In differential geometry, a field in mathematics, a Poisson manifold is a smooth manifold endowed with a Poisson structure. The notion of Poisson manifold generalises that of symplectic manifold, which in turn generalises the phase space from Hamiltonian mechanics.

A Poisson structure (or Poisson bracket) on a smooth manifold <math> M </math> is a function<math display="block"> \{ \cdot,\cdot \}: \mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M) \times \mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M) \to \mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M) </math>on the vector space <math>\mathcal{C}^{\infty}(M) </math> of smooth functions on <math> M </math>, making it into a Lie algebra subject to a Leibniz rule (also known as a Poisson algebra).

Poisson structures on manifolds were introduced by André Lichnerowicz in 1977

Poisson manifolds are further generalisations of symplectic manifolds, which arise by axiomatising the properties satisfied by the Poisson bracket on <math>\mathbb{R}^{2n}</math>. More precisely, a Poisson manifold consists of a smooth manifold <math>M</math> (not necessarily of even dimension) together with an abstract bracket <math>\{\cdot,\cdot\}: \mathcal{C}^\infty(M) \times \mathcal{C}^\infty(M) \to \mathcal{C}^\infty(M) </math>, still called Poisson bracket, which does not necessarily arise from a symplectic form <math>\omega</math>, but satisfies the same algebraic properties.

Poisson geometry is closely related to symplectic geometry: for instance, every Poisson bracket determines a foliation whose leaves are naturally equipped with symplectic forms. However, the study of Poisson geometry requires techniques that are usually not employed in symplectic geometry, such as the theory of Lie groupoids and algebroids.

Moreover, there are natural examples of structures which should be "morally" symplectic, but fail to be so. For example, the smooth quotient of a symplectic manifold by a group acting by symplectomorphisms is a Poisson manifold, which in general is not symplectic. This situation models the case of a physical system which is invariant under symmetries: the "reduced" phase space, obtained by quotienting the original phase space by the symmetries, in general is no longer symplectic, but is Poisson.

History

Although the modern definition of Poisson manifold appeared only in the 1970s–1980s, its origin dates back to the nineteenth century. Alan Weinstein synthetised the early history of Poisson geometry as follows:<blockquote>"Poisson invented his brackets as a tool for classical dynamics. Jacobi realized the importance of these brackets and elucidated their algebraic properties, and Lie began the study of their geometry."</blockquote>

Indeed, Siméon Denis Poisson introduced in 1809 what we now call Poisson bracket in order to obtain new integrals of motion, i.e. quantities which are preserved throughout the motion. More precisely, he proved that, if two functions <math> f </math> and <math> g </math> are integral of motions, then there is a third function, denoted by <math> \{ f,g \} </math>, which is an integral of motion as well. In the Hamiltonian formulation of mechanics, where the dynamics of a physical system is described by a given function <math> h </math> (usually the energy of the system), an integral of motion is simply a function <math> f </math> which Poisson-commutes with <math> h </math>, i.e. such that <math> \{f,h\} = 0 </math>. What will become known as Poisson's theorem can then be formulated as<math display="block"> \{f,h\} = 0, \{g,h\} = 0 \Rightarrow \{\{f,g\},h\} = 0.</math>Poisson computations occupied many pages, and his results were rediscovered and simplified two decades later by Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi. Jacobi was the first to identify the general properties of the Poisson bracket as a binary operation. Moreover, he established the relation between the (Poisson) bracket of two functions and the (Lie) bracket of their associated Hamiltonian vector fields, i.e.<math display="block"> X_{\{f,g\ = [X_f,X_g],</math>in order to reformulate (and give a much shorter proof of) Poisson's theorem on integrals of motion. Jacobi's work on Poisson brackets influenced the pioneering studies of Sophus Lie on symmetries of differential equations, which led to the discovery of Lie groups and Lie algebras. For instance, what are now called linear Poisson structures (i.e. Poisson brackets on a vector space which send linear functions to linear functions) correspond precisely to Lie algebra structures. Moreover, the integrability of a linear Poisson structure (see below) is closely related to the integrability of its associated Lie algebra to a Lie group.

