Support Varieties of Non-Restricted Modules over Lie Algebras of Reductive Groups

Let G be a connected semisimple group over an algebraicallyclosed field K of characteristic p>0, and g=Lie (G). Fixa linear function g* and let Z_g() denote the stabilizer of in g. Set N_p(g)={xg|x^[p]=0}. Let C(g) denote the category offinite-dimensional g-modules with p-character . In [7], Friedlanderand Parshall attached to each MOb(C(g)) a Zariski closed, conicalsubset V_g(M)N_p(g) called the support variety of M. Suppose thatG is simply connected and p is not special for G, that is, p2if G has a component of type B_n, C_n or F₄, and p3 if G has acomponent of type G₂. It is proved in this paper that, for anynonzero MOb(C(g)), the support variety V_g(M) is contained inN_p(g)Z_g(). This allows one to simplify the proof of the Kac–Weisfeilerconjecture given in [18].     

Higher Generation Subgroup Sets and the Virtual Cohomological Dimension of Graph Products of Finite Groups

We introduce panels of stabilizer schemes (K, G_*) associatedwith finite intersection-closed subgroup sets of a given groupG, generalizing in some sense Davis' notion of a panel structureon a triangulated manifold for Coxeter groups. Given (K, G_*),we construct a G-complex X with K as a strong fundamental domainand simplex stabilizers conjugate to subgroups in . It turnsout that higher generation properties of in the sense of Abels-Holzare reflected in connectivity properties of X. Given a finite simplicial graph and a non-trivial group G()for every vertex of , the graph product G() is the quotientof the free product of all vertex groups modulo the normal closureof all commutators [G(), G(w)] for which the vertices , w areadjacent. Our main result allows the computation of the virtualcohomological dimension of a graph product with finite vertexgroups in terms of connectivity properties of the underlyinggraph .     

The Isolated Points of G{rho} and the w*-Strongly Exposed Points of P{rho}(G)0

Let G be a separable locally compact group and let be its dualspace with Fell's topology. It is well known that the set P(G)of continuous positive-definite functions on G can be identifiedwith the set of positive linear functionals on the group C^*-algebraC^*(G). We show that if is discrete in , then there exists anonzero positive-definite function associated with such that is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀, where P(G)₀={f P(G):f(e)1. Conversely, if some nonzero positive-definite function associatedwith is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀, then is isolatedin . Consequently, G is compact if and only if, for every ,there exists a nonzero positive-definite function associatedwith that is a w^*-strongly exposed point of P(G)₀. If, in addition,G is unimodular and , then is isolated in if and only if somenonzero positive-definite function associated with is a w^*-stronglyexposed point of P(G)₀, where is the left regular representationof G and is the reduced dual space of G. We prove that if B(G)has the Radon–Nikodym property, then the set of isolatedpoints of (so square-integrable if G is unimodular) is densein . It is also proved that if G is a separable SIN-group, thenG is amenable if and only if there exists a closed point in. In particular, for a countable discrete non-amenable groupG (for example the free group F₂ on two generators), there isno closed point in its reduced dual space .     

Faithful Representations of Free Products

In 1940 Nisnevi published the following theorem [3]. Let (G) be a family of groups indexed by some set and (F) a family of fields of the same characteristic p0. Iffor each the group G has a faithful representation of degreen over F then the free product* G has a faithful representationof degree n+1 over some field of characteristic p. In [6] Wehrfritzextended this idea. If (G) GL(n, F) is a family of subgroupsfor which there exists ZGL(n, F) such that for all the intersectionGF.1_n=Z, then the free product of the groups *_ZG with Z amalgamatedvia the identity map is isomorphic to a linear group of degreen over some purely transcendental extension of F. Initially, the purpose of this paper was to generalize theseresults from the linear to the skew-linear case, that is, togroups isomorphic to subgroups of GL(n, D) where the D are divisionrings. In fact, many of the results can be generalized to ringswhich, although not necessarily commutative, contain no zero-divisors.We have the following.     

