Whittaker Modules for Generalized Weyl Algebras

We investigate Whittaker modules for generalized Weyl algebras, a class of associative algebras which includes the quantum plane, Weyl algebras, the universal enveloping algebra of sl_2 and of Heisenberg Lie algebras, Smith's generalizations of U(sl_2), various quantum analogues of these algebras, and many others. We show that the Whittaker modules V = Aw of the generalized Weyl algebra A = R(phi,t) are in bijection with the phi-stable left ideals of R. We determine the annihilator Ann_A(w) of the cyclic generator w of V. We also describe the annihilator ideal Ann_A(V) under certain assumptions that hold for most of the examples mentioned above. As one special case, we recover Kostant's well-known results on Whittaker modules and their associated annihilators for U(sl_2).