The twentieth century saw the development of modern differential geometry, but only in 1977 André Lichnerowicz introduce Poisson structures as geometric objects on smooth manifolds.

These works exerted a huge influence in the subsequent decades on the development of Poisson geometry, which today is a field of its own, and at the same time is deeply entangled with many others, including non-commutative geometry, integrable systems, topological field theories and representation theory.

Holomorphic Poisson structures

The definition of Poisson structure for real smooth manifolds can be also adapted to the complex case.

A holomorphic Poisson manifold is a complex manifold <math>M</math> whose sheaf of holomorphic functions <math> \mathcal{O}_M </math> is a sheaf of Poisson algebras. Equivalently, recall that a holomorphic bivector field <math>\pi</math> on a complex manifold <math>M</math> is a section <math> \pi \in \Gamma (\wedge^2 T^{1,0}M)</math> such that <math> \bar{\partial} \pi = 0</math>. Then a holomorphic Poisson structure on <math>M </math> is a holomorphic bivector field satisfying the equation <math>[\pi,\pi]=0</math>. Holomorphic Poisson manifolds can be characterised also in terms of Poisson–Nijenhuis structures.

Many results for real Poisson structures, e.g. regarding their integrability, extend also to holomorphic ones.

Holomorphic Poisson structures appear naturally in the context of generalised complex structures: locally, any generalised complex manifold is the product of a symplectic manifold and a holomorphic Poisson manifold.

Symplectic leaves

A Poisson manifold is naturally partitioned into regularly immersed symplectic manifolds of possibly different dimensions, called its symplectic leaves. These arise as the maximal integral submanifolds of the completely integrable singular distribution spanned by the Hamiltonian vector fields.

Linear Poisson structures

A Poisson structure <math> \{ \cdot, \cdot \} </math> on a vector space <math> V </math> is called linear when the bracket of two linear functions is still linear.

The class of vector spaces with linear Poisson structures coincides actually with that of (dual of) Lie algebras. Indeed, the dual <math> \mathfrak{g}^{*} </math> of any finite-dimensional Lie algebra <math> (\mathfrak{g},[\cdot,\cdot]) </math> carries a linear Poisson bracket, known in the literature under the names of Lie-Poisson, Kirillov-Poisson or KKS (Kostant-Kirillov-Souriau) structure:<math display="block"> \{ f, g \} (\xi) := \xi ([d_\xi f,d_\xi g]_{\mathfrak{g), </math>where <math> f,g \in \mathcal{C}^{\infty}(\mathfrak{g}^*), \xi \in \mathfrak{g}^* </math> and the derivatives <math> d_\xi f, d_\xi g: T_{\xi} \mathfrak{g}^* \to \mathbb{R} </math> are interpreted as elements of the bidual <math> \mathfrak{g}^{**} \cong \mathfrak{g} </math>. Equivalently, the Poisson bivector can be locally expressed as<math display="block"> \pi = \sum_{i,j,k} c^{ij}_k x^k \frac{\partial}{\partial x^i} \frac{\partial}{\partial x^j}, </math>where <math> x^i </math> are coordinates on <math> \mathfrak{g}^{*} </math> and <math> c_k^{ij} </math> are the associated structure constants of <math> \mathfrak{g} </math>. Conversely, any linear Poisson structure <math> \{ \cdot, \cdot \} </math> on <math> V </math> must be of this form, i.e. there exists a natural Lie algebra structure induced on <math> \mathfrak{g}:=V^* </math> whose Lie-Poisson bracket recovers <math> \{ \cdot, \cdot \} </math>.

