All Questions
Tagged with rt.representation-theory gr.group-theory
276 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
52
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0
answers
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Class function counting solutions of equation in finite group: when is it a virtual character?
Let $w=w(x_1,\dots,x_n)$ be a word in a free group of rank $n$. Let $G$ be a finite group. Then we may define a class function $f=f_w$ of $G$ by
$$ f_w(g) = |\{ (x_1,\dots, x_n)\in G^n\mid w(x_1,\dots,...
- 6,919
43
votes
0
answers
2k
views
Why are there so few quaternionic representations of simple groups?
Having spent many hours looking through the Atlas of Finite Simple Groups while in Grad school, I recall being rather intrigued by the fact that among the sporadic groups, only one (McLaughlin as I ...
- 5,191
38
votes
0
answers
1k
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Groups whose complex irreducible representations are finite dimensional
By a complex irreducible representation of a group $G$, I mean a simple $\mathbb CG$-module. So my representations need not be unitary and we are working in the purely algebraic setting.
It is easy ...
- 38.6k
37
votes
0
answers
1k
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Is this generalized character always a character?
Let $G$ be a finite group, and $p$ be a prime. Then there is a generalized character $\Psi$ of $G$ which takes value $0$ on all elements of order divisible by $p$, and has $\Psi(y)$ equal to the ...
- 44.4k
21
votes
0
answers
473
views
Is there a "direct" proof of the Galois symmetry on centre of group algebra?
Let $G$ be a finite group, and $n$ an integer coprime to $|G|$. Then we have the following map, which is clearly not a morphism of groups in general: $$g\mapsto g^n.$$
This induces a linear ...
- 1,949
20
votes
0
answers
451
views
Row of the character table of symmetric group with most negative entries
The row of the character table of $S_n$ corresponding to the trivial representation has all entries positive, and by orthogonality clearly it is the only one like this.
Is it true that for $n\gg 0$, ...
- 24.2k
19
votes
0
answers
377
views
Is there a classification of reflection groups over division rings?
I asked a version of this question in Math StackExchange about a week ago but I've received no feedback so far, so following the advice I received on meta I decided to post it here.
Details
The ...
- 1,206
18
votes
0
answers
524
views
Applications of the surjectivity of Brauer's decomposition map over arbitrary fields?
Recently I've been going over some of Serre's reformulation of Brauer theory with a student, following the influential treatment in Part III of Serre's lectures (revised 1971 French edition) later ...
- 52.9k
17
votes
0
answers
692
views
Monstrous Langlands-McKay or what is bijection between conjugacy classes and irreducible representation for sporadic simple groups?
Context: The number of conjugacy classes equals to the number of irreducuble representations (over C) for any finite group. Moreover for the symmetric group and some other groups there is "good ...
- 24.9k
16
votes
0
answers
382
views
Representation categories and homology
Let $G$ be a finite group.
Let $\mathcal{C}=Rep-G$ be the rigid $\mathbb{C}$-linear symmetric monoidal category of finite dimensional complex representations of $G$.
Can we recover some homological ...
- 5,039
14
votes
0
answers
527
views
Is the monster group maximal in SO(196883)?
$\DeclareMathOperator\SO{SO}$The smallest degree of a nontrivial complex representation of the monster group $ M $ is $ 196883 $. This irrep has Schur indicator $ 1 $, so the image must lie in the ...
- 4,081
14
votes
0
answers
262
views
Which irreducible representations of the symmetric group are eigenspaces of class sums?
In the setting of complex representations of finite groups, a class sum $1_C=\sum_{g\in C} g$ acts on an irreducible representation $V$ as $\lambda(C,V)\operatorname{Id}$, where $\lambda(C,V)=|C|\...
- 2,306
14
votes
0
answers
414
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Does the category of G-spectra know G?
I was recently in the situation of having access to the category of $G$-modules (for some group $G$ which I had forgotten), as just a category, i.e. no monoidal structure, together with the forgetful ...
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12
votes
0
answers
340
views
Does every finite group have a small projective representation (over some ring)?
