This note is concerned with the unipotent characters of the Ree groups of type G_2. We determine the roots of unity associated by Lusztig and Digne-Michel to unipotent characters of ^2G_2(3^{2n+1}) and we prove that the Fourier matrix of ^2G_2(3^{2n+1}) defined by Geck and Malle satisfies a conjecture of Digne-Michel. Our main tool is the Shintani descent of Ree groups of type G_2.
The formal degree of a unipotent discrete series character of a simple linear algebraic group over a non-archimedean local field (in the sense of Lusztig), is a rational function of the cardinality q of the residue field. The irreducible factors of this rational function are $q$ and cyclotomic polynomials. We prove that the formal degree of a supercuspidal unipotent representation determines its Lusztig-Langlands parameter, up to twisting by weakly unramified characters. For split exceptional groups this result follows from the work of Mark Reeder, and for the remaining exceptional cases this …
We compute the l-modular decomposition matrices of the simple Ree groups 2F4(q^2), where q^2=2^{2n+1} and n is a positive integer, for all primes l > 3 up to some entries in the unipotent characters. Using these matrices we determine the smallest degree of a non-trivial irreducible l-modular representation of 2F4(q^2) for all primes l > 3. We also obtain results on the 3-modular decomposition matrices of 2F4(q^2).
We show the existence of a unitriangular basic set for unipotent blocks simple reductive groups of classical type in bad characteristic with some exceptions. Then,we introduce an algorithm to count irreducible unipotent Brauer characters and we verify that this algorithm is effective for exceptional adjoint groups.
We give a uniform description of the decomposition of the unipotent variety of a classical group in arbitrary characteristic into pieces (considered in a non-uniform way in the earlier parts of this paper).
This paper contains some conjectures about the unipotent almost characters of a simple p-adic group in terms of a matrix which generalizes the nonabelian Fourier transform matrix introduced by the author in 1979.
We study multiplicities of unipotent characters in tensor products of unipotent characters of GL(n,q). We prove that these multiplicities are polynomials in q with non-negative integer coefficients. We study the degree of these polynomials and give a necessary and sufficient condition in terms of the representation theory of symmetric groups for these polynomials to be non-zero.
Let G be a simple adjoint group and let K=k((ε)) where k is an algebraic closure of a finite field F_q. In this paper we define some geometric objects on G(K) which are similar to the (cohomology sheaves of) the unipotent character sheaves on G(k). Using these geometric objects we define the unipotent almost characters of G(K_0) where K_0=F_q((ε)) and state some conjectures relating them to the characters of unipotent representations of G(K_0).
Let G be a special orthogonal group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic exponent p. In this paper we extend certain aspects of the Dynkin-Kostant theory of unipotent elements in G (when p=1) to the general case (including p=2).
In this paper we give a complete description of the Howe correspondence of unipotent characters for a finite dual pair of a symplectic group and an even orthogonal group in terms of the Lusztig parametrization under a mild restriction of the characteristic of the base field. That is, the conjecture by Aubert-Michel-Rouquier is confirmed.
Let G be a reductive connected group over the algebraic closure of a finite field. In this paper we give the classification of character sheaves on G in categorical terms (as a categorical centre). Previously such a classification was known for unipotent character sheaves and also in the case where the ground field is replaced by the complex numbers.
For all prime powers q we restrict the unipotent characters of the special orthogonal groups SO_5(q) and SO_7(q) to a maximal parabolic subgroup. We determine all irreducible constituents of these restrictions for SO_5(q) and a large part of the irreducible constituents for SO_7(q).
Let G be a semisimple almost simple algebraic group defined and split over a nonarchimedean local field K and let V be a unipotent representation of G(K) (for example, an Iwahori-spherical representation). We calculate the character of V at compact very regular elements of G(K) at compact very regular elements of G(K).
In previous work of Gow, Ohmori, Lusztig and the author, the Schur indices of all unipotent characters of finite groups of Lie type have been explicitly determined except for six cases in groups of type $F_4$, $E_7$ and $E_8$. In this paper, we show that the Schur indices of all cuspidal unipotent characters for type $F_4$ and $E_8$ are~1, assuming that the group is defined over a field of ``good'' characteristic. This settles four out of the six open cases. For type $E_7$, we show that the Schur indices are at most~2.
