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I have a question about affine Coxeter groups when reading Humphreys's book:

Let $(W,S)$ be an irreducible affine Coxeter group, $M=(m_{ij})$ be its Coxeter matrix, and $\{\alpha_s\}_{s\in S}\in V$ be the system of simple roots in the standard geometric realization, so the $\{\alpha_s\}$ are linearly independent. The bilinear form $\bullet$ given by $$\alpha_s\bullet\alpha_s = \begin{cases}-\cos\frac{\pi}{m_{s,t}}, & m_{s,t}<\infty\\ -1, & m_{s,t}=\infty\end{cases}$$ has signature $(n-1, 0)$.

It's well-known that ${\rm Rad}(\bullet)$ is one-dimensional, and is spanned by $\delta=\sum_{s}c_s\alpha_s$ where all $c_s>0$, and $\bullet$ is positive-definite on the quotient $U=V/\mathbb{R}\delta$, which can be identified with the hyperplane in the dual space $U^\ast=\langle\cdot,\delta\rangle=0$. $W$ also acts on $U^\ast$ as a reflection group, this gives a homomorphism $W\to{\rm GL}(U^\ast)$, and let $W'$ be its kernel. Prove that $W'$ is non-trivial.

Is there a direct proof of this?

Update: Sorry for the confusion. By 'direct', I mean a general one that doesn't need to check the list of irreducible affine root systems.

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When you ask for a direct proof, I'm not sure what I'm allowed to use. But if I am allowed to know how to construct the affine root system from an appropriate finite root system, the fact that $W'$ is non-trivial becomes easy:

If you use the standard construction of an affine root system for your Coxeter group, the root system is the set of vectors $\beta+k\delta$ such that $\beta$ is a root in the finite root system and $k$ is an integer. For two roots with the same $\beta$ and different $k$, the corresponding reflections have the same action on $U^*$.

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  • $\begingroup$ Thank you! Using the construction of an affine root system is fine, and this is exactly what I want. $\endgroup$
    – zemora
    Commented Aug 18, 2023 at 2:06
  • $\begingroup$ May I ask where can I find literature that discusses affine root systems in a detailed way? For example it proves the fact that $\Phi=\Phi_{\rm finite} + \mathbb{Z}\delta$. $\endgroup$
    – zemora
    Commented Aug 22, 2023 at 10:28
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    $\begingroup$ Standard references: (1) Victor Kac, Infinite dimensional Lie algebras. Chapter 6, and you probably need Chapters 4 and 5 too. Note that if you are interested in Coxeter groups only, you only need the root systems on "Table Aff 1" on page 54. The other root systems are obtained by changing some root lengths, which doesn't change the Coxeter group. These root systems are better behaved, and they are the ones for whom my description of the roots is correct. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 17:04
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    $\begingroup$ Standard references: (2) I. G. Macdonald, Affine Root Systems and Dedekind's $\eta$-function. This might not actually state the result we're talking about, but it constructs all the root systems explicitly. The notation is different between Kac and MacDonald. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 24, 2023 at 17:09

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