Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 October 2014
Let G be a connected reductive algebraic group defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0. We consider the commuting variety
of the nilradical
of the Lie algebra
of a Borel subgroup B of G. In case B acts on
with only a finite number of orbits, we verify that
is equidimensional and that the irreducible components are in correspondence with the distinguishedB-orbits in
. We observe that in general
is not equidimensional, and determine the irreducible components of
in the minimal cases where there are infinitely many B-orbits in
.