The symplectic leaves of the Lie-Poisson structure on <math> \mathfrak{g}^* </math> are the orbits of the coadjoint action of <math> G </math> on <math> \mathfrak{g}^* </math>. For instance, for <math> \mathfrak{g} = \mathfrak{so}(3,\mathbb{R}) \cong \mathbb{R}^3 </math> with the standard basis, the Lie-Poisson structure on <math> \mathfrak{g}^* </math> is identified with<math display="block"> \pi = x \frac{\partial}{\partial y} \frac{\partial}{\partial z} + y \frac{\partial}{\partial z} \frac{\partial}{\partial x} + z \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \frac{\partial}{\partial y} \in \mathfrak{X}^2 (\mathbb{R}^3) </math>and its symplectic foliation is identified with the foliation by concentric spheres in <math> \mathbb{R}^3 </math> (the only singular leaf being the origin). On the other hand, for <math> \mathfrak{g} = \mathfrak{sl}(2,\mathbb{R}) \cong \mathbb{R}^3 </math> with the standard basis, the Lie-Poisson structure on <math> \mathfrak{g}^* </math> is identified with<math display="block"> \pi = x \frac{\partial}{\partial y} \frac{\partial}{\partial z} - y \frac{\partial}{\partial z} \frac{\partial}{\partial x} + z \frac{\partial}{\partial x} \frac{\partial}{\partial y} \in \mathfrak{X}^2 (\mathbb{R}^3) </math>and its symplectic foliation is identified with the foliation by concentric hyperboloids and conical surface in <math> \mathbb{R}^3 </math> (the only singular leaf being again the origin).

Fibrewise linear Poisson structures

The previous example can be generalised as follows. A Poisson structure on the total space of a vector bundle <math> E \to M </math> is called fibrewise linear when the bracket of two smooth functions <math> E \to \mathbb{R} </math>, whose restrictions to the fibres are linear, is still linear when restricted to the fibres. Equivalently, the Poisson bivector field <math> \pi </math> is asked to satisfy <math> (m_t)^*\pi = t \pi </math> for any <math> t >0 </math>, where <math> m_t: E \to E </math> is the scalar multiplication <math> v \mapsto tv </math>.

The class of vector bundles with linear Poisson structures coincides actually with that of (dual of) Lie algebroids. Indeed, the dual <math> A^* </math> of any Lie algebroid <math> (A, \rho,[\cdot, \cdot]) </math> carries a fibrewise linear Poisson bracket, uniquely defined by<math display="block"> \{ \mathrm{ev}_\alpha, \mathrm{ev}_\beta \}:= ev_{[\alpha,\beta]} \quad \quad \forall \alpha, \beta \in \Gamma(A), </math>where <math> \mathrm{ev}_\alpha: A^* \to \mathbb{R}, \phi \mapsto \phi(\alpha) </math> is the evaluation by <math> \alpha </math>. Equivalently, the Poisson bivector can be locally expressed as<math display="block"> \pi = \sum_{i,a} B^i_a(x) \frac{\partial}{\partial y_a} \frac{\partial}{\partial x^i} + \sum_{a < b,c} C_{ab}^c(x) y_c \frac{\partial}{\partial y_a} \frac{\partial}{\partial y_b}, </math>where <math> x^i </math> are coordinates around a point <math> x \in M </math>, <math> y_a </math> are fibre coordinates on <math> A^* </math>, dual to a local frame <math> e_a </math> of <math> A </math>, and <math> B^i_a </math> and <math> C^c_{ab} </math> are the structure function of <math> A </math>, i.e. the unique smooth functions satisfying<math display="block"> \rho(e_a) = \sum_i B^i_a (x) \frac{\partial}{\partial x^i}, \quad \quad [e_a, e_b] = \sum_c C^c_{ab} (x) e_c. </math>Conversely, any fibrewise linear Poisson structure <math> \{ \cdot, \cdot \} </math> on <math> E </math> must be of this form, i.e. there exists a natural Lie algebroid structure induced on <math> A:=E^* </math> whose Lie-Poisson backet recovers <math> \{ \cdot, \cdot \} </math>.

If <math> A </math> is integrable to a Lie groupoid <math> \mathcal{G} \rightrightarrows M </math>, the symplectic leaves of <math> A^* </math> are the connected components of the orbits of the cotangent groupoid <math> T^* \mathcal{G} \rightrightarrows A^* </math>. In general, given any algebroid orbit <math> \mathcal{O} \subseteq M </math>, the image of its cotangent bundle via the dual <math> \rho^*: T^*M \to A^* </math> of the anchor map is a symplectic leaf.

