We characterise finite groups such that for an odd prime $p$ all the irreducible characters in its principal $p$-block have odd degree. We show that this situation does not occur in non-abelian simple groups of order divisible by $p$ unless $p=7$ and the group is $M_{22}$. As a consequence we deduce that if $p\neq 7$ or if $M_{22}$ is not a composition factor of a group $G$, then the condition above is equivalent to $G/O_{p'}(G)$ having odd order.
We classify principal blocks of finite groups with semidihedral defect groups up to splendid Morita equivalence. This completes the classification of all principal $2$-blocks of tame representation type up to splendid Morita equivalence and shows that Puig's Finiteness Conjecture holds for such blocks.
We propose new conjectures about the relationship between the principal blocks of finite groups for different primes and establish evidence for these conjectures.
We prove that splendid Morita equivalences between principal blocks of finite groups with dihedral Sylow $2$-subgroups realised by Scott modules can be lifted to splendid Morita equivalences between principal blocks of finite groups with generalised quaternion Sylow $2$-subgroups realised by Scott modules.
If G is a finite group, we have proposed new conjectures on the interaction between different primes and their corresponding Brauer principal blocks. In this paper, we give strong support to the validity of these conjectures.
Let $G$ be a finite group with a Sylow $p$-subgroup $P$. We prove that the principal $p$-blocks of $G$ and $N_G(P)$ are perfectly isometric under the assumption $G$ has a cyclic $p$-hyperfocal subgroup.
We show that if the principal p-block of a finite group G contains exactly 5 irreducible ordinary characters, then a Sylow p-subgroup of G has order 5, 7 or is isomorphic to one of the non-abelian 2-groups of order 8.
We have found a list of finite simple groups with cyclic Sylow $p$-subgroup whose principal $p$-blocks have Brauer trees in the shape of a star, that is a tree of diameter at most $2$. Moreover, for an arbitrary finite group $G$ with cyclic Sylow $p$-subgroup, we have obtained a necessary condition when the Brauer tree of the principal $p$-block of $G$ is a star.
We characterize finite groups having a cyclic Sylow p-subgroup in terms of the action of a specific Galois automorphism on the principal p-block for p=2,3. We show that the analog statement for blocks with arbitrary defect group would follow from the blockwise McKay-Navarro conjecture.
We classify the Morita equivalence classes of principal blocks with elementary abelian defect groups of order 64 with respect to a complete discrete valuation ring with an algebraically closed residue field of characteristic two.
We formulate conjectures concerning the dimension of the principal block of a ${\mathbb Z}_\ell$-spets (as defined in our earlier paper), motivated by analogous statements for finite groups. We show that these conjectures hold in certain situations. For this we introduce and study a Yokonuma type algebra for torus normalisers in $\ell$-compact groups which may be of independent interest.
For a prime $p$, we determine a Sylow $p$-subgroup $D$ of a finite group $G$ such that the principal $p$-block $B$ of $G$ has four irreducible ordinary characters. It has been determined already for the cases where the number is up to three by work by R. Brauer, J. Brandt, and V.A. Belonogov thirty years ago. Our proof relies on the classification of finite simple groups.
Given a dihedral $2$-group $P$ of order at least~8, we classify the splendid Morita equivalence classes of principal $2$-blocks with defect groups isomorphic to $P$. To this end we construct explicit stable equivalences of Morita type induced by specific Scott modules using Brauer indecomposability and gluing methods; we then determine when these stable equivalences are actually Morita equivalences, and hence automatically splendid Morita equivalences. Finally, we compute the generalised decomposition numbers in each case.
