Nouvelles perspectives sur les algèbres de type Askey–Wilson
This thesis is divided in three parts which all orbit around the same theme: the study of algebraic structures related to the algebras of Askey–Wilson type. In the first part we obtain two interpretations that are dual in the sense of Howe for the algebras of Askey–Wilson type. Meanwhile, the other two parts are concerned with generalizations of these algebras. In the second part, we study degenerations of the Sklyanin algebra, which are built out of generators that are more fundamental than those of the Askey–Wilson algebra. In the last part, generalizations of the Askey–Wilson type algebras to higher rank are studied. In the first part, dual interpretations are obtained for the Racah, Bannai–Ito, Askey–Wilson, Higgs, Hahn, \(q\)-Higgs and dual \(-1\) Hahn algebras by invoking Howe duality.  The way that this Howe duality operates is made explicit through the examination of a dimensional reduction procedure.  A 2D superintegrable superconformal quantum mechanics model, whose symmetry algebra is the one of dual \(-1\) Hahn type, is also introduced and solved. In the second part, we study algebras that are generated by contiguity and ladder operators that encode properties of families of orthogonal polynomials.  We show that these operators belong to the Sklyanin–Heun class of operators, which can be defined for various grids.  We also show how their algebraic relations correspond to those of degenerations of the Sklyanin algebra.  Then, we show how various families of para-polynomials support finite-dimensional irreducible representations of these degenerate algebras. From the linear, quadratic, exponential and Askey–Wilson grids, we are respectively led to the para-Krawtchouk, para-Racah, \(q\)-para-Krawtchouk and \(q\)-para-Racah polynomials. Later, we connect the para-Krawtchouk polynomials (and other families of orthogonal polynomials) to tridiagonal representations of the deformed Jordan plane. In the final part, we explore higher rank generalizations of the Racah and Askey–Wilson algebras. To that end, their realizations in terms of intermediate Casimir elements are studied.  The role of the braided \(R\)-matrix is understood as follows: it connects various intermediate Casimir elements through conjugation. We obtain an isomorphism between the Kauffman bracket skein algebra of the four-punctured sphere and the algebra generated by the intermediate Casimir elements in \(U_q(\mathfrak{sl}_2)^{\otimes3}\).  This leads to a diagrammatic interpretation of the conjugation by the braided \(R\)-matrix mentioned in the above.  Lastly, a presentation of the centralizer \(Z_n(\mathfrak{sl}_2)\) of \(U(\mathfrak{sl}_2)\) in \(U(\mathfrak{sl}_2)^{\otimes n}\) by generators and relations is obtained and we show that this centralizer is isomorphic to a quotient (which we provide explicitly) of the higher rank Racah algebra \(R(n)\).
Matrice R Askey–Wilson algebra Howe duality Sklyanin–Heun operators Centralizers Dimensional reduction Sklyanin algebra Para-polynomials Kauffman bracket skein algebra R-matrix Classical invariant theory