We show that the definition of unipotent (resp. nilpotent) pieces for classical groups given by Lusztig (resp. Lusztig and the author) coincides with the combinatorial definition using closure relations on unipotent classes (resp. nilpotent orbits). Moreover we give a closed formula for a map from the set of unipotent classes (resp. nilpotent orbits) in characteristic 2 to the set of unipotent classes in characteristic 0 such that the fibers are the unipotent (resp. nilpotent) pieces.
In this paper, we extend the notion of Shintani descent to general (possibly disconnected) algebraic groups defined over a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$. For this, it is essential to treat all the pure inner $\mathbb{F}_q$-rational forms of the algebraic group at the same time. We prove that the notion of almost characters (introduced by T. Shoji using Shintani descent) is well defined for any neutrally unipotent algebraic group, i.e. an algebraic group whose neutral connected component is a unipotent group. We also prove that these almost characters coincide with the "trace of Frobenius" functi…
We consider the variety of nilpotent elements in the dual of the Lie algebra of a reductive algebraic group over an algebraically closed field. We propose a definition of a partition of this variety into smooth locally closed smooth subvarieties indexed by the unipotent classes in the corresponding group over complex numbers. We obtain explicit results in type A,C and D.
These are slides for a talk given by the authors at the conference "Current developments and directions in the Langlands program" held in honor of Robert Langlands at the Northwestern University in May of 2008. The slides can be used as a short introduction to the theory of characters and character sheaves for unipotent groups in positive characteristic, developed by the authors in a series of articles written between 2006 and 2011. We give an overview of the main results of this theory along with a bit of motivation.
We show that the two cuspidal unipotent characters of a finite Chevalley group $E_7(q)$ have Schur index~2, provided that $q$ is an even power of a (sufficiently large) prime number $p$ such that $p\equiv 1 \bmod 4$. The proof uses a refinement of Kawanaka's generalized Gelfand--Graev representations and some explicit computations with the {\sf CHEVIE} computer algebra system.
Let G be a reductive algebraic group over the algebraic closure of a finite field F_q of good characteristic. In this paper, we demonstrate a remarkable compatibility between the Springer correspondence for G and the parametrization of unipotent characters of G(F_q). In particular, we show that in a suitable sense, "large" portions of these two assignments in fact coincide. This extends earlier work of Lusztig on Springer representations within special pieces of the unipotent variety.
Let $G$ be a connected reductive group over $F_q$, where $q$ is large enough and the center of $G$ is connected. We are concerned with Lusztig's theory of {\em character sheaves}, a geometric version of the classical character theory of the finite group $G(F_q)$. We show that under a certain technical condition, the restriction of a character sheaf to its {\em unipotent support} (as defined by Lusztig) is either zero or an irreducible local system. As an application, the generalized Gelfand-Graev characters are shown to form a $\Z$-basis of the $\Z$-module of unipotently supported virtual char…
In this article we extend independent results of Lusztig and Hézard concerning the existence of irreducible characters of finite reductive groups, (defined in good characteristic and arising from simple algebraic groups), satisfying a strong numerical relationship with their unipotent support. Along the way we obtain some results concerning quasi-isolated semisimple elements.
An irreducible ordinary character of a finite reductive group is called quadratic unipotent if it corresponds under Jordan decomposition to a semisimple element $s$ in a dual group such that $s^2=1$. We prove that there is a bijection between, on the one hand the set of quadratic unipotent characters of $GL(n,q)$ or $U(n,q)$ for all $n \geq 0$ and on the other hand, the set of quadratic unipotent characters of $Sp(2n,q)$ for all $n \geq 0$. We then extend this correspondence to $\ell$-blocks for certain $\ell$ not dividing $q$.
