Decompositions of Bernstein-Sato polynomials and slices

Abstract: Let $G$ be a linearly reductive group acting on a vector space $V$, and $f$ a (semi-)invariant polynomial on $V$. In this paper we study systematically decompositions of the Bernstein-Sato polynomial of $f$ in parallel with some representation-theoretic properties of the action of $G$ on $V$. We provide a technique based on a multiplicity one property, that we use to compute the Bernstein-Sato polynomials of several classical invariants in an elementary fashion. Furthermore, we derive a "slice method" which shows that the decomposition of $V$ as a representation of $G$ can induce a decomposition of the Bernstein-Sato polynomial of $f$ into a product of two Bernstein-Sato polynomials - that of an ideal and that of a semi-invariant of smaller degree. Using the slice method, we compute Bernstein-Sato polynomials for a large class of semi-invariants of quivers.