Algebraic invariants for Bestvina Brady groups

Bestvina–Brady groups arise as kernels of length homomorphismsG from right-angled Artin groups to the integers. Under someconnectivity assumptions on the flag complex , we compute severalalgebraic invariants of such a group N, directly from the underlyinggraph . As an application, we give examples of finitely presentedBestvina–Brady groups which are not isomorphic to anyArtin group or arrangement group.     

On Free Modules for Finite Subgroups of Algebraic Groups

We show that given an affine algebraic group G over a fieldK and a finite subgroup scheme H of G there exists a finitedimensional G-module V such that V|_H is free. The problem israised in the recent paper by Kuzucuglu and Zalesski [15] which containsa treatment of the special case in which K is the algebraicclosure of a finite field and H is reduced. Our treatment isdivided into two parts, according to whether K has zero or positivecharacteristic. The essence of the characteristic 0 case isa proof that, for given n, there exists a polynomial GL_n(Q)-moduleV of dimension , where the product is over all primes less than or equal to n+1, such thatV is free as a QH-module for every finite subgroup H of GL_n(Q).The module V is the tensor product of the exterior algebra *(E),on the natural GL_n(Q)-module E, and Steinberg modules St_p, onefor each prime not exceeding n+1. The Steinberg modules alsoplay the major role in the case in which K has characteristicp>0 and the key point in our treatment is to show that fora finite subgroup scheme H of a general linear group scheme(or universal Chevalley group scheme) G over K, the Steinbergmodule St_pⁿ for G is injective (and projective) on restrictionto H for n>>0. A curious consequence of this is that,despite the wild behaviour of the modular representation theoryof finite groups, one has the following. Let H be a finite groupand V a finite dimensional vector space. Then there exists a(well-understood) faithful rational representation GL(V)GL(W)such that, for each faithful representation : HGL(V), the compositeo: HGL(W) is free, in particular all representations o are equivalent.     

The Consistency of Holt's Conjectures on Cohomological Dimension of Locally Finite Groups

Let G be a locally finite group of cardinality _n where n isa natural number. Let (G) be the set of primes p for which Ghas an element of order p. In [5], Holt conjectures that ifk is a finite field with char k (G) then (1) G has cohomological dimension n+1 over k; (2) Hⁿ⁺¹(G, kG) has cardinality 2^_n; (3) Hⁱ(G, kG) = 0 for 0 i n.     

Extremal Subgroups in Chevalley Groups

Throughout this paper G(k) denotes a Chevalley group of rankn defined over the field k, where n3. Let be the root systemassociated with G(k) and let ={₁, ₂, ..., _n} be a set of fundamentalroots of , with ⁺ being the set of positive roots of with respectto . For and ⁺, let n() be the coefficient of in the expressionof as a sum of fundamental roots; so =n(). Also we recall thatht(), the height of , is given by ht()=n(). The highest rootin ⁺ will be denoted by . We additionally assume that the Dynkindiagram of G(k) is connected.     

Multiple and Polynomial Recurrence for Abelian Actions in Infinite Measure

The (C,F)-construction from a previous paper of the first authoris applied to produce a number of funny rank one infinite measurepreserving actions of discrete countable Abelian groups G with‘unusual’ multiple recurrence properties. In particular,the following are constructed for each p N{}:

1. a p-recurrent actionT=(T_g)_gG such that (if p) no one transformationT_g is (p+1)-recurrentfor every element g of infinite order;
2. an action T=(T_g)_gGsuch that for every finite sequence g1,...,g_rGwithout torsionthe transformation T_g1x...x T_gr is ergodic,p-recurrent but(if p) not (p+1)-recurrent;
3. a p-polynomially recurrent (C,F)-transformationwhich (if p)is not (p+1)-recurrent.

-recurrence here meansmultiple recurrence. Moreover, it is shown that there existsa (C,F)-transformation which is rigid (and hence multiply recurrent)but not polynomially recurrent. Nevertheless, the subset ofpolynomially recurrent transformations is generic in the groupof infinite measure preserving transformations endowed withthe weak topology.     