Given an odd prime $p$, we investigate the position of simple modules in the stable Auslander-Reiten quiver of the principal block of a finite group with non-cyclic abelian Sylow $p$-subgroups. In particular, we prove a reduction to finite simple groups. In the case that the characteristic is $3$, we prove that simple modules in the principal block all lie at the end of their components
This paper studies intersections of principal blocks of a finite group with respect to different primes. We first define the block graph of a finite group $G$, whose vertices are the prime divisors of $|G|$ and there is an edge between two vertices $p\neq q$ if and only if the principal $p$- and $q$-blocks of $G$ have a nontrivial common complex irreducible character of $G$. Then we determine the block graphs of finite simple groups, which turn out to be complete except those of $J_1$ and $J_4$. Also, we determine exactly when the Steinberg character of a finite simple group of Lie type lies i…
James's Conjecture predicts that the adjustment matrix for blocks of the Iwahori-Hecke algebra of the symmetric group is the identity matrix when the weight of the block is strictly less than the characteristic of the field. In this paper, we consider the case when the characteristic of the field is greater than or equal to 5, and prove that the adjustment matrix for the principal block of $\mathcal{H}_{5e}$ is the identity matrix whenever $e\neq4$. When $e=4$, we are able to calculate all but two entries of the adjustment matrix.
Let $G$ be a finite group with Sylow $2$-subgroup $P \leqslant G$. Navarro-Tiep-Vallejo have conjectured that the principal $2$-block of $N_G(P)$ contains exactly one irreducible Brauer character if and only if all odd-degree ordinary irreducible characters in the principal $2$-block of $G$ are fixed by a certain Galois automorphism $σ\in \mathrm{Gal}(\mathbb{Q}_{|G|}/\mathbb{Q})$. Recent work of Navarro-Vallejo has reduced this conjecture to a problem about finite simple groups. We show that their conjecture holds for all finite simple groups, thus establishing the conjecture for all finite g…
Let p be a prime larger than 3 and let G be a finite group. We prove that G is p-solvable of p-length at most 2 if there are at most two distinct character degrees relatively prime to p in the principal p-block of G. This generalizes a theorem of Isaacs-Smith, as well as a recent result of three of the present authors.
We compute the decomposition numbers of the unipotent characters lying in the principal $\ell$-block of a finite group of Lie type $B_{2n}(q)$ or $C_{2n}(q)$ when $q$ is an odd prime power and $\ell$ is an odd prime number such that the order of $q$ mod $\ell$ is $2n$. Along the way, we extend to these finite groups the results of \cite{DVV19} on the branching graph for Harish-Chandra induction and restriction.
Let $F$ be a field of characteristic $p$ at least 5. We study the Loewy structures of Specht modules in the principal block of $FΣ_{3p}$. We show that a Specht module in the block has Loewy length at most 4 and composition length at most 14. Furthermore, we classify which Specht modules have Loewy length 1, 2, 3, or 4, produce a Specht module having 14 composition factors, describe the second radical layer and the socle of the reducible Specht modules, and prove that if a Specht module corresponds to a partition that is $p$-regular and $p$-restricted then the head of the Specht module does not…
In this paper we construct an action of the affine Hecke category (in its "Soergel bimodules" incarnation) on the principal block of representations of a simply-connected semisimple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic bigger than the Coxeter number. This confirms a conjecture of G. Williamson and the second author, and provides a new proof of the tilting character formula in terms of antispherical $p$-Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials.
We develop an elementary algebraic method to compute the center of the principal block of a small quantum group associated with a complex semisimple Lie algebra at a root of unity. The exemplary case of $\mathfrak{sl}_3$ is computed explicitly, and further evidence of $\mathfrak{sl}_4$ is sketched. This allows us to formulate the conjecture that, as a bigraded vector space, the center of a regular block of the small quantum $\mathfrak{sl}_m$ at a root of unity is isomorphic to Haiman's diagonal coinvariant algebra for the symmetric group $S_{m}$.
In this paper we complete the determination of the Brauer trees of unipotent blocks (with cyclic defect groups) of finite groups of Lie type. These trees were conjectured by the first author. As a consequence, the Brauer trees of principal $\ell$-blocks of finite groups are known for $\ell>71$.
We calculate the Picard groups for principal blocks $B$ with TI defect groups and cyclic inertial quotient. The methods used generalize results on self stable equivalences and take advantage of the existence of equivalences given by Green correspondence in this setting. In particular, we show that $\text{Pic}(B)=\mathcal{E}(B)$, giving more evidence for a conjecture on basic auto-Morita equivalences.
