Questions tagged [rt.representation-theory]
Linear representations of algebras and groups, Lie theory, associative algebras, multilinear algebra.
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Introduction to W-Algebras/Why W-algebras?
Does anyone know of an introduction and motivation for W-algebras?
Edit: Okay, sorry I try to add some more background. W algebras occur, for example when you study nilpotent orbits: Take a nice ...
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Is it possible to realize the Moebius strip as a linear group orbit?
On MSE this got 5 upvotes but no answers not even a comment so I figured it was time to cross-post it on MO:
Is the Moebius strip a linear group orbit? In other words:
Does there exists a Lie group $ ...
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Why are Jucys-Murphy elements' eigenvalues whole numbers?
The Jucys-Murphy elements of the group algebra of a finite symmetric group (here's the definition in Wikipedia) are known to correspond to operators diagonal in the Young basis of an irreducible ...
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Lie groups generated by finitely many Lie algebra elements
Let $G$ be a connected Lie group with Lie algebra $\mathfrak{g}$. A standard fact is that $G$ is generated by $\exp(\mathfrak{g})$, i.e. every $g \in G$ can be written as $g=\exp(x_1)\cdots\exp(x_n)$ ...
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Peter-Weyl vs. Schur-Weyl theorem
Let $V$ be a finite dimensional complex vector space.
According to the Peter-Weyl theorem there is a decomposition $\mathcal O(\mathrm{GL}(V)) \cong \bigoplus_\lambda V_\lambda \otimes V_\lambda^\...
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About the abelian category of endofunctors of $\mathsf{Vect}$
Let $k$ be a field, $\mathsf{Vect}$ the category of finite dimensional vector spaces, and $\mathsf{C} = Fun(\mathsf{Vect},\mathsf{Vect})$ the abelian category of pointed endofunctors (sending $0$ to $...
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Formal geometry
[Edit (June 20, 2010): I posted an answer to this which summarizes one that I received verbally a few weeks after posting this question. I hope it is useful to someone.]
I am presently seeking ...
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Irreducible Degrees and the Order of a Finite Group
This is a question of aesthetics.
For a finite group of order $n$, the proof that the degree $d$ of a complex irreducible representation divides $n$ goes by showing that the rational number $n/d$ ...
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Direct proof that the centralizer of $GL(V)$ acting on $V^{\otimes n}$ is spanned by $S_n$
Let $V$ be a finite dimensional vector space over a field of characteristic zero. Let $A$ be the space of maps in $\mathrm{End}(V^{\otimes n})$ which commute with the natural $GL(V)$ action. Clearly, ...
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How many ways are there to globalize Harish Chandra modules?
Suppose $G$ a reductive Lie group with finitely many connected components, and suppose in addition that the connected component $G^0$ of the identity can be expressed as a finite cover of a linear Lie ...
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Revising the proof of CFSG
This is an oft-quoted excerpt from John Thompson's article "Finite Non-Solvable Groups":
“... the classification of finite simple groups is an exercise in taxonomy. This is
obvious to the ...
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What is the status of a result of Kontsevich and Rosenberg?
In their influential paper Noncommutative Smooth Spaces (https://arxiv.org/abs/math/9812158), Kontsevich and Rosenberg define the notion of a noncommutative projective space. In Section 3.3 they ...
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Faithful representations and tensor powers
The following result was mentionned earlier in this thread, I searched a bit in the related threads and couldn't find a proof. I would really like to see a proof of it:
Let $G$ be a finite group and $...
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Subgroups of GL(2,q)
I have been wondering about something for a while now, and the simplest incarnation of it is the following question:
Find a finite group that is not a subgroup of any $GL_2(q)$.
Here, $GL_2(q)$ is ...
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Solvable groups that are linear over $\mathbb{C}$ but not over $\mathbb{Q}$?
Let $\Gamma$ be a finitely generated finitely presented virtually solvable group. Assume that there exists an injective representation $\Gamma \to \operatorname{GL}_n(\mathbb{C})$. Is it true that ...
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Orbit structures of conjugacy class set and irreducible representation set under automorphism group
let G be a finite group. Suppose C is the set of conjugacy classes of G and R is the set of (equivalence classes of) irreducible representations of G over the complex numbers.
The automorphism group ...
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Dividing by two in the category of vector spaces
Does every invertible linear map $M$ between $V \oplus V$ and $W \oplus W$ naturally yield an invertible linear map $L$ between $V$ and $W$?
Here "naturally" means "in an $GL(V) \times GL(W)$-...
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What information is contained in the Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials?
The Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials contain all kinds of representation theoretic (and other kinds of) informations.
For example the character of a simple module over a Lie algebra with Weyl group $W$ ...
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Is the Steinberg representation always irreducible?
Let $\mathbb{F}$ be a field. The Tits building for $\text{SL}_n(\mathbb{F})$, denoted $T_n(\mathbb{F})$, is the simplicial complex whose $k$-simplices are flags
$$0 \subsetneq V_0 \subsetneq \cdots \...
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Why are Tamagawa numbers equal to Pic/Sha?
For a connected algebraic group $G$ over a global field $K$ with adeles $A$, the Tamagawa number of $G$ is the volume of $G(A)/G(K)$. It is conjectured (and often known) to be rational, namely the ...
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Is there a short proof that the Kostka number $K_{\lambda \mu}$ is non-zero whenever $\lambda$ dominates $\mu$?
This is maybe a little basic for MathOverflow, but I'm hoping it will get some interesting answers.
Let $\unrhd$ be the dominance order on partitions of $n \in \mathbb{N}$.
For partitions $\lambda$ ...
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On an asymptotic formula of Keating and Snaith involving the Riemann zeta function
Keating and Snaith have a famous conjecture on the asymptotics of the
integral $\int_0^T |\zeta(\frac 12+it)|^{2k}\, dt$, where $\zeta$
denotes the Riemann zeta function. See page 510 of the book ...
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Does the 3875-dimensional rep of $E_8$ have a solution to $x\star x=0$?
Consider the compact Lie group $E_8$. Its second-smallest fundamental representation is $3875$-dimensional and admits a symmetric invariant form, and so is real: $E_8 \curvearrowright \mathbb{R}^{3875}...
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How bad can $\pi_1$ of a linear group orbit be?
Let $G$ be a simply connected Lie group and $\mathcal O= G(v)=G/G_v$ a $G$-orbit in some finite-dimensional $G$-module $V$. By the homotopy exact sequence, its fundamental group $\Gamma$ is the ...
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How do mathematicians and physicists think of SL(2,R) acting on Gaussian functions?
Let $\mathcal{N}(\mu,\sigma^2)$ denote the Gaussian distribution on $\mathbb{R}$:
$$ \mathcal{N}(\mu,\sigma^2)(x) = \frac{1}{\sqrt{2\pi\sigma^2}} e^{-\frac{(x-\mu)^2}{2\sigma^2}}.$$
A Gaussian ...
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Moments of Plücker coordinates on complex Grassmannian
Consider the Grassmannian $Gr(k,N)\simeq U(N)/(U(k)\times U(N-k))$ which parametrizes $k$-dimensional subspaces of $\mathbb{C}^N$. Let us put on it the $U(N)$-invariant probability measure. Let $\...
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Codes, lattices, vertex operator algebras
At the end of "Notes on Chapter 1" in the Preface to the Third Edition of Sphere packings, lattices and groups, Conway and Sloane write the following:
Finally, we cannot resist calling attention to ...
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When does a representation admit a spin structure?
Let $G$ be a finite group, and let $V$ be an $n$-dimensional real representation of $G$. Think of $V$ as given by a homomorphism
$$ \rho_V\colon G\to O(n).$$
Write $\chi_V$ for the character of $V$.
...
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Is SL(2,C)/SL(2,Z) a quasi-projective variety?
Consider the complex 3-fold $SL(2,\mathbb C)/SL(2,\mathbb Z)$ (just for clarity: note that $SL(2,\mathbb Z)$ acts without stabilizers, so this is a complex manifold, not a complex orbifold).
Is $SL(...
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Do semisimple algebraic groups always have faithful irreducible representations?
For simplicity, I will be talking only about connected groups over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero.
The basic theorem of affine algebraic groups is that they all admit faithful, ...
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On permanents and determinants of finite groups
$\DeclareMathOperator\perm{perm}$Let $G$ be a finite group. Define the determinant $\det(G)$ of $G$ as the determinant of the character table of $G$ over $\mathbb{C}$ and define the permanent $\perm(G)...
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A royal road to Coulomb branches of 3D $\mathcal{N}=4$ gauge theories
So, I've been very interested recently with the developements of the (now mathematically precise) theory of Coulomb branches - in particular because of its recent applications on representation theory ...
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Are there any natural differential operators besides $d$?
Let $\lambda = (\lambda_1, \ldots, \lambda_r)$ and $\mu = (\mu_1, \ldots, \mu_r)$ be partitions such that $\mu_j = \lambda_j +1$ for one index $j$ and $\mu_i = \lambda_i$ for all other $i$. Then there ...