With a view to determining character values of finite reductive groups at unipotent elements, we prove a number of results concerning inner products of generalised Gelfand-Graev characters with characteristic functions of character sheaves, here called Lusztig functions. These are used to determine projections of generalised Gelfand-Graev characters to the space of unipo- tent characters, and to the space of characters with a given wave front set. Such projections are expressed largely in terms of Weyl group data. We show how the values of characters at their unipotent support or wave front se…
Let $W$ be a finite Weyl group and $\sg$ be a non-trivial graph automorphism of $W$. We show a remarkable relation between the $\sg$-twisted involution module for $W$ and the Frobenius--Schur indicators of the unipotent characters of a corresponding twisted finite group of Lie type. This extends earlier results of Lusztig-Vogan for the untwisted case and then allows us to state a general result valid for any finite group of Lie type. Inspired by recent work of Marberg, we also formally define Frobenius--Schur indicators for "unipotent characters" of twisted dihedral groups.
It is generally believed (and for the most part is probably true) that Lie theory, in contrast to the characteristic zero case, is insufficient to tackle the representation theory of algebraic groups over prime characteristic fields. However, in this paper we show that, for a large and important class of unipotent algebraic groups (namely the unipotent upper triangular groups $U_n$), and under a certain hypothesis relating the characteristic $p$ to both $n$ and the dimension $d$ of a representation (specifically, $p \geq \text{max}(n,2d)$), Lie theory is completely sufficient to determine the …
Let $G(q)$ be a Chevalley group over a finite field $F_q$. By Lusztig's and Shoji's work, the problem of computing the values of the unipotent characters of $G(q)$ is solved, in principle, by the theory of character sheaves; one issue in this solution is the determination of certain scalars relating two types of class functions on $G(q)$. We show that this issue can be reduced to the case where $q$ is a prime, which opens the way to use computer algebra methods. Here, and in a sequel to this article, we use this approach to solve a number of cases in groups of exceptional type which seemed hit…
Let G_0 be a connected unipotent algebraic group over a finite field F_q, and let G be the unipotent group over an algebraic closure F of F_q obtained from G_0 by extension of scalars. If M is a Frobenius-invariant character sheaf on G, we show that M comes from an irreducible perverse sheaf M_0 on G_0, which is pure of weight 0. As M ranges over all Frobenius-invariant character sheaves on G, the functions defined by the corresponding perverse sheaves M_0 form a basis of the space of conjugation-invariant functions on the finite group G_0(F_q), which is orthonormal with respect to the standar…
Soit G un groupe algebrique reductif sur la cloture algebrique d'un corps fini F_q et defini sur ce dernier. L'existence du support unipotent d'un caractere irreductible du groupe fini G(F_q), ou d'un faisceau caractere de G, a ete etablie dans differents cas par Lusztig, Geck et Malle, et le second auteur. Dans cet article, nous demontrons que toute classe unipotente sur laquelle la restriction du faisceau caractere ou du caractere donne est non nulle est contenue dans l'adherence de Zariski de son support unipotent. Pour etablir ce resultat, nous etudions certaines representations des groupe…
This paper provides a construction of the unipotent representations for classical complex groups in terms of the Theta correspondence as introduced and studied by R. Howe. The K-type structure of unipotent representations is obtained as a consequence of the character formulas for unipotent representations of D. Vogan and the author. This provides a tight link between unipotent representations and the orbit philosophy. A parametrization of unipotent representations for the Spin groups is obtained.
Let $G$ be a finite Chevalley group. We are concerned with computing the values of the unipotent characters of $G$ by making use of Lusztig's theory of character sheaves. In this framework, one has to find the transformation between several bases for the class functions on $G$. In principle, this has been achieved by Lusztig and Shoji, but the underlying process involves some scalars which are still unknown in many cases. We shall determine these scalars in the specific case where $G$ is the (twisted or non-twisted) group of type $E_6$ over the finite field with $q$ elements, for $q$ a power o…
In this paper, it is shown that the projectivity of a rational module for an infinitesimal unipotent group scheme over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic can be detected on a family of closed subgroups.
