Classical Lie algebras and Drinfeld doubles

Abstract

The Drinfeld double structure underlying the Cartan series An, Bn, Cn, Dn of simple Lie algebras is discussed. This structure is determined by two disjoint solvable subalgebras matched by a pairing. For the two nilpotent positive and negative root subalgebras the pairing is natural and in the Cartan subalgebra is defined with the help of a central extension of the algebra. A new completely determined basis is found from the compatibility conditions in the double, and a different perspective for quantization is presented. Other related Drinfeld doubles on are also considered.