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An n!-dimensional representation of the symmetric group S_{n+2}
I have come across a sequence of representations $V_n$ of the symmetric group $S_{n+2}$ which has the property that restricting the action $S_n \subset S_{n+2}$ gives the regular representation:
$$ ...
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motivating geometric representation theory
I am wondering if there is a good motivation for geometric representation theory from within the questions of classical representation theory.
In other words, I'd be curious to see something using ...
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Why do combinatorists care about Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials?
I like Kazhdan–Lusztig polynomials. I like them because I enjoy anything at the edge of where non-semisimple representation theory meets combinatorics. But if you asked me to motivate the Kazhdan–...
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Quiver representations and coherent sheaves
I've heard that under certain assumptions on an algebraic variety $X$ there exist a quiver $Q$ for which there is an equivalence $$D^b(\mathsf{Coh}(X))\simeq D^b(\mathsf{Rep}(Q))$$ between the ...
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Weyl group actions on 0-weight spaces
For a complex simple Lie group G with a maximal torus T, we can take a highest-weight representation V of G and look at the 0-weight space, i.e. the subspace of V of elements invariant under T. This ...
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Why are Dynkin diagrams characterized by their eigenvalues?
The Dynkin diagrams An, Dn, E6,
E7, E8 can be characterized among finite simple connected
graphs by the property that their eigenvalues (that is, the eigenvalues of their adjacency matrices) all have ...
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Splitting the determinant polynomial into linear factors - a Dedekind problem
Here's the question in a nutshell. For some $n\in\mathbb N$, we consider the polynomial
$\det\left(\left(X_{i,j}\right) _ {1\leq i\leq n,\ 1\leq j\leq n}\right)\in\mathbb Z\left[X_{i,j}\mid 1\leq i\...
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"isotropic" subspaces of a simple Lie algebra
Let $\bf g$ be a finite-dimensional real simple Lie algebra of compact type and let $\left<-,-\right>$ denote the positive-definite inner product induced from the negative of the Killing form. ...
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Does $E_8$ know $Spin(7)$?
One way to define the compact group $Spin(7)$ is as the stabilizer of a certain 4-form on Euclidean $\mathbb R^8$ (see e.g. this MO question). This 4-form can be defined in various ways. For example,...
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What are the indecomposable $U_q\mathfrak{sl}(2)$-modules?
Let $\mathfrak g=\mathfrak{sl}(2)$.
Let $\zeta$ be a primitive root of unity of even order. Say $\zeta=e^{2\pi i/6}$, for concreteness.
Let $U_q\mathfrak g$ be Lusztig's integral form of the ...
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Combinatorics of Quantum Schubert Polynomials
Let $S_n$ be the symmetric group. Let $s_i$ denote the adjacent transposition $(i \ i+1)$. For any permutation $w\in S_n$, an expression $w=s_{i_1}s_{i_2}\cdots s_{i_p}$ of minimal possible length is ...
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Why are coherent sheaves on $\Bbb P^1$ derived equivalent to representations of the Kronecker quiver?
I'm looking for an explanation or a reference to why there is this equivelence of triangulated categories: $${D}^b(\mathrm {Coh}(\Bbb P^1))\simeq {D}^b(\mathrm {Rep}(\bullet\rightrightarrows \bullet))$...
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What are the current breakthroughs of Geometric Complexity Theory?
I've read from Wikipedia about Geometric Complexity Theory (GCT) which (if I understood correctly) is a program for coping with the $ P=NP $ problem using algebraic methods.
That program seems ...
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Applications of Representation Theory in Combinatorics
What are the examples of interesting combinatorial identities (e.g. bijection between two sets of combinatorial objects) that can be proved using representation theory, or has some representation ...
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Motivation behind the construction of Deligne and Lusztig
If $G$ is a connected reductive group over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ and $T$ is a maximal torus in $G$, the famous construction of Deligne and Lusztig (Annals of Math, 1976) associates ...
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A new combinatorial property for the character table of a finite group?
Let $G$ be a finite group and $\Lambda = (\lambda_{i,j})$ its character table with $\lambda_{i,1}$ the degree of the ith character.
Consider the following combinatorial property of $\Lambda$: for ...
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are irreducible representations with large fixed subspaces trivial?
Say that $G$ is a finite group, and $V$ is an irreducible representation of $G$, over an algebraically closed field $k$. Suppose that for every $g \in G$, there is some subspace $W_g \subset V$ which ...
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