Unitary Representations and Heisenberg Parabolic Subgroup

Abstract

In this paper, we study the restriction of an irreducible unitary representation $π$ of the universal covering $\widetilde{Sp}_{2n}(\mb R)$ to a Heisenberg maximal parabolic group $\tilde P$. We prove that if $π|_{\tilde P}$ is irreducible, then $π$ must be a highest weight module or a lowest weight module. This is in sharp constrast with the $GL_n(\mathbb R)$ case. In addition, we show that for a unitary highest or lowest weight module, $π|_{\tilde P}$ decomposes discretely. We also treat the groups $U(p,q)$ and $O^*(2n)$.