On the tensor product of a finite and an infinite dimensional representation

There are two main results in the paper. The first gives the infinitesimal character that can occur in the tensor product V V_λ of an irreducible finite dimensional representation V_λ and an irreducible infinite dimensional representation V of a semisimple Lie algebra . The statement is that the infinitesimal characters are x_{v + μi}, I = 1, 2,…, k, where μ_i are the weights of V_λand v is the “pseudo” highest weight of V.The second result proves that if V is a Harish-Chandra module (one which comes from a group representation), then V V_λ has a finite composition series. But then the irreducible components in the composition series have the infinitesimal characters given in the first results.     

Geometric interpretations of two branching theorems of D.E. Littlewood

D.E. Littlewood proved two branching theorems for decomposing the restriction of an irreducible finite-dimensional representation of a unitary group to a symmetric subgroup. One is for restriction of a representation of U(n) to the rotation group SO(n) when the given representation τ_λ of U(n) has nonnegative highest weight λ of depth n/2. It says that the multiplicity in τ_λ|_SO(n) of an irreducible representation of SO(n) of highest weight ν is the sum over μ of the multiplicities of τ_λ in the U(n) tensor product τ_μτ_ν, the allowable μ's being all even nonnegative highest weights for U(n). Littlewood's proof is character-theoretic. The present paper gives a geometric interpretation of this theorem involving the tensor products τ_μτ_ν explicitly. The geometric interpretation has an application to the construction of small infinite-dimensional unitary representations of indefinite orthogonal groups and, for each of these representations, to the determination of its restriction to a maximal compact subgroup. The other Littlewood branching theorem is for restriction from U(2r) to the rank-r quaternion unitary group Sp(r). It concerns nonnegative highest weights for U(2r) of depth r, and its statement is of the same general kind. The present paper finds an analogous geometric interpretation for this theorem also.     

Representations of algebraic groups of type <Emphasis Type="Italic">C</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript> with small weight multiplicities

Lower estimates for the maximal weight multiplicities in irreducible representations of the algebraic groups of type C _n in characteristic p ≤ 7 are found. If n ≥ 8 and p ≠ 2 , then for an irreducible representation either such a multiplicity is at least n− 4 − [n]₄,where [n]₄ is the residue of n modulo 4, or all the weight multiplicities are equal to 1.For p = 2, the situation is more complicated, and for every n and l there exists a class of representations with the maximal weight multiplicity equal to 2 ^l . For symplectic groups in characteristic p > 7 and spinor groups similar results were obtained earlier. Bibliography: 15 titles.     

Irreducible <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-Brauer characters of <Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-power degree for the symmetric and alternating groups

Starting from the question when all irreducible p-Brauer characters for a symmetric or an alternating group are of p-power degree, we classify the p-modular irreducible representations of p-power dimension in some families of representations for these groups. In particular, this then allows to confirm a conjecture by W. Willems for the alternating groups. Received: 14 June 2006     

Reducible Specht modules

James and Mathas conjecture a criterion for the Specht module S^λ for the symmetric group to be irreducible over a field of prime characteristic. We extend a result of Lyle to prove this conjecture in one direction; our techniques are elementary.     

The Weights of Irreducible SL 3(q)-Modules in the Defining Characteristic

This is a final step in solving the problem of recognition of the simple groups L ₃(p ^k) by element orders. It is proven that when L ₃(p ^k) acts on an elementary abelian p-group, there always appears an element of new order. A model is proposed for constructing the absolutely irreducible p-modular representations of L ₃(p ^k) in polynomial spaces.     

Globally Irreducible Representations of Finite Groups and Integral Lattices

The notion of globally irreducible representations of finite groups has been introduced by B. H. Gross, in order to explain new series of Euclidean lattices discovered recently by N. Elkies and T. Shioda using Mordell--Weil lattices of elliptic curves. In this paper we first give a necessary condition for global irreducibility. Then we classify all globally irreducible representations of L ₂(q) and ²B₂(q), and of the majority of the 26 sporadic finite simple groups. We also exhibit one more globally irreducible representation, which is related to the Weil representation of degree (pⁿ-1)/2 of the symplectic group Sp_2n(p) (p 1 (mod 4) is a prime). As a consequence, we get a new series of even unimodular lattices of rank 2(pⁿ–1). A summary of currently known globally irreducible representations is given.     