Question. Let $G$ be a finite group. Can we find some (commutative) ring $R$ and some positive integer $d=O(\log\lvert G\rvert)$ such that $G$ can be found as a subgroup of $\operatorname{PGL}_d(R)$?
...
- 602
12
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0
answers
420
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Non-isomorphic groups with same character tables and different Brauer character tables
Let $A$ be a discrete valuation ring with perfect residue field $k$ of characteristic $p$ and field of fractions $K$ of characteristic $0$. Let $G$ and $H$ be two finite groups and assume that $K$ is ...
12
votes
0
answers
513
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Converse of Frobenius
Enumerate the elements of a finite group $G$ as follows: $g_1,g_2,\dots,g_n$. Introduce $n$ variables indexed by the elements of $G$: $x_{g_1},\dots,x_{g_n}$.
Consider the matrix $X_G$ with entries $...
- 43.2k
11
votes
0
answers
359
views
Representation theory of $\operatorname{GL}_2(\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z)$
Is there a nice reference for the finite dimensional (characteristic 0) representation theory of $\operatorname{GL}_2(\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z)$ and $\operatorname{PGL}_2(\mathbb Z/n\mathbb Z)$ for ...
- 7,746
11
votes
0
answers
201
views
Modular version of Mednykh's formula?
Let $G$ be a finite group and $\Sigma_g$ a closed Riemann surface of genus $g$. Then Mednykh's formula states
$\frac{\left|\mathrm{Hom}(\pi_1(\Sigma_g),G)\right|}{\left|G\right|} = \frac{1}{\left|G\...
- 6,622
11
votes
0
answers
287
views
What do Multilinear Forms tell us about Representations?
The last few days I have been calculating whether certain group representations are real, complex, or quaternionic. It is well-known that the type of the representation corresponds to what type of ...
- 5,191
10
votes
0
answers
436
views
Commuting matrix variety $[A,B]=0$ - can one geometrically explain divisibility of $F_ q$ point count by high powers of $q$?
$\DeclareMathOperator\Comm{Comm}\DeclareMathOperator\Id{Id}$Consider the variety $\Comm$ of commuting matrices $[A,B]=0$ over some field $K$. It is much studied, and interesting for various reasons.
...
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10
votes
0
answers
343
views
What are the analogs of a Levi/Parabolic/Borel/Bruhat over the field with 1 element?
This is inevitably an imprecise question, but there are already several questions like this on the site so I thought i'd try anyway.
If I understand correctly, for any reductive algebraic group $G$ ...
- 7,789
9
votes
0
answers
254
views
An identity for characters of the symmetric group
I am looking for a reference for the identity
$$\chi_\lambda(C)=\frac{\dim(V_\lambda)}{|C|}\sum_{p\in P_\lambda,\,q\in Q_\lambda,\,pq\in C}\operatorname{sgn}(q)$$
for the irreducible characters of the ...
- 2,306
9
votes
0
answers
336
views
Dual Coxeter numbers, Langlands dual groups, black holes and twisted compactification of 6d (2,0) A D E theories on a circle
A 6-dimensional (2,0) superconformal quantum field theory comes in Lie algebra A, D, E types. These theories do not have classical Lagrangian and are purely quantum.These theories on a torus ...
- 191
9
votes
0
answers
315
views
Colimit of continuous cohomology over subgroups
Suppose $G$ is a profinite group, in fact in the applications I'm interested in it would be a $p$-adic analytic group similar to $GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z}_{p})$. Say $M$ is a profinite $G$-representation, ...
- 2,197
9
votes
0
answers
290
views
A robust version of Schur's lemma?
Does a robust version of Schur's lemma exist? Specifically, I was wondering about something like this:
Let $B$ be a bounded operator over a vector space $V$, with underlying field $\mathbb{C}$ and ...
- 91
9
votes
0
answers
275
views
pattern-avoiding permutations vs multi-core partitions
Let $\mathfrak{S}_n$ be the permutation group on $[n]$. Given the pattern $\sigma=k(k-1)\cdots321$, let $I_n(\sigma)$ be the number of involutions in $\mathfrak{S}_n$ that avoid the pattern $\sigma$. ...
