Let $G$ be a reductive group over an algebraically closed field and let $W$ be its Weyl group. In a series of papers, Lusztig introduced a map from the set $[W]$ of conjugacy classes of $W$ to the set $[G_u]$ of unipotent classes of $G$. This map, when restricted to the set of elliptic conjugacy classes $[W_e]$ of $W$, is injective. In this paper, we show that Lusztig's map $[W_e] \to [G_u]$ is order-reversing, with respect to the natural partial order on $[W_e]$ arising from combinatorics and the natural partial order on $[G_u]$ arising from geometry.
Let G be a connected reductive algebraic group over an algebraic closed field. We define a (surjective) map from the set of conjugacy classes in the Weyl group to the set of unipotent classes of G.
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.
Let G be an affine algebraic group over an algebraically closed field such that the identity component G^0 of G is reductive. Let W be the Weyl group of G and let D be a connected component of G whose image in G/G^0 is a unipotent element. In this paper we define a map from the set of "twisted conjugay classes" in W to the set of unipotent G^0-conjugacy classes in D, generalizing an earlier construction which applied when G is connected.
Let G be a connected reductive group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic p. In an earlier paper we defined a surjective map Φ_p from the set \underline{W} of conjugacy classes in the Weyl group W to the set of unipotent classes in G. Here we prove three results about Φ_p. First we show that Φ_p has a canonical one sided inverse. Next we show that Φ_0 =rΦ_p for a unique map r. Finally we construct a natural surjective map from \underline{W} to the set of special representations of W which is the composition of Φ_0 with another natural map; we show that this map depends only on …
We provide an alternative description of the restriction to spherical unipotent conjugacy classes, of Lusztig's map Psi from the set of unipotent conjugacy classes in a connected reductive algebraic group to the set of conjugacy classes of its Weyl group. For irreducible root systems, we analyze the image of this restricted map and we prove that a conjugacy class in a finite Weyl group has a unique maximal length element if and only if it has a maximum.
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 A be a character sheaf on a reductive connected group G over an algebraically closed field. Assuming that the characteristic is not bad, we show that for certain conjugacy classes D in G the restriction of A to D is a local system up to shift; we also give a parametrization of unipotent cuspidal character sheaves on G in terms of restrictions to conjugacy classes. Without restriction on characteristic we define canonical bijections from the set of unipotent character sheaves on G (and from the set of unipotent representations of the corresponding split reductive group over a finite field) …
We show that various invariants of a unipotent conjugacy class in a connected semisimple group can be recovered purely in terms of data involving the Weyl group.
In this paper we discuss some of Springer's work on unipotent elements in a reductive groups and on representations of Weyl groups. Among the topics considered are Springer's bijection from the unipotent variety to the nilpotent variety, Springer's example of nonrationality of certain representations of the Hecke algebras associated to a Weyl group and the Springer representation of the Weyl group associated to a unipotent element.
We show that various properties of unipotent elements in a reductive group over the complex numbers can be recovered purely in terms of the affine Weyl group of the dual group.
Let $\bfG$ be a connected reductive algebraic group defined over $\F_q$, where $q$ is a power of a prime $p$ that is good for $\bfG$. Let $F$ be the Frobenius morphism associated with the $\FF_q$-structure on $\bfG$ and set $G = \bfG^F$, the fixed point subgroup of $F$. Let $\bfP$ be an $F$-stable parabolic subgroup of $\bfG$ and let $\bfU$ be the unipotent radical of $\bfP$; set $P = \bfP^F$ and $U = \bfU^F$. Let $G_\uni$ be the set of unipotent elements in $G$. In this note we show that the number of conjugacy classes of $U$ in $G_\uni$ is given by a polynomial in $q$ with integer coefficien…
Let $q$ be a power of a prime $p$. Let $P$ be a parabolic subgroup of the general linear group $\GL_n(q)$ that is the stabilizer of a flag in $\FF_q^n$ of length at most 5, and let $U = O_p(P)$. In this note we prove that, as a function of $q$, the number $k(U)$ of conjugacy classes of $U$ is a polynomial in $q$ with integer coefficients.
Let W be a Weyl group. We introduce the notion of positive conjugacy class in W. This generalizes the notion of regular elliptic conjugacy class in the sense of Springer.
We define a map from the set of conjugacy classes of a Weyl group W to the representation ring of W tensored with the ring of polynomials in one variable.
