Questions tagged [invariant-theory]

Invariant theory deals with an algebraic, geometric or analytic structure $X$, submitted to the action of an (algebraic) group $G$. It studies $G$-invariant elements of $X$ as well as the set of $G$-orbits.

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Existence of $SO(n)$-isotropic inner products which are not $O(n)$-isotropic

$\newcommand{\al}{\alpha}$ Let $M_n$ be the space of $n \times n$ real matrices. Question: For which $n$, is there an inner product on $M_n$ which satisfies: $$(*) \, \, \langle Q^TXQ,Q^TYQ \...
Asaf Shachar's user avatar
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11 votes
1 answer
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Invariant ring of $S_5$

The irreducible representations of the Symmetric group $S_5$ are classified by the partitions of $5$. For the standard representation which corresponds to the partition (4,1) the ring of invariants is ...
Karthik's user avatar
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-1 votes
1 answer
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Tensor bundles as G structures [closed]

For a smooth, real surface $\Sigma$, its bundle of symmetric, bi-linear forms $S^2T\Sigma$ reduced to a $PGL(2,\mathbb{R})$ structure. A similar reduction(with different structure group) can be done ...
Mike Cocos's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
531 views

Ring of invariants for the regular representation

The symmetric group $S_n$ acts on $\mathbb C^n$ by permuting the coordinates. In this case the ring of invariants is generated by elementary symmetric polynomials in n-variables. Now consider the ...
Karthik's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
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Common zero of invariants of finite groups

Let $G$ be a finite group $n = |G|$. Let $\sigma : G \rightarrow GL(n,\mathbb{C})$ be the regular representation. Hence every element of $G$ can be seen as a permutation matrix. Let $\mathbb{Q}[x_1,......
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2 votes
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89 views

Irreducible real curves on ${\mathbb C}P^1$ invariant under the finite group action

Let $G$ be a finite subgroup of a Möbius group with a standart action on a real algebraic variety ${\mathbb C}{\mathbf P^1}.$ How one can describe $G$-invariant irreducible real algebraic curves? ...
probably's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Description of the algebra of $G$-invariant polynomials by generators and relations

Fix $n > 1$ and let $\zeta \in \mathbb{C}$ be a primitive $n$-th root of unity. Let $G \subset \text{SL}_2(\mathbb{C})$ be a cyclic subgroup of order $n$ generated by the diagonal matrix $g = \text{...
user295794's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
345 views

Generate harmonic polynomials for a finite group

Let $G$ be a finite group acting on a complex vector space $V$. Let $\mathcal{D}$ denote the differential operators with constant coefficients and $\mathcal{D}^{G}$ be the $G$-invariant operators. A ...
Seppo's user avatar
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1 answer
98 views

Generalization of a Result about degree bounds of invariant rings

A theorem of Knop states that if $G$ is semisimple and connected acting on a vector space $V$ over a field $K$ of characteristic 0, then the degree of the Hilbert series of $K[V]^G$ is less than or ...
batconjurer's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
473 views

Equivariant polynomial maps

Let $V$ be a complex vector spaces and assume that a compact group G acts linearly on $V$. Then look at the $G$-equivariant polynomial maps from $V$ to $V$. Denote this by $Mor_G(V,V)$. In the case ...
Seppo's user avatar
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Involutions of binary sextic forms

Let $F(x,y) = a_6 x^6 + a_5 x^5 y + \cdots + a_1 xy^5 + a_0 y^6$ be a binary sextic form with complex coefficients. Let $V_\mathbb{C}$ be the space over $\mathbb{C}$ of binary sextic forms. It is ...
Stanley Yao Xiao's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
318 views

Can a general binary sextic form be put into the following form?

Let $F(x,y) = a_6 x^6 + a_5 x^5 y + \cdots + a_0 y^6$ be a binary sextic form with real coefficients and non-zero discriminant. Can one always find an element $U = \begin{pmatrix} u_1 & u_2 \\ u_3 ...
Stanley Yao Xiao's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
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Is there a natural covariant of sextic polynomials with the following coefficients?