- 43.2k
8
votes
0
answers
383
views
Is this set, defined in terms of an irreducible representation, closed under inverses?
$\DeclareMathOperator\GL{GL}$Let $ H $ be an irreducible finite subgroup of $ \GL(n,\mathbb{C}) $. Define $ N^r(H) $ inductively by
$$
N^{r+1}(H)=\{ g \in \GL(n,\mathbb{C}): g H g^{-1} \subset N^r(H) \...
- 4,081
8
votes
0
answers
186
views
Is the Lawrence–Krammer representation faithful, reduced modulo p?
It is well-known that the braid group $B_n$ is linear for every $n$ by the Lawrence–Krammer (or LKB) representation. It embeds $B_n$ faithfully into $\mathrm{GL}\left(\frac{n(n-1)}{2},\mathbb{Z}[q^{\...
- 113
8
votes
0
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251
views
When does a semisimple $\mathbb{C}$-algebra come from a group?
Let $\mathcal{A}$ be a semisimple $\mathbb{C}$-algebra. By the Artin-Wedderburn theorem, it is isomorphic to a direct product of matrix algebras:
$$ \mathcal{A} = \prod_{i=1}^m M_{n_i}(\mathbb{C})$$
...
- 297
8
votes
0
answers
247
views
Computing the number of elementary abelian p-subgroups of rank 2 in $GL_{n}(\mathbb{F}_{p})$
Let $p$ be a prime number, and let $\mathbb{F}_{p}$ be a finite
field of order $p$. Let $GL_{n}(\mathbb{F}_{p})$ denote the general linear
group and $U_{n}$ denote the unitriangular group of $n\times ...
- 463
8
votes
0
answers
285
views
Are the braid groups good in the sense of Toën?
In this question it is asked whether the mapping class groups are 'good' in relation to pro-finite completion. Helpfully, one of the answers gives a link to a proof that the braid groups are good ...
- 1,635
8
votes
0
answers
545
views
What are the character tables of the finite unitary groups?
I need to know the (complex) character table of the finite unitary group $U_n(q)$. Lusztig and Srinivasan (1977) provide an abstract description, but parsing it requires a stronger background in ...
- 7,633
8
votes
0
answers
340
views
Representations of orthogonal groups vs representations of reflection groups
Let $V$ be a finite dimensional inner product space and $O(V)$ the orthogonal group of $V$.
Let $G$ be a (say, finite) reflection group on $V$, regarded as a subgroup of $O(V)$ ($G< O(V)$.) Let
us ...
- 81
8
votes
0
answers
366
views
Higher-dimensional generalization of Pink's theorem
Pink's theorem in the title of the question refers to the main theorem of Pink's paper "Compact Subgroups of Linear Algebraic Groups" that appeared in Journal of Algebra (206) in 1998. It essentially ...
- 26k
8
votes
0
answers
386
views
Complexity of computing the minimum degree of a faithful linear representation of a finite group
Background. Mazorchuk and I were interested in computing the minimum faithful degree of a linear representation of a finite semigroup over the complex feld in this paper. One particular aspect we ...
- 38.6k
7
votes
0
answers
160
views
Constructive proof of Swan theorem
Let $M$ be an $S_n$-lattice (so it is free as an abelian group), and assume that $M$ is projective (i.e. direct summand of some $\mathbb Z[S_n]^m$). A theorem of Swan implies that $M$ is stably ...
- 161
7
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0
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261
views
Invariant lattices of group representations over a $p$-adic field
Let $G$ be a finite group, $K$ be a $p$-adic field with an uniformizer $\pi$ and residue field $k \cong \Bbb F_q$, and $V$ be an irreducible representation of $G$ over $K$.
Let $X_{V}^G$ be the set ...
- 6,622
7
votes
0
answers
239
views
Combinatorial Avatar of Irrep Dimensions Dividing the Order of the Group
Suppose $G$ is a finite group and $V$ a complex irreducible representation. Let $v\in V$ be a sufficiently generic vector, and consider its orbit, $O(v)=\{gv|g\in G\}$. As a naive attempt to ...