The wavefront set is a fundamental invariant of an admissible representation arising from the Harish-Chandra-Howe local character expansion. In this paper, we give a precise formula for the wavefront set of an irreducible representation of real infinitesimal character in Lusztig's category of unipotent representations in terms of the Deligne-Langlands-Lusztig correspondence. Our formula generalizes the main result of arXiv:2112.14354, where this formula was obtained in the Iwahori-spherical case. We deduce that for any irreducible unipotent representation with real infinitesimal character, the…
In a previous paper, "Generalized Green functions and unipotent classes for finite reductive groups, I", we have determined certain unknown scalars involved in the algorithm of computing generalized Green functions in the case of SL_n. In this paper, we consider a similar problem for the case of classical groups Sp_{2n}, SO_N with arbitrary characteristic. Our result enables us, in particular, to compute Green functions in bad characteristic case, which was not known before.
We derive a Murnaghan--Nakayama type formula for the values of unipotent characters of finite classical groups on regular semisimple elements. This relies on Asai's explicit decomposition of Lusztig restriction. We use our formula to show that most complex irreducible characters vanish on some $\ell$-singular element for certain primes $\ell$. As an application we classify the simple endotrivial modules of the finite quasi-simple classical groups. As a further application we show that for finite simple classical groups and primes $\ell\ge3$ the first Cartan invariant in the principal $\ell$-bl…
Assume $\mathbf{G}$ is a connected reductive algebraic group defined over an algebraic closure $\mathbb{K} = \overline{\mathbb{F}}_p$ of the finite field of prime order $p>0$. Furthermore, assume that $F : \mathbf{G} \to \mathbf{G}$ is a Frobenius endomorphism of $\mathbf{G}$. In this article we give a formula for the value of any $F$-stable character sheaf of $\mathbf{G}$ at a unipotent element. This formula is expressed in terms of class functions of $\mathbf{G}^F$ which are supported on a single unipotent class of $\mathbf{G}$. In general these functions are not determined, however we give …
We prove the following result in relative representation theory of a reductive p-adic group $G$: Let $U$ be the unipotent radical of a minimal parabolic subgroup of $G$, and let $ψ$ be an arbitrary smooth character of $U$. Let $S \subset Irr(G)$ be a Zariski dense collection of irreducible representations of $G$. Then the span of the Bessel distributions $B_π$ attached to representations $π$ from $S$ is dense in the space $\mathcal S^*(G)^{U\times U,ψ\times ψ}$ of all $(U\times U,ψ\times ψ)$-equivariant distributions on $G.$ We base our proof on the following results: 1. The category of smooth…
We review the categorical representation of a Kac-Moody algebra on unipotent representations of finite unitary groups in non-defining characteristic given by the authors. Then, we extend this construction to finite reductive groups of types B or C, in non-defining characteristic. We show that the decategorified representation is isomorphic to a direct sum of level 2 Fock spaces. We deduce that the Harish-Chandra branching graph coincides with the crystal graph of these Fock spaces. We also obtain derived equivalences between blocks, yielding Broue's abelian defect group conjecture for unipoten…
In the monograph arXiv:2108.03453, we define the notion of a unipotent representation of a complex reductive group. The representations we define include, as a proper subset, all special unipotent representations in the sense of Barbasch-Vogan and form the (conjectural) building blocks of the unitary dual. In arXiv:2108.03453 we provide combinatorial formulas for the infinitesimal characters of all unipotent representations of linear classical groups. In this paper, we establish analogous formulas for spin and exceptional groups, thus completing the determination of the infinitesimal character…
We show that the Morita Frobenius number of the blocks of the alternating groups, the finite groups of Lie type in describing characteristic, and the Ree and Suzuki groups is 1. We also show that the Morita Frobenius number of almost all of the unipotent blocks of the finite groups of Lie type in non-defining characteristic is 1, and that in the remaining cases it is at most 2.
Let G be a connected reductive group. We define a map from the set of unipotent classes in G to the set of conjugacy classes in the Weyl group (assuming that the characteristic is not bad). This map is a one sided inverse of a map in the opposite direction constructed in an earlier paper.