Let $$\displaystyle f(x) = a_6 x^6 + a_5 x^5 + a_4 x^4 + a_3 x^3 + a_2 x^2 + a_1 x + a_0 $$ be an irreducible sextic polynomial with integer coefficients. Write $\theta_1, \cdots, \theta_6$ for the ...
Stanley Yao Xiao's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
427 views

Is the Veronese variety "enough" to describe all the $SL(V)$-orbits in $\mathbb{P}(\textrm{Sym}^dV)$?

I apologise in advance if the question will look ridicolous to experienced eyes: in this case a good reference will be enough to clarify my doubts. Let $V$ be a complex vector space of dimension $n$, ...
Giovanni Moreno's user avatar
7 votes
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What is the status of this fifty-year-old conjecture of Kostant?

On page 3.27 of his 1963 thesis on the cohomology of homogeneous spaces as approached through the Eilenberg–Moore spectral sequence, Paul Baum states the following conjecture, which he attributes to B....
jdc's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
333 views

Invariant polynomials under the action of $H\le\operatorname{GL}_n(\mathbb{F}_p)$

Let $n$ be a positive integer, and $p$ a prime. Any subgroup $H\le \operatorname{GL}_n(\mathbb{F}_p)$ acts on the polynomial ring $\mathbb{F}_p[x_1,\ldots,x_n]$ via $A\cdot x_i=\sum_j a_{ji}x_j$ for ...
Jared's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
311 views

Orbits in the adjoint representation of $SU(2,1)$

How can one describe the orbits of the Lie group $G=\mathrm{SU}(2,1)$ in its Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}=\mathfrak{su}(2,1)$ with respect to the adjoint representation?
Mikhail Borovoi's user avatar
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What are the E7(7) invariants in the adjoint representation?

Take a real vector space $R$ transforming in the adjoint representation of the ${\rm E}_7(7)$ Lie group as $R \rightarrow G R G^{-1}$. One can define invariants using traces of products of $R$ as ${\...
Geoffrey Compere's user avatar
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Does the functor of taking invariants commute with tensor products? [closed]

Suppose that $G$ is a group acting on a commutative ring $R$, inducing an action on each $R$-module. For any $R$-module $M$, let $M^G$ denote the collection of elements of $M$ invariant under the $G$-...
Suresh's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
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Invariant polynomials with respect to group actions on matrices

Let $\mathfrak{gl}_n(\mathbb{R})$ be the Lie algebra of matrices with real entries and $GL_n(\mathbb{R})$ its associated Lie group. Recall that a linear subgroup $G \subseteq GL_n(\mathbb{R})$ acts by ...
Mike Cocos's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
340 views

Algebraically independent matrix invariants

Let $V$ be the space of pairs of $n \times n$ matrices over $\mathbb{C}$ and let $G$ be the space of $n \times n$ permutation matrices which acts on $(A,B) \in V$ by simultaneous conjugation. It is ...
Anindya De's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
633 views

Invariants of the maximal unipotent subgroup of GL(n) acting on the space of n by n matrices

Let $G=GL(n,\mathbb{C})$ and let $U\subset G$ be a maximal unipotent subgroup. (For example,assume that U is the set of upper triangular matrices with ones in the diagonal.) Now let $X=M_{n}(\mathbb{C}...
Raul Gomez's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
865 views

Is there a topological Chevalley-Shephard-Todd Theorem?

Is the following true: For a representation of a finite group $G$ on $\mathbb{C}^n$, the quotient $\mathbb{C}^n/G$ is a topological manifold if and only if $G$ is generated by pseudo-reflections. ( ...
Nico Bellic's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
120 views

Terminology for research on distributions of inner products

Consider a set of vectors $M$ from an inner product space $V$. The ordered set of inner products of all pairs of elements in $M$ uniquely characterizes $M$ up to isomorphism. Suppose now that $V$ is ...
Nick's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
260 views

Classification of 3-forms in dimension 7

I'm looking for a classification of $3$-forms over a real vector space of dimension $7$ as for the $3$-forms in dimension $6$. References on the latter case are R. Bryant On the geometry of almost ...
rpanai's user avatar
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1 answer
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A vector version of the Segre embedding: what is the kernel of the ring map?