On strongly asymptotic lp spaces and minimality

Let 1 p and let X be a Banach space with a semi-normalizedstrongly asymptotic _p basis (e_i). If X is minimal and 1 p <2, then X is isomorphic to a subspace of _p. If X is minimaland 2 p < , or if X is complementably minimal and 1 p , then (e_i) is equivalent to the unit vector basis of _p (orc₀ if p = ).     

Normal and Non-Normal Points of Self-Similar Sets and Divergence Points of Self-Similar Measures

Let K and µ be the self-similar set and the self-similarmeasure associated with an IFS (iterated function system) withprobabilities (S_i, p_i)_i=1,...,N satisfying the open set condition.Let ={1,...,N}^N denote the full shift space and let : K denotethe natural projection. The (symbolic) local dimension of µat is defined by lim_n (log µK_|n/log diam K_|n), where for = (₁, ₂,...) . A point for which the limit lim_n (log µK_|n/log diam K_|n) doesnot exist is called a divergence point. In almost all of theliterature the limit lim_n (log µK_|n/log diam K_|n) is assumedto exist, and almost nothing is known about the set of divergencepoints. In the paper a detailed analysis is performed of theset of divergence points and it is shown that it has a surprisinglyrich structure. For a sequence (_n)_n, let A(_n) denote the setof accumulation points of (_n)_n. For an arbitrary subset I ofR, the Hausdorff and packing dimension of the set and related sets is computed. An interesting and surprisingcorollary to this result is that the set of divergence pointsis extremely ‘visible’; it can be partitioned intoan uncountable family of pairwise disjoint sets each with fulldimension. In order to prove the above statements the theory of normaland non-normal points of a self-similar set is formulated anddeveloped in detail. This theory extends the notion of normaland non-normal numbers to the setting of self-similar sets andhas numerous applications to the study of the local propertiesof self-similar measures including a detailed study of the setof divergence points.     

Characterisation of Graphs which Underlie Regular Maps on Closed Surfaces

It is proved that a graph K has an embedding as a regular mapon some closed surface if and only if its automorphism groupcontains a subgroup G which acts transitively on the orientededges of K such that the stabiliser G_e of every edge e is dihedralof order 4 and the stabiliser G of each vertex is a dihedralgroup the cyclic subgroup of index 2 of which acts regularlyon the edges incident with . Such a regular embedding can berealised on an orientable surface if and only if the group Ghas a subgroup H of index 2 such that H is the cyclic subgroupof index 2 in G. An analogous result is proved for orientably-regularembeddings.     

Projective Modules over the Non-Commutative Sphere

The positive cone of the K₀-group of the non-commutative sphereB is explicitly determined by means of the four basic unboundedtrace functionals discovered by Bratteli, Elliott, Evans andKishimoto. The C*-algebra B is the crossed product A x Z₂ ofthe irrational rotation algebra A by the flip automorphism defined on the canonical unitary generators U, V by (U) = U*,(V) = V*, where VU = e²ⁱ UV and is an irrational real number.This result combined with Rieffel's cancellation techniquesis used to show that cancellation holds for all finitely generatedprojective modules over B. Subsequently, these modules are determinedup to isomorphism as finite direct sums of basic modules. Italso follows that two projections p and q in a matrix algebraover B are unitarily equivalent if, and only if, their vectortraces are equal: [p] = [q]. These results will have the following ramifications. They areused (elsewhere) to show that the flip automorphism on A isan inductive limit automorphism with respect to the basic buildingblock construction of Elliott and Evans for the irrational rotationalgebra. This will, in turn, yield a two-tower proof of thefact that B is approximately finite dimensional, first provedby Bratteli and Kishimoto.     

COHOMOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF MACKEY FUNCTORS FOR INFINITE GROUPS

We consider the cohomology of Mackey functors for infinite groupsand define the Mackey-cohomological dimension cdG of a groupG. We will relate this dimension to other cohomological dimensionssuch as the Bredon-cohomological dimension cdG and the relativecohomological dimension -cdG. In particular, we show that forvirtually torsion free groups the Mackey-cohomological dimensionis equal to both -cdG and the virtual cohomological dimension.     