We determine the unitary dual of the geometric graded Hecke algebras with {unequal} parameters which appear in Lusztig's classification of unipotent representations for {exceptional} $p$-adic groups. The largest such algebra is of type $F_4.$ Via the Barbasch-Moy correspondence of unitarity applied to this setting, this is equivalent to the identification of the corresponding unitary unipotent representations with real central character of the $p$-adic groups. In order for this correspondence to be applicable here, we show (following Lusztig's geometric classification, and Barbasch and Moy's o…
Let G be a connected unipotent group over a finite field F_q with q elements. In this article we propose a definition of L-packets of complex irreducible representations of the finite group G(F_q) and give an explicit description of L-packets in terms of the so-called "admissible pairs" for G. We then apply our results to show that if the centralizer of every geometric point of G is connected, then the dimension of every complex irreducible representation of G(F_q) is a power of q, confirming a conjecture of V. Drinfeld. This paper is the first in a series of three papers exploring the relatio…
The set of special unipotent representations of a semisimple Lie group was defined by Barbasch and Vogan. According to predictions of Arthur (established by Adams, Barbasch, and Vogan), this set is an overlapping union of Arthur packets. Each packet gives rise to a canonical virtual representation whose character is stable in the sense of Langlands and Shelstad. But these stable characters seldom span the space of all stable characters of virtual special unipotent representations. Under natural hypotheses, we give a canonical basis of this latter space in terms of rational forms of special pie…
This paper contains an exposition of the theory of character sheaves for reductive groups and some attempts to extend it to other cases: unipotent groups, reductive groups modulo the unipotent radical of a parabolic.
Let G be a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field k of bad characteristic. We classify the spherical unipotent conjugacy classes of G. We also show that if the characteristic of k is 2, then the fixed point subgroup of every involutorial automorphism (involution) of G is a spherical subgroup of G.
Let $G$ be a simple algebraic group defined over a finite field of good characteristic, with associated Frobenius endomorphism $F$. In this article we extend an observation of Lusztig, (which gives a numerical relationship between an ordinary character of $G^F$ and its unipotent support), to the case where $Z(G)$ is disconnected. We then use this observation in some applications to the ordinary character theory of $G^F$.
Let G be a connected reductive group defined over a finite field F_q. We give a parametrization of the irreducible representations of G(F_q) in terms of (twisted) categorical centres of various monoidal categories associated to G. (Results of this type were known earlier for unipotent representations. Analogous results for the parametrization of character sheaves on G were also known earlier.)
Let $G$ be a unipotent group over a field of characteristic $p > 0$. The theory of character sheaves on $G$ was initiated by V. Drinfeld and developed jointly with D. Boyarchenko. They also introduced the notion of $\mathbb{L}$-packets of character sheaves. Each $\mathbb{L}$-packet can be described in terms of a modular category. Now suppose that the nilpotence class of $G$ is less than $p$. Then the $\mathbb{L}$-packets are in bijection with the set $\mathfrak{g}^*/G$ of coadjoint orbits, where $\mathfrak{g}$ is the Lie ring scheme obtained from $G$ using the Lazard correspondence and $\mathf…
We prove a long-standing conjecture of Geck which predicts that cuspidal unipotent characters remain irreducible after $\ell$-reduction. To this end, we construct a progenerator for the category of representations of a finite reductive group coming from generalised Gelfand--Graev representations. This is achieved by showing that cuspidal representations appear in the head of generalised Gelfand--Graev representations attached to cuspidal unipotent classes, as defined and studied in \cite{GM96}.
The notion of the supercharacter theory was introduced by P.Diaconis and I.M.Isaaks in 2008. In this paper we review the main statements of the general theory, we observe the construction of supercharacter theory for algebra groups and the theory of basic characters for the unitriangular groups over the finite field. Basing on the previous papers of the author, we construct the supercharacter theory for the finite groups of triangular type. We characterize the structure of Hopf algebra of supercharacters for the triangular group over the finite field.
A nonabelian Fourier transform for tempered unipotent representations, II
Sorbonne Université and Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu – Paris Rive Gauche(索邦大学与巴黎西岱大学,法国国家科学研究中心,儒勒·德·阿让松数学研究所-巴黎左岸);Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford(牛津大学数学研究所);Department of Mathematics, King’s College London(伦敦国王学院数学系)