Symmetric Group Modules with Specht and Dual Specht Filtrations

The author and Nakano recently proved that multiplicities in a Specht filtration of a symmetric group module are well-defined precisely when the characteristic is at least five. This result suggested the possibility of a symmetric group theory analogous to that of good filtrations and tilting modules for GL _n (k). This article is an initial attempt at such a theory. We obtain two sufficient conditions that ensure a module has a Specht filtration, and a formula for the filtration multiplicities. We then study the categories of modules that satisfy the conditions, in the process obtaining a new result on Specht module cohomology.

Next we consider symmetric group modules that have both Specht and dual Specht filtrations. Unlike tilting modules for GL _n (k), these modules need not be self-dual, and there is no nice tensor product theorem. We prove a correspondence between indecomposable self-dual modules with Specht filtrations and a collection of GL _n (k)-modules which behave like tilting modules under the tilting functor. We give some evidence that indecomposable self-dual symmetric group modules with Specht filtrations may be indecomposable self dual trivial source modules.