For <math> M = \{*\} </math> one recovers linear Poisson structures, while for <math> A = TM </math> the fibrewise linear Poisson structure is the nondegenerate one given by the canonical symplectic structure of the cotangent bundle <math> T^*M </math>. More generally, any fibrewise linear Poisson structure on <math> TM \to M </math> that is nondegenerate is isomorphic to the canonical symplectic form on <math> T^*M </math>.

Other examples and constructions

  • Any constant bivector field on a vector space is automatically a Poisson structure; indeed, all three terms in the Jacobiator are zero, being the bracket with a constant function.
  • Any bivector field on a 2-dimensional manifold is automatically a Poisson structure; indeed, <math> [\pi,\pi] </math> is a 3-vector field, which is always zero in dimension 2.
  • Given any Poisson bivector field <math> \pi </math> on a 3-dimensional manifold <math> M </math>, the bivector field <math> f \pi </math>, for any <math> f \in \mathcal{C}^\infty(M) </math>, is automatically Poisson.
  • The Cartesian product <math> (M_{0} \times M_{1},\pi_{0} \times \pi_{1}) </math> of two Poisson manifolds <math> (M_{0},\pi_{0}) </math> and <math> (M_{1},\pi_{1}) </math> is again a Poisson manifold.
  • Let <math> \mathcal{F} </math> be a (regular) foliation of dimension <math> 2k </math> on <math> M </math> and <math> \omega \in {\Omega^{2(\mathcal{F}) </math> a closed foliated two-form for which the power <math> \omega^{k} </math> is nowhere-vanishing. This uniquely determines a regular Poisson structure on <math> M </math> by requiring the symplectic leaves of <math> \pi </math> to be the leaves <math> S </math> of <math> \mathcal{F} </math> equipped with the induced symplectic form <math> \omega|_S </math>.
  • Let <math> G </math> be a Lie group acting on a Poisson manifold <math> (M,\pi) </math> and such that the Poisson bracket of <math> G </math>-invariant functions on <math> M </math> is <math> G </math>-invariant. If the action is free and proper, the quotient manifold <math> M/G </math> inherits a Poisson structure <math> \pi_{M/G} </math> from <math> \pi </math> (namely, it is the only one such that the submersion <math> (M,\pi) \to (M/G,\pi_{M/G}) </math> is a Poisson map).

Poisson cohomology

The Poisson cohomology groups <math> H^k(M,\pi) </math> of a Poisson manifold are the cohomology groups of the cochain complex<math display="block"> \ldots \xrightarrow{d_\pi} \mathfrak{X}^\bullet(M) \xrightarrow{d_\pi} \mathfrak{X}^{\bullet+1}(M) \xrightarrow{d_\pi} \ldots \color{white}{\sum^i} </math>where the operator <math> d_\pi = [\pi,-] </math> is the Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket with <math> \pi </math>. Notice that such a sequence can be defined for every bivector <math> \pi </math> on <math> M </math>; the condition <math> d_\pi \circ d_\pi = 0 </math> is equivalent to <math> [\pi,\pi]=0 </math>, i.e. <math> (M,\pi) </math> being Poisson. It was introduced by Koszul and Weinstein.

Recall that the divergence of a vector field <math>X \in \mathfrak{X}(M)</math> with respect to a given volume form <math>\lambda</math> is the function <math>{\rm div}_\lambda (X) \in \mathcal{C}^\infty(M)</math> defined by <math>\textstyle {\rm div}_\lambda (X) = \frac{\mathcal{L}_{X} \lambda}{\lambda}</math>. The modular vector field of an orientable Poisson manifold, with respect to a volume form <math>\lambda</math>, is the vector field <math>X_\lambda</math> defined by the divergence of the Hamiltonian vector fields: <math>X_\lambda: f \mapsto {\rm div}_\lambda (X_f)</math>.

The modular vector field is a Poisson 1-cocycle, i.e. it satisfies <math>\mathcal{L}_{X_\lambda} \pi = 0</math>. Moreover, given two volume forms <math>\lambda_1</math> and <math>\lambda_2</math>, the difference <math>X_{\lambda_1} - X_{\lambda_2}</math> is a Hamiltonian vector field. Accordingly, the Poisson cohomology class <math>[X_\lambda]_\pi \in H^1 (M,\pi) </math> does not depend on the original choice of the volume form <math>\lambda</math>, and it is called the modular class of the Poisson manifold.

