Towards a tensor-classification of Harish-Chandra modules: The case ${\rm SL}_2(\mathbb R)$

Abstract: We consider the category of Harish-Chandra modules for ${\rm SL}_2(\mathbb R)$ as a module over the category of finite-dimensional representations of ${\rm SL}(2)$ with respect to the tensor product. In this note we use classical results about principal series to obtain a classification of $\otimes$-submodules of the category of Harish-Chandra modules of ${\rm SL}_2(\mathbb R)$. The resulting classification recovers the classical classification of irreducible Harish-Chandra modules. Our methods are expected to generalize to arbitrary reductive pairs and more general base fields.