Bases for rings of coinvariants

We study the multiplicative structure of rings of coinvariants for finite groups. We develop methods that give rise to natural monomial bases for such rings over their ground fields and explicitly determine precisely which monomials are zero in the ring of coinvariants. We apply our methods to the Dickson, upper triangular and symmetric coinvariants. Along the way, we recover theorems of Steinberg [17] and E. Artin [1]. Using these monomial bases we prove that the image of the transfer for a general linear group over a finite field is a principal ideal in the ring of invariants. This research is supported in part by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada     

Primitive idempotents in central simple algebras over Fq(t) with an application to coding theory

We consider the algorithmic problem of computing a primitive idempotent of a central simple algebra over the field of rational functions over a finite field. The algebra is given by a set of structure constants. The problem is reduced to the computation of a division algebra Brauer equivalent to the central simple algebra. This division algebra is constructed as a cyclic algebra, once the Hasse invariants have been computed. We give an application to skew constacyclic convolutional codes.     

The nullcone in the multi-vector representation of the symplectic group and related combinatorics

We study the nullcone in the multi-vector representation of the symplectic group with respect to a joint action of the general linear group and the symplectic group. By extracting an algebra over a distributive lattice structure from the coordinate ring of the nullcone, we describe a toric degeneration and standard monomial theory of the nullcone in terms of double tableaux and integral points in a convex polyhedral cone.     

Semisimple finite group algebra of a generalized strongly monomial group

The complete algebraic structure of semisimple finite group algebra of a generalized strongly monomial group is provided. This work extends the work of Broche and del Río on strongly monomial groups. The theory is complimented by an algorithm and is illustrated with an example.     

The rational group algebra of a normally monomial group

In this paper, a complete irredundant set of a class of strong Shoda pairs of a finite group G is computed. The algebraic structure of the rational group algebra of a normally monomial group is thus obtained. A necessary and sufficient condition for G to be normally monomial is derived. The main result is also illustrated by computing a complete set of primitive central idempotents and the explicit Wedderburn decomposition of the rational group algebra of some normally monomial groups.     

On the coinvariants of modular representations of cyclic groups of prime order

We consider the ring of coinvariants for modular representations of cyclic groups of prime order. For all cases for which explicit generators for the ring of invariants are known, we give a reduced Gröbner basis for the Hilbert ideal and the corresponding monomial basis for the coinvariants. We also describe the decomposition of the coinvariants as a module over the group ring. For one family of representations, we are able to describe the coinvariants despite the fact that an explicit generating set for the invariants is not known. In all cases our results confirm the conjecture of Harm Derksen and Gregor Kemper on degree bounds for generators of the Hilbert ideal. As an incidental result, we identify the coefficients of the monomials appearing in the orbit product of a terminal variable for the three-dimensional indecomposable representation.     

An embedding theorem for orders in central simple algebras

For an n-dimensional central simple algebra defined by a generalized Hilbert symbol over a number field, we compute the number of conjugacy classes of maximal orders that contain a conjugate of the order spanned by the canonical generators of the algebra. This has applications to the study of certain finite subgroups of arithmetic orbifold groups.     

Embedding Problems of Division Algebras

A finite group G is called admissible over a given field if there exists a central division algebra that contains a G-Galois field extension as a maximal subfield. We give a definition of embedding problems of division algebras that extends both the notion of embedding problems of fields as in classical Galois theory, and the question which finite groups are admissible over a field. In a recent work by Harbater, Hartmann, and Krashen, all admissible groups over function fields of curves over complete discretely valued fields with algebraically closed residue field of characteristic zero have been characterized. We show that also certain embedding problems of division algebras over such a field can be solved for admissible groups.     

Finite-dimensional homogeneously simple algebras of associative type

In this paper, we describe finite-dimensional homogeneously simple algebras of associative type whose 1-component is a full matrix algebra. In addition, we prove that a finite-dimensional division ring of associative type over an algebraically closed field is isomorphic to a group algebra.     

On the number of generators of a projective module

In this article we give a bound on the number of generators of a finitely generated projective module of constant rank over a commutative Noetherian ring in terms of the rank of the module and the dimension of the ring. Under certain conditions we provide an improvement to the Forster–Swan bound in case of finitely generated projective modules of rank n over an affine algebra over a finite field or an algebraically closed field.     

On the normality of Rees algebras associated to totally unimodular matrices

Let A be an integral matrix with non negative entries and let K be a field. We give a sufficient condition for the normality of the monomial subring determined by the columns of A over the field K. One of the main results proves that if A is totally unimodular, then the Rees algebra of the monomial ideal over K defined by the columns of A is a normal domain.     

The Cohen–Macaulay property of separating invariants of finite groups

In the case of finite groups, a separating algebra is a subalgebra of the ring of invariants which separates the orbits. Although separating algebras are often better behaved than the ring of invariants, we show that many of the criteria which imply the ring of invariants is non-Cohen–Macaulay actually imply that no graded separating algebra is Cohen–Macaulay. For example, we show that, over a field of positive characteristic p, given sufficiently many copies of a faithful modular representation, no graded separating algebra is Cohen–Macaulay. Furthermore, we show that, for a p-group, the existence of a Cohen–Macaulay graded separating algebra implies the group is generated by bireections. Additionally, we give an example which shows that Cohen–Macaulay separating algebras can occur when the ring of invariants is not Cohen–Macaulay.     

Geometric interpretation of Murphy bases and an application

In this article we study the representations of general linear groups which arise from their action on flag spaces. These representations can be decomposed into irreducibles by proving that the associated Hecke algebra is cellular. We give a geometric interpretation of a cellular basis of such Hecke algebras which was introduced by Murphy in the case of finite fields. We apply these results to decompose representations which arise from the space of submodules of a free module over principal ideal local rings of length two with a finite residue field.     

The antipode and primitive elements in the Hopf monoid of supercharacters

From a recent paper, we recall the Hopf monoid structure on the supercharacters of the unipotent uppertriangular groups over a finite field. We give cancellation-free formula for the antipode applied to the bases of class functions and power sum functions, giving new cancellation-free formulae for the standard Hopf algebra of supercharacters and symmetric functions in noncommuting variables. We also give partial results for the antipode on the supercharacter basis, and explicitly describe the primitives of this Hopf monoid.     

Simple finite-dimensional algebras without finite basis of identities

In 1993, Shestakov posed a problem of existence of a central simple finite-dimensional algebra over a field of characteristic 0 whose identities cannot be defined by a finite set (Dniester Notebook, Problem 3.103). In 2012, Isaev and the author constructed an example that gave a positive answer to this problem. In 2015, the author constructed an example of a central simple seven-dimensional commutative algebra without finite basis of identities. In this article we continue the study of Shestakov’s problem in the case of anticommutative algebras. We construct an example of a simple seven-dimensional anticommutative algebra over a field of characteristic 0 without finite basis of identities.     

Complete radicals of some group rings

We continue studying the associative rings complete and reduced in the sense of Martynov. We prove that the group of invertible elements of a reduced associative ring is reduced. We compute the complete radical of a group ring over the ring of integers and the complete radical of the group algebra over an arbitrary algebra over a finite prime field.     

On the Semisimplicity of the Outer Derivations of Monomial Algebras

We show that the Hochschild cohomology of a monomial algebra over a field of characteristic zero vanishes from degree two if the first Hochschild cohomology is semisimple as a Lie algebra. We also prove that first Hochschild cohomology of a radical square zero algebra is reductive as a Lie algebra. In the case of the multiple loops quiver, we obtain the Lie algebra of square matrices of size equal to the number of loops.