TL;DR version. Given a commutative ring $\mathbf{k}$ and $n+m$ "generic" vectors $\mathbf{x}_1, \mathbf{x}_2, \ldots, \mathbf{x}_n, \mathbf{y}_1, \mathbf{y}_2, \ldots, \mathbf{y}_m$ in $\mathbf{k}^k$ ...
darij grinberg's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
865 views

Most discriminants are almost squarefree

Write, for $f(x) = x^d + a_2 x^{d-2} + \cdots + a_d\in \mathbb{Z}[x]$, $H(f) := \max(|a_i|^{\frac{1}{i}})$. Does anyone know of a reference that would allow me to show that the proportion of $f$ with ...
alpoge's user avatar
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0 votes
0 answers
65 views

Invariant subalgebra and dual torus for symmetric group

Given permutation module with three generators and corresponding Galois action of symmetric group $\mathfrak S_3$ I am interested in computing corresponding dual torus $T$ (which should be of ...
Den's user avatar
  • 23
8 votes
1 answer
1k views

Does the ring of invariants inherit normality?

Let $A$ be a normal ring (in the sense that its localizations at prime ideals are normal domains), and suppose that a finite group $G$ acts on $A$ by ring automorphisms. Form the subring $A^G \subset ...
Lisa S.'s user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
722 views

Is the ring of invariants Noetherian?

Let $R$ be a complete regular local ring whose residue field is perfect. Suppose that a finite group $G$ acts on $R$ by ring automorphisms in such a way that the induced action on the residue field is ...
Lisa S.'s user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
373 views

Explicit generators of $Z(U(\mathfrak{g}))$

Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be a semisimple Lie algebra over an algebraically closed field. By Harish-Chandra, the center of its universal enveloping algebra $Z(U(\mathfrak{g}))$ is a polynomial ring and the ...
Jack's user avatar
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30 votes
2 answers
1k views

How to make the Capelli's identity less mysterious?

The formulation of the Capelli's identity is very elementary; it has important applications in invariant theory and representation theory, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capelli%27s_identity To ...
asv's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
523 views

Invariant Laurent polynomials under cyclic group action

Start with the cyclic group $G:=\mathbb{Z}/p$ of prime order $p$ and and an integer lattice $P:=\mathbb{Z}^p$. Let $G$ act on $P$ by cyclic permutation of coordinates. There is an induced action on ...
Maxim Stykow's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
578 views

Universal property of categorical quotients

I'm approaching the arguments in Mumford's book Geometric Invariant Theory and i have a question which i hope is not too naive.. I've read that, given a group scheme $G/S$ acting on $X/S$, we say ...
User28341's user avatar
  • 599
8 votes
3 answers
490 views

Polarizations generate the ring of invariants?

The symmetric group $S_n$ acts on $\mathbb R^n$ by permuting the coordinates and the ring of polynomial invariants is generated by the elementary symmetric polynomials. If we restrict the action to ...
Ram's user avatar
  • 187
3 votes
2 answers
672 views

Fundamental invariants for root subsystems

Let $\Phi$ be an irreducible root system of rank $\ell$. The fundamental invariants of $\Phi$ is a set of $\ell$ integers $d_1, \cdots, d_\ell$ canonically attached to $\Phi$. Now suppose $\Psi$ is ...
Dr. Evil's user avatar
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2 votes
2 answers
468 views

A question from the proof of affine algebraic group is a linear

In (some version of) the proof of the fact that any affine algebraic group is a linear algebraic group, there is an important step as follows (for example in Borel's book "Linear Algebraic Groups", ...
Ted Mao's user avatar
  • 443
2 votes
1 answer
193 views

Bound the degree of the generator of polynomial ring

Suppose we are given two polynomial rings $R_1$ and $R_2$ by presenting their generators, $S_1$ and $S_2$, where $S_i$ are finite set of $m_i$ variables, $i.e.$, $S_i\subset P[x_1,x_2,\cdots,x_{m_i}]$....
gondolf's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
352 views

Smooth and $GL(n)$-equivariant implies algebraic?