Suppose $G$ is a connected complex semisimple group and $W$ is its Weyl group. The lifting of an element of $W$ to $G$ is semisimple. This induces a well-defined map from the set of elliptic conjugacy classes of $W$ to the set of semisimple conjugacy classes of $G$. In this paper, we give a uniform algorithm to compute this map. We also consider the twisted case.
We define and study a correspondence between the set of distinguished G^0-conjugacy classes in a fixed connected component of a reductive group G (with G^0 almost simple) and the set of (twisted) elliptic conjugacy classes in the Weyl group. We also prove a homogeneity property related to this correspondence.
We study the minimal length elements in an integral conjugacy class of a classical extended affine Weyl group and we show that these elements are quite "special" in the sense of Geck and Pfeiffer \cite{GP93}. We also discuss some application on extended affine Hecke algebras and loop groups.
We define a map from the unipotent representations of a split semisimple group over a finite field to (essentially) the set of pairs of left cells representations of the Weyl group in the same two-sided cell. We use this map to parametrize the unipotent representations.
Let $G$ be a simple linear algebraic group over an algebraically closed field $K$ of characteristic two. Any non-trivial self-dual irreducible $K[G]$-module $W$ admits a non-degenerate $G$-invariant alternating bilinear form, thus giving a representation $f: G \rightarrow \operatorname{Sp}(W)$. In the case where $G = \operatorname{SL}_n(K)$ and $W$ has highest weight $\varpi_1 + \varpi_{n-1}$, and in the case where $G = \operatorname{Sp}_{2n}(K)$ and $W$ has highest weight $\varpi_2$, we determine for every unipotent element $u \in G$ the conjugacy class of $f(u)$ in $\operatorname{Sp}(W)$. As…
Let W be an Iwahori-Weyl group of a connected reductive group G over a non-archimedean local field. I prove that if w is an element of W that does not act on the corresponding apartment of G by a translation then one can apply to w a sequence of conjugations by simple reflections, each of which is length-preserving, resulting in an element w' for which there exists a simple reflection s such that l(sw's)>l(w'). Even for affine Weyl groups, a special case of Iwahori-Weyl groups and also an important subclass of Coxeter groups, this is a new fact about conjugacy classes. Further, there are impli…
In a previous paper I have defined a new basis for the representation ring of a Weyl group. In this paper we show that the new basis is related to the standard basis by an upper triangular unipotent matrix. We also give a new parametrization of representations in a fixed family by certain pairs of subgroups of a finite group attached to the family. We outline an extension to the case of unipotent representations of a finite Chevalley group.
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…
Let $W_a$ be an affine Weyl group and $η:W_a\longrightarrow W_0$ be the natural projection to the corresponding finite Weyl group. We say that $w\in W_a$ has finite Coxeter part if $η(w)$ is conjugate to a Coxeter element of $W_0$. The elements with finite Coxeter part is a union of conjugacy classes of $W_a$. We show that for each conjugacy class $\mathcal{O}$ of $W_a$ with finite Coxeter part there exits a unique maximal proper parabolic subgroup $W_J$ of $W_a$, such that the set of minimal length elements in $\mathcal{O}$ is exactly the set of Coxeter elements in $W_J$. Similar results hold…
Let G be a simple algebraic group of adjoint type over an algebraically closed field of bad characteristic. We show that its sheets of conjugacy classes are parametrized by G-conjugacy classes of pairs (M,O) where M is the identity component of the centralizer of a semisimple element in G and O is a rigid unipotent conjugacy class in M, in analogy with the good characteristic case.
Let G be a connected, reductive group over an algebraically closed field of good characteristic. For u in G unipotent, we describe the conjugacy classes in the component group A(u) of the centralizer of u. Our results extend work of the second author done for simple, adjoint G over the complex numbers. When G is simple and adjoint, the previous work of the second author makes our description combinatorial and explicit; moreover, it turns out that knowledge of the conjugacy classes suffices to determine the group structure of A(u). Thus we obtain the result, previously known through case-checki…
When n is odd, consider the finite general linear and unitary groups of rank n, extended by the inverse transpose automorphism. There are elements in the extended groups which square to a regular unipotent element, and we evaluate the values of irreducible characters of the extended groups on these elements. Several intermediate results on real conjugacy classes and real-valued characters of these groups are obtained along the way.
Let P be a maximal parabolic of a classical group over a field F. Then the Levi subgroup M is isomorphic to the product of a classical group and a general linear group, acting on vector spaces X and W, respectively. In this paper we decompose the unipotent radical N of P under the adjoint action of M, assuming dim W is less than or equal to dim X and that dim W is even. When F is a local field, we obtain a Weyl-type integration formula for N.