An orientable Poisson manifold is called unimodular if its modular class vanishes. Notice that this happens if and only if there exists a volume form <math>\lambda</math> such that the modular vector field <math>X_\lambda</math> vanishes, i.e. <math> {\rm div}_\lambda (X_f) = 0</math> for every <math>f</math>; in other words, <math>\lambda</math> is invariant under the flow of any Hamiltonian vector field. For instance:

  • Symplectic structures are always unimodular, since the Liouville form is invariant under all Hamiltonian vector fields.
  • For linear Poisson structures the modular class is the infinitesimal modular character of <math>\mathfrak{g}</math>, since the modular vector field associated to the standard Lebesgue measure on <math>\mathfrak{g}^*</math> is the constant vector field on <math>\mathfrak{g}^*</math>. Then <math>\mathfrak{g}^*</math> is unimodular as Poisson manifold if and only if it is unimodular as Lie algebra.
  • For regular Poisson structures the modular class is related to the Reeb class of the underlying symplectic foliation (an element of the first leafwise cohomology group, which obstructs the existence of a volume normal form invariant by vector fields tangent to the foliation).

The construction of the modular class can be easily extended to non-orientable manifolds by replacing volume forms with densities.

Several results have been proved relating Poisson homology and cohomology. For instance, for orientable unimodular Poisson manifolds, Poisson homology turns out to be isomorphic to Poisson cohomology: this was proved independently by Xu and Evans-Lu-Weinstein.

Symplectic groupoids

A is a Lie groupoid <math> \mathcal{G} \rightrightarrows M </math> together with a symplectic form <math> \omega \in \Omega^2(\mathcal{G}) </math> which is also multiplicative, i.e. it satisfies the following algebraic compatibility with the groupoid multiplication: <math> m^*\omega = {\rm pr}_1^* \omega + {\rm pr}_2^* \omega </math>. Equivalently, the graph of <math> m </math> is asked to be a Lagrangian submanifold of <math> (\mathcal{G} \times \mathcal{G} \times \mathcal{G}, \omega \oplus \omega \oplus - \omega) </math>. Among the several consequences, the dimension of <math> \mathcal{G} </math> is automatically twice the dimension of <math> M </math>. The notion of symplectic groupoid was introduced at the end of the 1980s independently by several authors. Conversely, if the cotangent bundle <math> T^*M </math> of a Poisson manifold is integrable (as a Lie algebroid), then its <math> s </math>-simply connected integration <math> \mathcal{G} \rightrightarrows M </math> is automatically a symplectic groupoid.

Accordingly, the integrability problem for a Poisson manifold consists in finding a (symplectic) Lie groupoid which integrates its cotangent algebroid; when this happens, the Poisson structure is called integrable.

While any Poisson manifold admits a local integration (i.e. a symplectic groupoid where the multiplication is defined only locally), The candidate <math> \Pi(M,\pi) </math> for the symplectic groupoid integrating any given Poisson manifold <math> (M,\pi) </math> is called Poisson homotopy groupoid and is simply the Ševera-Weinstein groupoid complete ones do not, and their existence plays a fundamental role in the integrability problem for Poisson manifolds. Indeed, using the topological obstructions to the integrability of Lie algebroids, one can show that a Poisson manifold is integrable if and only if it admits a complete symplectic realisation.

Poisson submanifolds

A Poisson submanifold of <math> (M, \pi) </math> is an immersed submanifold <math> N \subseteq M </math> together with a Poisson structure <math> \pi_N </math> such that the immersion map <math> (N,\pi_N) \hookrightarrow (M,\pi) </math> is a Poisson map.

Further topics

Deformation quantisation

The main idea of deformation quantisation is to deform the (commutative) algebra of functions on a Poisson manifold into a non-commutative one, in order to investigate the passage from classical mechanics to quantum mechanics. This topic was one of the driving forces for the development of Poisson geometry, and the precise notion of formal deformation quantisation was developed already in 1978.