Context: Let $B_n$ be the space of symmetric bilinear forms on $\mathbb{R}^n$ and $L_n\subset B_n$ be the subset of non-degenerate forms of Lorentzian signature $(-,+,\ldots,+)$. Let $T$ be a finite ...
Igor Khavkine's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
210 views

The action of Steenrod squares on the indeterminate in Bullett-Macdonald identities

The Bullet-Macdonald identity (c.f. On the Adem relations)is the following: $$P(s^2+st)P(t^2)=P(t^2+st)P(s^2).$$ where we have $P(s)=\Sigma _s s^iSq^i$. This is known to be equivalent to the Adem ...
user43326's user avatar
  • 3,031
0 votes
0 answers
186 views

Action of the (special) orthogonal group on differential forms

I was told that the following facts are true. I am looking for a reference to them. 1) The action of $O(n,\mathbb{C})$ on $\wedge^l\mathbb{C}^n$ is irreducible for any $l$. 2) The action of $SO(n,\...
asv's user avatar
  • 21.1k
7 votes
2 answers
754 views

Quotients by the additive group $\mathbb G_a$

Geometric invariant theory doesn't work so well for non-reductive groups, since invariant rings are not generally finitely generated. However, in many cases the action of a non-reductive group has a ...
Will Mayer's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
495 views

Calculation with weights of $E_6$

Question: Consider the complex simple Lie group $E_6$. Let $\lambda_1$ and $\lambda_6$ be the fundamental weights defining the $27$-dimensional representation $V$ and $V^*$, resp. Consider the complex ...
Claudio Gorodski's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
256 views

Invariants of the symmetric group

Let $V_\lambda$ be an irreducible representation of the symmetric group $S_n$ as usual labeled by parition $\lambda$ of $n.$ Question. Is there any general information about the algebra of ...
Leox's user avatar
  • 546
2 votes
4 answers
544 views

Equivalent binary forms

Two binary forms $f, g \in k[x, y]$ are equivalent when there exists an $M \in GL_2 (k)$ such that $f^M = g$. For simplicity we take $k$ such that $char (k) =0$ and $k=\bar k$. The equivalence ...
user avatar
8 votes
0 answers
562 views

Generators for invariant tensors of lie algebras

EDITED FOR (hopeful) CLARITY: For a simple Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$ (over $\mathbb{C}$) and its adjoint group G, the $G$-invariant polynomials on $\mathfrak{g}$ are linear combinations of products ...
Matthew Tai's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
390 views

Arithmetic Cohen-Macaulayness of curves/surfaces defined by weighted power sums in 3 variables

Pick $p,q,r$ complex numbers (I am most interested in the case when they are positive integers). Define the function $P_i = px^i + qy^i + rz^i$ where $x,y,z$ are coordinates. I have a few related ...
Steven Sam's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
299 views

Local maxima and minima of the trace of a product of $SL_2^\pm(\mathbb{R})$-matrices

I am working on a problem relating to Lyapunov exponents of products of random matrices, and this has led me to the following question which I suspect is best approached using techniques outside my ...
Ian Morris's user avatar
  • 6,176
6 votes
4 answers
642 views

Reference for an algebraic group preserving a cubic form

Let $R=k[u,v,w]$ and $p\in R$ be a cubic form. Let $G$ be the group of graded automorphisms of $R$ which preserve $p$, i.e., $G$ is the subgroup of $GL_3(k)$ consisting of elements $g$ such that $g(p) ...
Kenneth's user avatar
  • 63
6 votes
3 answers
621 views

$SL(n) \times SL(n)$-invariants of $m$-tuples of matrices

I work over field of complex numbers. Let $G=SL(n) \times SL(n)$, and $(A,B) \in G$ acts on $m$-tuples of matrices $M_{n \times n}(\mathbb{C})^{\oplus m}$ as follows $$ (A,B) \cdot (M_1, \ldots, M_m) \...
Sasha Pavlov's user avatar
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