Characters of wreath products and some applications to representation theory and combinatorics

The salient point arising out of a consideration of some seemingly independent topics in representation theory, combinatorics and the theory of numerical polynomials turns out to be a result involving characters of representations of wreath products. The topics are: symmetrized inner products of representations, irreducible characters of wreath products, Frobenius' formula for the irreducible ordinary characters of symmetric groups, the Pólya-Redfield theory of enumeration under group action in combinatorics and results of Rudvalis and Snapper that certain polynomials arising from generalized cycleindices of permutation groups are numerical.     

Free group representations from vector-valued multiplicative functions,I

Let Γ denote a noncommutative free group and let Ω stand for its boundary. We construct a large class of unitary representations of Γ. This class contains many previously studied representations, and is closed under several natural operations. Each of the constructed representations is in fact a representation of Γ ⋉_λ C(Ω). We prove here that each of them is irreducible as a representation of Γ ⋉_λ C(Ω). Actually, as will be shown in further work, each of them is irreducible as a representation of Γ, or is the direct sum of exactly two irreducible, inequivalent Γ-representations. This research was supported by the Italian CNR.     

Groups of measure space transformations and invariants of outer conjugation for automorphisms from normalizers of type III full groups

The necessary and sufficient conditions of outer conjugation for automorphisms from the normalizer of approximated III type groups are found. Let T be an automorphism of a Lebesgue space (X, μ) of the III₀ type, [T] the full group generated by T, N[T] its normalizer, {W_t(T)} the flow associated with T and α → mod α the homomorphism from N[T] to C{W} the centralizer of the associated flow. The following results are obtained: such that mod ga = α; automorphisms α₁, and α₂ from N[T] are outer conjugate if and only if p(α₁) = p(α₂), mod α₁ = γ mod α₂γ⁻¹, where γ C{W} and p(·) is the outer period; the canonical form of the elements from N[T] is found. The case is also considered where T is types III_λ (0 < λ < 1) and III₁.     

On Thompson's Theorem

Let p be a prime divisor of the order of a finite group G. Thompson (1970, J. Algebra14, 129–134) has proved the following remarkable result: a finite group G is p-nilpotent if the degrees of all its nonlinear irreducible characters are divisible by p (in fact, in that case G is solvable). In this note, we prove that a group G, having only one nonlinear irreducible character of p′-degree is a cyclic extension of Thompson's group. This result is a consequence of the following theorem: A nonabelian simple group possesses two nonlinear irreducible characters χ₁ and χ₂ of distinct degrees such that p does not divide χ₁(1)χ₂(1) (here p is arbitrary but fixed). Our proof depends on the classification of finite simple groups. Some properties of solvable groups possessing exactly two nonlinear irreducible characters of p′-degree are proved. Some open questions are posed.     

Trace cocharacters and the Kronecker products of Schur functions

It follows from the theory of trace identities developed by Procesi and Razmyslov that the trace cocharacters arising from the trace identities of the algebra M_r(F) of r×r matrices over a field F of characteristic zero are given by TC_r,n=∑_λΛr(n)χ^λχ^λ where χ^λχ^λ denotes the Kronecker product of the irreducible characters of the symmetric group associated with the partition λ with itself and Λ_r(n) denotes the set of partitions of n with r or fewer parts, i.e. the set of partitions λ=(λ₁λ_k) with kr. We study the behavior of the sequence of trace cocharacters TC_r,n. In particular, we study the behavior of the coefficient of χ^(ν,n−m) in TC_r,n as a function of n where ν=(ν₁ν_k) is some fixed partition of m and n−mν_k. Our main result shows that such coefficients always grow as a polynomial in n of degree r−1.     

Strong approximation of Fourier series and embedding theorems

Summary In this paper, embedding results are considered which arise in the strong approximation by Fourier series. We prove several theorems on the interrelation between the classes W^r H_β^ω and H (λ,p,r,ω), the latter being defined by L. Leindler. Previous related results in Leindler’s book [2] and paper [5] are particular cases of our results.     