- 85.6k
7
votes
0
answers
330
views
What's the name of the cohomology class associated to a projective representation?
Suppose $\rho : G \to PGL_n(k)$ is a projective representation of a group $G$ over a field $k$. It's classical that the obstruction to lifting this to a linear representation $G \to GL_n(k)$ is a ...
- 118k
7
votes
0
answers
245
views
On a permutation module for GL(n,q)
Let $G=GL(n,q)$ be the general linear group of degree $n$ over the $q$ element field. Let $X$ be the set of full rank $n\times r$ matrices where $1\leq r\leq n$. Then $G$ acts transitively on the ...
- 38.6k
7
votes
0
answers
315
views
What is known about the locus of zero-divisors in the group ring of a (non-abelian) finite group?
Let $G$ be a finite group and $\mathbb{C}G$ its group ring. Left multiplication by $\alpha\in \mathbb{C}G$ is a linear map $\alpha:\mathbb{C}G \to \mathbb{C}G$, and so $\alpha$ has a left determinant ...
- 459
6
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0
answers
236
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Group homomorphism from $\mathrm{GL}_p$ to $\mathrm{SL}_p$ in characteristic $p$
If $k$ is a commutative field of characteristic $p>0$, then the map
$$ \theta \colon \mathrm{GL}_p(k) \to \mathrm{SL}_p(k) \colon A = (a_{ij}) \mapsto (\det A)^{-1} (a_{ij}^p) $$
is a group ...
- 6,614
6
votes
0
answers
320
views
(CFSG-free) Finite simple groups whose character degrees square divide its order
Let $G$ be a finite group. It is well-known that for all irreducible complex character $\chi$ then $\deg(\chi)$ divides $\lvert G\rvert$. Motivated by some problems with modular tensor categories, we ...
6
votes
0
answers
200
views
Why should Serre's conjecture on congruence subgroup property hold?
There seem to be several related properties of an algebraic group, exhibiting the dichotomy between rank 1 and rank $\ge2$.
Whether a lattice in the group satisfies the congruence subgroup property,
...
- 1,024
6
votes
0
answers
328
views
When does a group and its pro-algebraic completion have equivalent categories of arbitrary representations?
In the following everything is over some field $k$.
Let $G$ be a discrete group. We write $G^{\text{alg}}$ for its pro-algebraic completion. The latter is a pro-affine pro-algebraic group which arises ...
- 1,635
6
votes
0
answers
492
views
Centralizer of elements in the upper-triangular matrices
Let $p$ be a prime number and $G=\operatorname{GL}_n ( \mathbb{Z} / p \mathbb{Z}
)$ such that $n\leq p$. Consider the set $U$ of upper-triangular matrices of $G$
having entries of $1$ on the diagonal. ...
- 463
6
votes
0
answers
259
views
Diameter of finite rational matrix groups
Suppose $G$ is a finite subgroup of $\mathrm{GL}(n,\mathbb{Q})$.
For a set $\mathcal{M} \subseteq G$ that generates $G$, define the $\mathcal{M}$-diameter $\mathit{diam}(G, \mathcal{M})$ of $G$ to be ...
- 165
6
votes
0
answers
163
views
Group with Character Degrees {1,pq,pr,qr}, where p,q and r are distinct primes
I am currently trying to bound the derived length of certain solvable groups assuming that they have only two irreducible monomial complex character degrees. Using induction, it often suffices to ...
- 415
6
votes
0
answers
367
views
Symmetry group and irreducible representation
Let $S$ be a bounded geometric shape in the Euclidean space $E=\mathbb{R^n}$. Assume that the origin of $E$ is a fixed point of every element of the symmetry group $G(S)$ of $S$, and assume that $G(S) ...
6
votes
0
answers
91
views
Correlation of Class Functions
Let $G$ be a finite group, and let $f_1,f_2$ be two real-valued class functions of $G$. Assume that multiplying elements of $G$ takes $O(1)$-time.
Let $s:G\to \mathbb{R}$ be defined by $$s(g):=\sum_{...
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