A (differential) star product on a manifold <math>M</math> is an associative, unital and <math>\mathbb{R}\hbar</math>-bilinear product<math display="block">*_{\hbar}: \mathcal{C}^\infty(M)\hbar \times \mathcal{C}^\infty(M)\hbar \to \mathcal{C}^\infty(M)\hbar</math>on the ring <math>\mathcal{C}^\infty(M)\hbar</math> of formal power series, of the form<math display="block">f *_{\hbar} g = \sum_{k=0}^\infty \hbar^k C_k (f,g), \quad \quad f,g \in \mathcal{C}^\infty(M), </math>where <math>\{ C_k: \mathcal{C}^\infty(M) \times \mathcal{C}^\infty(M) \to \mathcal{C}^\infty(M) \}_{k=1}^\infty</math> is a family of bidifferential operators on <math>M</math> such that <math>C_0 (f,g)</math> is the pointwise multiplication <math>fg</math>.

The expression <math>\{f,g\}_{*_\hbar} := C_1 (f,g) - C_1 (g,f)</math> defines a Poisson bracket on <math>M</math>, which can be interpreted as the "classical limit" of the star product <math>*_{\hbar }</math> when the formal parameter <math>\hbar</math> (denoted with same symbol as the reduced Planck constant) goes to zero, i.e.

<math display="block">\{f,g\}_{*_\hbar} = \lim_{\hbar \to 0} \frac{f*g - g*f}{\hbar} = C_1 (f,g) - C_1 (g,f). </math>

A (formal) deformation quantisation of a Poisson manifold <math>(M,\pi)</math> is a star product <math>*_{\hbar }</math> such that the Poisson bracket <math>\{\cdot,\cdot\}_\pi</math> coincide with <math>\{\cdot,\cdot\}_{*_\hbar}</math>. Several classes of Poisson manifolds have been shown to admit a canonical deformation quantisations:

  • any nondegenerate Poisson manifold admits a deformation quantisation. This was shown first for symplectic manifolds with a flat symplectic connection, while a more explicit approach was provided later by Fedosov and several other authors.

In general, building a deformation quantisation for any given Poisson manifold is a highly non trivial problem, and for several years it was not clear if it would be even possible. this contributed to getting him the Fields Medal in 1998.

Kontsevich's proof relies on an algebraic result, known as the formality conjecture, which involves a quasi-isomorphism of differential graded Lie algebras between the multivector fields <math>\mathfrak{X}^\bullet(M) = T_{\rm poly}^\bullet (M)</math> (with Schouten bracket and zero differential) and the multidifferential operators <math>D^\bullet_{\rm poly} (M)</math> (with Gerstenhaber bracket and Hochschild differential). Alternative approaches and more direct constructions of Kontsevich's deformation quantisation were later provided by other authors.

Linearisation problem

The isotropy Lie algebra of a Poisson manifold <math> (M, \pi) </math> at a point <math> x \in M </math> is the isotropy Lie algebra <math> \mathfrak{g}_x := \ker (\pi_x^\#) \subseteq T_x^*M </math> of its cotangent Lie algebroid <math> T^*M </math>; explicitly, its Lie bracket is given by <math> [d_xf, d_xg] = d_x (\{f,g\}) </math>. If, furthermore, <math> x </math> is a zero of <math> \pi </math>, i.e. <math> \pi_x = 0 </math>, then <math> \mathfrak{g}_x=T_x^*M </math> is the entire cotangent space. Due to the correspondence between Lie algebra structures on <math> V </math> and linear Poisson structures, there is an induced linear Poisson structure on <math> (T_x^* M)^* \cong T_x M </math>, denoted by <math> \pi_x^{\rm lin} </math>. A Poisson manifold <math> (M, \pi) </math> is called (smoothly) linearisable at a zero <math> x \in M </math> if there exists a Poisson diffeomorphism between <math> (M, \pi) </math> and <math> (T_x M, \pi_x^{\rm lin}) </math> which sends <math> x </math> to <math> 0_x </math>.