Let $\mathcal{G}$ be a split reductive $p$-adic group with connected centre. We show that each Bernstein block in the principal series of $\mathcal{G}$ admits a definite geometric structure, namely that of an extended quotient. For the Iwahori-spherical block, this extended quotient has the form $T//W$ where $T$ is a maximal torus in the Langlands dual group of $\mathcal{G}$ and $W$ is the Weyl group of $\mathcal{G}$.
Following Craven and Rouquier's computational method to tackle Broué's abelian defect group conjecture, we present two algorithms implementing that procedure in the case of principal blocks of defect $D \cong C_{\ell} \times C_{\ell}$ for a prime $\ell$; the first describes a stable equivalence between $B_0(G)$ and $B_0(N_G(D))$, and the second tries to lift a such stable equivalence to a perverse derived equivalence. As an application, we show that Broué's conjecture holds for the principal $5$-block of the simple group $Ω^{+}_8(2)$.
Let k(B_0) and l(B_0) respectively denote the number of ordinary and p-Brauer irreducible characters in the principal block B_0 of a finite group G. We prove that, if k(B_0)-l(B_0)=1, then l(B_0)\geq p-1 or else p=11 and l(B_0)=9. This follows from a more general result that for every finite group G in which all non-trivial p-elements are conjugate, l(B_0)\geq p-1 or else p = 11 and G/O_{p'}(G) =11^2:SL(2,5). These results are useful in the study of principal blocks with a few characters. We propose that, in every finite group G of order divisible by p, the number of irreducible Brauer charact…
Let $G:={^2G_2}(q)$ be the simple Ree group with $q=3^{2k+1}$ and $k$ a positive integer. We show that the centre of the principal block $Z(kGe_0)$, where $k$ is an algebraically closed field of characteristic $3$, is not isomorphic to the centre of the Brauer corresponding block $Z(kN_G(P))$, where $N_G(P)$ is the normaliser in $G$ of a Sylow $3$-subgroup. As part of the proof, we compute the conjugacy classes of elements and the character tables of the maximal parabolic subgroups of $G$.
We compare lower defect groups associated with $p$-regular classes and vertices of simple modules for a block of a finite group algebra. We show that lower defect groups are contained in vertices of simple modules after suitable reordering. Moreover, for a block of principal type, we show that a $p$-regular lower defect group which contains a vertex of simple module is a defect group of the block.
We study Brauer's long-standing $k(B)$-conjecture on the number of characters in $p$-blocks for finite quasi-simple groups and show that their blocks do not occur as a minimal counterexample for $p\ge5$ nor in the case of abelian defect. For $p=3$ we obtain that the principal 3-blocks do not provide minimal counterexamples. We also determine the precise number of irreducible characters in unipotent blocks of classical groups for odd primes.
Let B be a p-block of a finite group G with abelian defect group D such that S\unlhd G, S'=S, G/Z(S)\le\Aut(S) and S/Z(S) is a sporadic simple group. We show that B is isotypic to its Brauer correspondent in N_G(D) in the sense of Broué. This has been done by [Rouquier, 1994] for principal blocks and it remains to deal with the non-principal blocks.
We consider $p$-blocks with abelian defect groups and in the first part prove a relationship between its Loewy length and that for blocks of normal subgroups of index $p$. Using this, we show that if $B$ is a $2$-block of a finite group with abelian defect group $D \cong C_{2^{a_1}} \times \cdots \times C_{2^{a_r}} \times (C_2)^s$, where $a_i > 1$ for all $i$ and $r \geq 0$, then $d < LL(B) \leq 2^{a_1}+\cdots+2^{a_r}+2s-r+1$, where $|D|=2^d$. When $s=1$ the upper bound can be improved to $2^{a_1}+\cdots+2^{a_r}+2-r$. Together these give sharp upper bounds for every isomorphism type of $D$. A …
