We compare crystal combinatorics of the level $2$ Fock space with the classification of unitary irreducible representations of type B rational Cherednik algebras to study how unitarity behaves under parabolic restriction. We show that the crystal operators that remove boxes preserve the combinatorial conditions for unitarity, and that the parabolic restriction functors categorifying the crystals send irreducible unitary representations to unitary representations. Furthermore, we find the supports of the unitary representations.

We consider the polynomial representation S(V*) of the rational Cherednik algebra Hc(W) associated to a finite Coxeter group W at constant parameter c. We show that for any degree d of W and m∈ℕ the space S(V*) contains a single copy of the reflection representation V of W spanned by the homogeneous singular polynomials of degree d−1+hm, where h is the Coxeter number of W; these polynomials generate an Hc (W) submodule with the parameter c=(d−1)/h+m. We express these singular polynomials through the Saito polynomials which are flat coordinates of the Saito metric on the orbit space V/W. We also show that this exhausts all the singular polynomials in the isotypic component of the reflection representation V for any constant parameter c.

We construct a two-parameter family of actions ωk,a of the Lie algebra 𝔰𝔩(2,ℝ) by differential–difference operators on ℝN∖{0}. Here k is a multiplicity function for the Dunkl operators, and a>0 arises from the interpolation of the two 𝔰𝔩(2,ℝ) actions on the Weil representation of Mp(N,ℝ) and the minimal unitary representation of O(N+1,2). We prove that this action ωk,a lifts to a unitary representation of the universal covering of SL (2,ℝ) , and can even be extended to a holomorphic semigroup Ωk,a. In the k≡0 case, our semigroup generalizes the Hermite semigroup studied by R. Howe (a=2) and the Laguerre semigroup studied by the second author with G. Mano (a=1) . One boundary value of our semigroup Ωk,a provides us with (k,a) -generalized Fourier transforms ℱk,a, which include the Dunkl transform 𝒟k (a=2) and a new unitary operator ℋk  (a=1) , namely a Dunkl–Hankel transform. We establish the inversion formula, a generalization of the Plancherel theorem, the Hecke identity, the Bochner identity, and a Heisenberg uncertainty relation for ℱk,a. We also find kernel functions for Ωk,a and ℱk,a for a=1,2 in terms of Bessel functions and the Dunkl intertwining operator.

We introduce quasi-invariant polynomials for an arbitrary finite complex reflection group W. Unlike in the Coxeter case, the space of quasi-invariants of a given multiplicity is not, in general, an algebra but a module Qk over the coordinate ring of a (singular) affine variety Xk. We extend the main results of Berest et al. [Cherednik algebras and differential operators on quasi-invariants, Duke Math. J. 118 (2003), 279–337] to this setting: in particular, we show that the variety Xk and the module Qk are Cohen–Macaulay, and the rings of differential operators on Xk and Qk are simple rings, Morita equivalent to the Weyl algebra An(ℂ) , where n=dim Xk. Our approach relies on representation theory of complex Cherednik algebras introduced by Dunkl and Opdam [Dunkl operators for complex reflection groups, Proc. London Math. Soc. (3) 86 (2003), 70–108] and is parallel to that of Berest et al. As an application, we prove the existence of shift operators for an arbitrary complex reflection group, confirming a conjecture of Dunkl and Opdam. Another result is a proof of a conjecture of Opdam, concerning certain operations (KZ twists) on the set of irreducible representations of W.

Basic properties of symplectic reflection algebras over an algebraically closed field k of positive characteristic are laid out. These algebras are always finite modules over their centres, in contrast to the situation in characteristic 0. For the subclass of rational Cherednik algebras, we determine the PI-degree and the Goldie rank, and show that the Azumaya and smooth loci of the centre coincide.

Dunkl operators for complex reflection groups are defined in this paper. These commuting operators give rise to a parameterized family of deformations of the polynomial De Rham complex. This leads to the study of the polynomial ring as a module over the ‘rational Cherednik algebra’, and a natural contravariant form on this module. In the case of the imprimitive complex reflection groups $G(m, p, N)$, the set of singular parameters in the parameterized family of these structures is described explicitly, using the theory of non-symmetric Jack polynomials.

2000 Mathematical Subject Classification: 20F55 (primary), 52C35, 05E05, 33C08 (secondary).