It is in general a difficult problem to determine if a given Poisson manifold is linearisable, and in many instances the answer is negative. For instance, if the isotropy Lie algebra of <math> (M, \pi) </math> at a zero <math> x \in M </math> is isomorphic to the special linear Lie algebra <math> \mathfrak{sl} (2,\mathbb{R}) </math>, then <math> (M, \pi) </math> is not linearisable at <math> x </math>. or when it is a semisimple Lie algebra of rank 1 whose compact part (in the Cartan decomposition) is not semisimple.

A notable sufficient condition for linearisability is provided by Conn's linearisation theorem:<blockquote>Let <math> (M, \pi) </math> be a Poisson manifold and <math> x \in M </math> a zero of <math> \pi </math>. If the isotropy Lie algebra <math> \mathfrak{g}_x </math> is semisimple and compact, then <math> (M, \pi) </math> is linearisable around <math> x </math>.</blockquote>In the previous counterexample, indeed, <math> \mathfrak{sl} (2,\mathbb{R}) </math> is semisimple but not compact. The original proof of Conn involves several estimates from analysis in order to apply the Nash-Moser theorem; a different proof, employing geometric methods which were not available at Conn's time, was provided by Crainic and Fernandes.

If one restricts to analytic Poisson manifolds, a similar linearisation theorem holds, only requiring the isotropy Lie algebra <math> \mathfrak{g}_x </math> to be semisimple. This was conjectured by Weinstein a more geometric proof was given by Zung. Several other particular cases when the linearisation problem has a positive answer have been proved in the formal, smooth or analytic category.

  • the multiplication <math>m: G \times G \to G</math> is a Poisson map, with respect to the product Poisson structure on <math>G \times G</math>;
  • the Poisson bracket satisfies <math>\{f_1,f_2\} (gh) =

\{f_1 \circ L_g, f_2 \circ L_g\} (h) +

\{f_1 \circ R_{h}, f_2 \circ R_{h}\} (g)</math> for every <math>g,h \in G</math> and <math>f_1,f_2 \in \mathcal{C}^\infty(G)</math>, where <math>L_g</math> and <math>R_h</math> are the right- and left-translations of <math>G</math>;

  • the Poisson bivector field <math>\pi</math> is a multiplicative tensor, i.e. it satisfies <math>\pi (gh) = (L_g)_* (\pi (h)) + (R_h)_* (\pi (g))</math> for every <math>g,h \in G</math>.

It follows from the last characterisation that the Poisson bivector field <math>\pi</math> of a Poisson-Lie group always vanishes at the unit <math>e \in G</math>. Accordingly, a non-trivial Poisson-Lie group cannot arise from a symplectic structure, otherwise it would contradict Weinstein splitting theorem applied to <math>e</math>; for the same reason, <math>\pi</math> cannot even be of constant rank.

Infinitesimally, a Poisson-Lie group <math>G</math> induces a comultiplication <math>\textstyle \mu: \mathfrak{g} \to \bigwedge^2 \mathfrak{g}</math> on its Lie algebra <math>\mathfrak{g} = \mathrm{Lie}(G)</math>, obtained by linearising the Poisson bivector field <math>\textstyle \pi: G \to \bigwedge^2 TG</math> at the unit <math>e \in G</math>, i.e. <math>\mu : = d_e \pi</math>. The comultiplication <math>\mu</math> endows <math>\mathfrak{g}</math> with a structure of Lie coalgebra, which is moreover compatible with the original Lie algebra structure, making <math>\mathfrak{g}</math> into a Lie bialgebra. Moreover, Drinfeld proved that there is an equivalence of categories between simply connected Poisson-Lie groups and finite-dimensional Lie bialgebras, extending the classical equivalence between simply connected Lie groups and finite-dimensional Lie algebras.

Weinstein generalised Poisson-Lie groups to Poisson(-Lie) groupoids, which are Lie groupoids <math>\mathcal{G} \rightrightarrows M</math> with a compatible Poisson structure on the space of arrows <math>G</math>. This can be formalised by saying that the graph of the multiplication defines a coisotropic submanifold of <math>(\mathcal{G} \times \mathcal{G} \times \mathcal{G}, \pi \times \pi \times (-\pi))</math>, or in other equivalent ways. Moreover, Mackenzie and Xu extended Drinfeld's correspondence to a correspondence between Poisson groupoids and Lie bialgebroids.

References