Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2024/iii/paper-102/1/a/ii/solution

The one-dimensional quotient is trivial because every one-dimensional representation vanishes on the derived algebra . Choose mapping to . Then
is a -cocycle:
We show that it is a coboundary.
Decompose into generalized eigenspaces of its Casimir element . These are subrepresentations because is central. On a generalized eigenspace with nonzero eigenvalue, is invertible. If and are dual bases of for the Killing form, put
Invariance of the Killing form and the cocycle identity give the standard Casimir calculation
Thus on every nonzero generalized eigenspace, .
On the zero generalized eigenspace, every irreducible composition factor has zero Casimir eigenvalue. By part i and the Classification of finite-dimensional sl2 representations, each such factor is trivial. In a basis adapted to a composition series, the image of is therefore strictly upper triangular and hence solvable. Since is simple and non-solvable, that image is zero. The cocycle then vanishes because it kills .
Combining the generalized eigenspaces gives such that for every . Hence is invariant, and
is a decomposition into subrepresentations. This proves the codimension-one case of the Weyl complete reducibility theorem.

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