On the evaluation of the Eigenvalues of a banded toeplitz block matrix

Let A = (a_ij) be an n × n Toeplitz matrix with bandwidth k + 1, K = r + s, that is, a_ij = a_j−i, i, J = 1,… ,n, a_i = 0 if i > s and if i < -r. We compute p(λ)= det(A - λI), as well as p(λ)/p′(λ), where p′(λ) is the first derivative of p(λ), by using O(k log k log n) arithmetic operations. Moreover, if a_i are m × m matrices, so that A is a banded Toeplitz block matrix, then we compute p(λ), as well as p(λ)/p′(λ), by using O(m³k(log² k + log n) + m²k log k log n) arithmetic operations. The algorithms can be extended to the computation of det(A − λB) and of its first derivative, where both A and B are banded Toeplitz matrices. The algorithms may be used as a basis for iterative solution of the eigenvalue problem for the matrix A and of the generalized eigenvalue problem for A and B.     

On Some Geometric Representations of GL N (𝔬)

We study a family of complex representations of the group GL _n (𝔬), where 𝔬 is the ring of integers of a non-archimedean local field F. These representations occur in the restriction of the Grassmann representation of GL _n (F) to its maximal compact subgroup GL _n (𝔬). We compute explicitly the transition matrix between a geometric basis of the Hecke algebra associated with the representation and an algebraic basis that consists of its minimal idempotents. The transition matrix involves combinatorial invariants of lattices of submodules of finite 𝔬-modules. The idempotents are p-adic analogs of the multivariable Jacobi polynomials.     

Several types of algebraic numbers on the unit circle

Let A _p ⊂ C denote the set of all algebraic numbers such that α ∈ A _p if and only if α is a zero of a (not necessarily irreducible) polynomial with positive rational coefficients. We give several results concerning the numbers in A _p . In particular, the intersection of A _p and the unit circle |z| = 1 is investigated in detail. So we determine all numbers of degree less than 6 on the unit circle which lie in the set A _p . Further we show that when α is a root of an irreducible rational polynomial p(X) of degree ≠ 4 whose Galois group contains the full alternating group, α lies in A _p if and only if no real root of p(X) is positive.Received: 19 November 2004; revised: 9 February 2005     

The Rank and Minimal Border Strip Decompositions of a Skew Partition

The rank of an ordinary partition of a nonnegative integer n is the length of the main diagonal of its Ferrers or Young diagram. Nazarov and Tarasov gave a generalization of this definition for skew partitions and proved some basic properties. We show the close connection between the rank of a skew partition λ/μ and the minimal number of border strips whose union is λ/μ. A general theory of minimal border strip decompositions is developed and an application is given to the evaluation of certain values of irreducible characters of the symmetric group.     

Orientations Acycliques et le Polynôme Chromatique

On attache à tout graphe G son polynôme chromatiqueχ_G (λ), qui dénombre ses colorations régulières avecλ couleurs. D’après Stanley, on sait que |χ_G ( − 1)| est égal au nombre d’orientations acycliques du graphe, un résultat qui fut raffiné par Greene et Zaslavsky. Nous nous proposons de l’affiner davantage en interprétant, avec l’aide de certaines orientations acycliques, les coefficients deχ_G (λ) développé en puissances de λ et surtout en puissances de (λ −  1). L’utilisation systématique des fonctions génératrices des fonctions d’ensembles permet d’avoir des démonstrations très courtes et explicatives. Elles se veulent une réponse à la suggestion faite par Gebhard et Sagan, qui ont déjà trouvé des démonstrations combinatoires de deux résultats de Greene et Zaslavsky. Les fonctions d’ensembles permettent aussi d’établir une série d’interprétations nouvelles de l’invariant β_Gde Crapo. Cet article donne également un nouvel éclat aux résultats classiques de Cartier, Foata, Viennot, Brenti, Gessel et Stanley. The chromatic polynomialχ_G (λ), which is associated with each graph G, enumerates its regular colorations with λ colors. Stanley showed that |χ_G ( − 1)| is equal to the number of acyclic orientations of the graph, a result that was refined by Greene and Zaslavsky. The purpose of the paper is to show that a further refinement can be obtained by interpreting each coefficient of χ_G(λ), when the polynomial is developed with respect to powers of λ and (λ −  1). A systematic use of the generating functions for set functions enables us to have very short and instructive proofs. Gebhard and Sagan, who had already found combinatorial proofs of two results by Greene and Zaslavsky, suggested that further proofs were to be found. Finally, the set functions algebra allows us to establish a series of new interpretations for Crapo’sβ_G invariant. This paper also brings a new light to the classical results due to Cartier, Foata, Viennot, Brenti, Gessel and Stanley.