Lie algebras: in the exceptional and sub-exceptional cases this is the series labeled $`𝔤_Q^2`$, in the Severi case the series labeled $`𝔤_Q=VV^{}`$, and in the sub-Severi case the series labeled $`𝔤_Q=W`$.

Joseph M. Landsberg, School of Mathematics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332-0160, USA

E-mail: jml@math.gatech.edu

Laurent Manivel, Institut Fourier, UMR 5582 du CNRS Université Grenoble I, BP 74, 38402 Saint Martin d’Hères cedex, FRANCE

E-mail: Laurent.Manivel@ujf-grenoble.fr

Bruce W. Westbury, Mathematics Institute, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK

E-mail: bww@maths.warwick.ac.uk