Let $G$ be a connected semisimple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero, and let $þ$ be an automorphism of $G$. We give a characterization of $þ$-twisted spherical conjugacy classes in $G$ by a formula for their dimensions in terms of certain elements in the Weyl group of $G$, generalizing a result of N. Cantarini, G. Carnovale, and M. Costantini when $þ$ is the identity automorphism. For $G$ simple and $þ$ an outer automorphism of $G$, we also classify the Weyl group elements that appear in the dimension formula.
We show that the sheets for a connected reductive algebraic group G over an algebraically closed field in good characteristic acting on itself by conjugation are in bijection with G-conjugacy classes of triples (M, Z(M)^\circ t, O) where M is the connected centralizer of a semisimple element in G, Z(M)^\circ t is a suitable coset in Z(M)/Z(M)^\circ and O is a rigid unipotent conjugacy class in M. Any semisimple element is contained in a unique sheet S and S corresponds to a triple with O={1}. The sheets in G containing a unipotent conjugacy class are precisely those corresponding to triples fo…
This is based on a talk given at the AMS/RMS joint meeting in June 2013, Alba Iulia. The main theme is that the conjugacy classes in the Lie group E_8 should be (roughly) parametrized by conjugacy classes in the corresponding Weyl group.
We compute the based rings of two-sided cells corresponding to the unipotent class in $Sp_6(\mathbb C)$ with Jordan blocks (2211). The results also verify Lusztig's conjecture on the structure of the based rings of the two-sided cells of an affine Weyl group.
For type $\tilde B_3$ we show that Lusztig's conjecture on the structure of the based ring of two-sided cell corresponding to the unipotent class in $Sp_6(\mathbb C)$ with 3 equal Jordan blocks needs modified.
Let G be a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero or positive odd, good characteristic. Let B be a Borel subgroup of G. We show that the spherical conjugacy classes of G intersect only the double cosets of B in G corresponding to involutions in the Weyl group of G. This result is used to prove that for a spherical conjugacy class O with dense B-orbit v_0 contained in BwB there holds l(w)+rk(1-w)=dim(O) extending a characterization of spherical conjugacy classes obtained by N. Cantarini, M. Costantini and the author to the case of groups over fields of …
Let G be a simple reductive group over the complex numbers. Let W be the Weyl group of G. We propose a description of the Springer representations of W associated to various unipotent classes of G by a purely algebraic method involving the families of various reflection subgroups of W and which is suitable to computer calculations.
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.
The set of strata of a reductive group can be viewed as an enlargement of the set of unipotent classes. In this paper the notion of distinguished unipotent class is extended to this larger set. The strata of a Weyl group are introduced and studied.
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 $G$ denote a connected semisimple and simply connected algebraic group over an algebraically closed field $k$ of positive characteristic and let $g$ denote a regular element of $G$. Let $X$ denote any equivariant embedding of $G$. We prove that the closure of the conjugacy class of $g$ within $X$ is normal and Cohen-Macaulay. Moreover, when $X$ is smooth we prove that this closure is a local complete intersection. As a consequence, the closure of the unipotent variety within $X$ share the same geometric properties.
We describe an approach to express the geometric side of the Arthur-Selberg trace formula in terms of zeta integrals attached to prehomogeneous vector spaces. This will provide explicit formulas for weighted orbital integrals and for the coefficients by which they are multiplied in the trace formula. We implement this programme for the principal unipotent conjugacy class. The method relies on certain convergence results and uses the notions of induced conjugacy classes and canonical parabolic subgroups. So far, it works for certain types of conjugacy classes, which covers all classes appearing…
Let $Φ$ be a classical root system and $k$ be a field of sufficiently large characteristic. Let $G$ be the classical group over $k$ with the root system $Φ$, $U$ be its maximal unipotent subgroup and $\mathfrak{u}$ be the Lie algebra of $U$. Let $D$ be an orthogonal subset of $Φ$ and $Ω$ be a coadjoint orbit of $U$ associated with $D$. We construct a polarization of $\mathfrak{u}$ at the canonical form on $Ω$. We also find the dimension of $Ω$ in terms of the Weyl group of $Φ$. As a corollary, we determine all possible dimensions of irreducible complex represenations of the group $U$ for the c…
Let $W$ be an extended affine Weyl group. We prove that minimal length elements $w_{\co}$ of any conjugacy class $\co$ of $W$ satisfy some special properties, generalizing results of Geck and Pfeiffer \cite{GP} on finite Weyl groups. We then introduce the "class polynomials" for affine Hecke algebra $H$ and prove that $T_{w_\co}$, where $\co$ runs over all the conjugacy classes of $W$, forms a basis of the cocenter $H/[H, H]$. We also classify the conjugacy classes satisfying a generalization of Lusztig's conjecture \cite{L4}.
