Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2023 / iii / Paper 102 / 1 / iv / Solution

A bilinear form $B$ on a Lie algebra is invariant whenequivalently $B([x,y],z)+B(y,[x,z])=0$.

Choose a basis $(x_i)$ of $\mathfrak{g}$ and its $B$-dual basis $(x^i)$. The Casimir element iswhere $U(\mathfrak{g})$ is the universal enveloping algebra. The tensor ${\sum }_i{x}_i\otimes x^i$ corresponds under $B:\mathfrak{g}\cong {\mathfrak{g}}^{\ast }$ to the identity endomorphism, so invariance of $B$ makes it fixed by the diagonal adjoint action. Applying multiplication $U(\mathfrak{g})\otimes U(\mathfrak{g})\to U(\mathfrak{g})$ givesfor every $x\in \mathfrak{g}$. Thus $\Omega$ lies in the center of an associative algebra of $U(\mathfrak{g})$.