Random walks on free products of cyclic groups

Let G be a free product of a finite family of finite groups,with the set of generators being formed by the union of thefinite groups. We consider a transient nearest-neighbour randomwalk on G. We give a new proof of the fact that the harmonicmeasure is a special Markovian measure entirely determined bya finite set of polynomial equations. We show that in severalsimple cases of interest, the polynomial equations can be explicitlysolved to get closed form formulae for the drift. The examplesconsidered are /2 /3, /3 /3, /k /k and the Hecke groups /2 /k.We also use these various examples to study Vershik's notionof extremal generators, which is based on the relation betweenthe drift, the entropy and the growth of the group.     

Base Sizes and Regular Orbits for Coprime Affine Permutation Groups

Let G be a permutation group on a finite set . A sequence B=(₁,..., _b) of points in is called a base if its pointwise stabilizerin G is the identity. Bases are of fundamental importance incomputational algorithms for permutation groups. For both practicaland theoretical reasons, one is interested in the minimal basesize for (G, ), For a nonredundant base B, the elementary inequality2^|B||G|||^|B| holds; in particular, |B|log|G|/log||. In the casewhen G is primitive on , Pyber [8, p. 207] has conjectured thatthe minimal base size is less than Clog|G|/log|| for some (large)universal constant C. It appears that the hardest case of Pyber's conjecture is thatof primitive affine groups. Let H=GV be a primitive affine group;here the point stabilizer G acts faithfully and irreduciblyon the elementary abelian regular normal subgroup V of H, andwe may assume that =V. For positive integers m, let mV denotethe direct sum of m copies of V. If (v₁, ..., v_m)mV belongsto a regular G-orbit, then (0, v₁, ..., v_m) is a base for theprimitive affine group H. Conversely, a base (₁, ..., _b) forH which contains 0V= gives rise to a regular G-orbit on (b–1)V. Thus Pyber's conjecture for affine groups can be viewed asa regular orbit problem for G-modules, and it is therefore aspecial case of an important problem in group representationtheory. For a related result on regular orbits for quasisimplegroups, see [4, Theorem 6].     

Generators and defining relations for ring of invariants of commuting locally nilpotent derivations or automorphisms

Let A be an algebra over a field K of characteristic zero andlet ₁, ..., _sDer _K(A) be commuting locally nilpotent K-derivationssuch that _i(x_j) equals _ij, the Kronecker delta, for some elementsx₁, ..., x_sA. A set of generators for the algebra is found explicitly and a set of defining relationsfor the algebra A is described. Similarly, let ₁, ..., _s Aut_K(A)be commuting K-automorphisms of the algebra A is given suchthat the maps _i – id_A are locally nilpotent and _i (x_j)= x_j + _ij, for some elements x₁, ..., x_s A. A set of generatorsfor the algebra A: = {a A | ₁(a) = ... = _s(a) = a} is foundexplicitly and a set of defining relations for the algebra Ais described. In general, even for a finitely generated non-commutativealgebra A the algebras of invariants A and A are not finitelygenerated, not (left or right) Noetherian and a minimal numberof defining relations is infinite. However, for a finitely generatedcommutative algebra A the opposite is always true. The derivations(or automorphisms) just described appear often in many differentsituations (possibly) after localization of the algebra A.     

On the Fitting Height of a Soluble Group that is Generated by a Conjugacy Class

Let G be a finite group and suppose that P is a soluble {2,3}'-subgroup of G. The reader will lose only a little by assumingthat P is a subgroup of prime order p > 3. _G(P)={AG|A is soluble and A=P,P^a for some a A This set is partially ordered by inclusion and we let denote the set of maximal members of _G(P).     

Von Neumann Eta-Invariants and C*-Algebra K-Theory

Let M be a smooth, compact, oriented, odd-dimensional Riemannianmanifold and let M be anormal covering of M. It is proved that the relative von Neumanneta-invariant ₍₂₎() of Cheeger and Gromov is a homotopy invariant when is torsion-free, discreteand the Baum–Connes assembly map µ_max:K₀(B) K₀(C*)is an isomorphism.