Let G be an almost simple reductive group with Weyl group W. Let B be a Borel subgroup of G. Let C be an elliptic conjugacy class in W and let w be an element of minimal length of C. We investigate the existence of a semisimple class of G whose intersection with BwB has dimension dim(B). We show that in good characteristic such a semisimple class exists almost always.
Let $G$ be a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic $p$. The classification of the conjugacy classes of unipotent elements of $G(k)$ and nilpotent orbits of $G$ on $\operatorname{Lie}(G)$ is well-established. One knows there are representatives of every unipotent class as a product of root group elements and every nilpotent orbit as a sum of root elements. We give explicit representatives in terms of a Chevalley basis for the eminent classes. A unipotent (resp. nilpotent) element is said to be eminent if it is not contained in any subsystem subgroup (re…
We give an apriori description of a set of irreducible representations of a Weyl group which parametrize the nilpotent orbits in the Lie algebra of a connected reductive group in arbitrary characteristic. We also answer a question of Serre concerning the conjugacy class of a power of a unipotent element in a connected reductive group.
Let G be a connected reductive group over an algebraically closed field. We define a decomposition of G into finitely many strata such that each stratum is a union of conjugacy classes of fixed dimension; the strata are indexed by a set defined in terms of the Weyl group which is independent of the characteristic. In the case where $G$ is replaced by the corresponding loop group we define an analogous decomposition of the set of regular semisimple compact elements into countably many strata.
In 1972, R. Carter introduced admissible diagrams to classify conjugacy classes in a finite Weyl group W. We say that an admissible diagram Γis a Carter diagram if any edge {α, β} with inner product (α, β) > 0 (resp. (α, β) < 0) is drawn as dotted (resp. solid) edge. We construct an explicit transformation of any Carter diagram containing long cycles (with the number of vertices l > 4) into another Carter diagram containing only 4-cycles. Thus, all Carter diagrams containing long cycles can be eliminated from the classification list. There exist diagrams determining two conjugacy classes in W.…
We define noncommutative deformations $W_q^s(G)$ of algebras of functions on certain (finite coverings of) transversal slices to the set of conjugacy classes in an algebraic group $G$ which play the role of Slodowy slices in algebraic group theory. The algebras $W_q^s(G)$ called q-W algebras are labeled by (conjugacy classes of) elements $s$ of the Weyl group of $G$. The algebra $W_q^s(G)$ is a quantization of a Poisson structure defined on the corresponding transversal slice in $G$ with the help of Poisson reduction of a Poisson bracket associated to a Poisson-Lie group $G^*$ dual to a quasit…
We compute the based rings of two-sided cells corresponding to the unipotent classes in $Sp_6(\mathbb C)$ with Jordan blocks (33), (411), (222) respectively. The results for the first two two-sided cells also verify Lusztig's conjecture on the structure of the based rings of two-sided cells of an affine Weyl group. The result for the last two-sided cell partially suggests a modification of Lusztig's conjecture on the structure of the based rings of two-sided cells of an affine Weyl group.
Let $q$ be a prime power, $G=GL_n(q)$ and let $U\leqslant G$ be the subgroup of (lower) unitriangular matrices in $G$. For a partition $λ$ of $n$ denote the corresponding unipotent Specht module over the complex field $\C$ for $G$ by $S^λ$. It is conjectured that for $c\in \Z_{\geqslant 0}$ the number of irreducible constituents of dimension $q^c$ of the restriction $\RRes^{G}_U(S^λ)$ of $S^λ$ to $U$ is a polynomial in $q$ with integer coefficients depending only on $c$ and $λ$, not on $q$. In the special case of the partition $λ=(1^n)$ this implies a longstanding (still open) conjecture of Hi…
In an earlier paper by Kazhdan and the author, a map from the set of unipotent classes in a reductive connected group over C to the conjugacy classes in the Weyl group was defined. Here we present some experimental evidence for a possibly alternative definition of that map in terms of the pieces in certain partitions of the flag manifold.
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…
