In this paper, we study the commuting variety of symmetric pairs associated to parabolic subalgebras with abelian unipotent radical in a simple complex Lie algebra. By using the ``cascade'' construction of Kostant, we construct a Cartan subspace which in turn provides, in certain cases, useful information on the centralizers of non $\mathfrak{p}$-regular semisimple elements. In the case of the rank 2 symmetric pair $(\mathrm{so}_{p+2},\mathrm{so}_{p}\times \mathrm{so}_{2})$, $p\geq 2$, this allows us to apply induction, in view of previous results of the authors, and reduce the problem of the irreducibility of the commuting variety to the consideration of evenness of $\mathfrak{p}$-distinguished elements. Finally, via the correspondence of Kostant-Sekiguchi, we check that in this case, $\mathfrak{p}$-distinguished elements are indeed even, and consequently, the commuting variety is irreducible.
The paper is devoted to the problem of finding free generators in the fields of invariants for actions of unipotent groups on affine varieties. We consider the case when the unipotent group is the unipotent radical in an arbitrary parabolic subgroup in the reductive group of classical type GL(n), SL(n), O(n) or Sp(2n). In the explicit form, we present a system of free generators in the field of invariants for the action of the unipotent radical on the reductive group by conjugation.
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}.
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 simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field $K$ of characteristic $p > 0$. We consider connected reductive subgroups $X$ of $G$ that contain a given distinguished unipotent element $u$ of $G$. A result of Testerman and Zalesski (Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 2013) shows that if $u$ is a regular unipotent element, then $X$ cannot be contained in a proper parabolic subgroup of $G$. We generalize their result and show that if $u$ has order $p$, then except for two known examples which occur in the case $(G, p) = (C_2, 2)$, the subgroup $X$ cannot be contained in a proper para…
Even with the introduction of supercharacter theories, the representation theory of many unipotent groups remains mysterious. This paper constructs a family of supercharacter theories for normal pattern groups in a way that exhibit many of the combinatorial properties of the set partition combinatorics of the full uni-triangular groups, including combinatorial indexing sets, dimensions, and computable character formulas. Associated with these supercharacter theories is also a family of polytopes whose integer lattice points give the theories geometric underpinnings.
Let $k'/k$ be a finite purely inseparable field extension and let $G'$ be a reductive $k'$-group. We denote by $G=\R_{k'/k}(G')$ the Weil restriction of $G'$ across $k'/k$, a pseudo-reductive group. This article gives bounds for the exponent of the geometric unipotent radical $\RR_{u}(G_{\bar{k}})$ in terms of invariants of the extension $k'/k$, starting with the case $G'=\GL_n$ and applying these results to the case where $G'$ is a simple group.
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 $\mathrm G / F$ be a reductive split $p$-adic group and let $\mathrm U$ be the unipotent radical of a Borel subgroup. We study the cohomology with trivial $\mathbb Z_p$-coefficients of the profinite nilpotent group $N = \mathrm U(\mathcal O_F)$ and its Lie algebra $\mathfrak n$, by extending a classical result of Kostant to our integral $p$-adic setup. The techniques used are a combination of results from group theory, algebraic groups and homological algebra.
We prove that the quotient of the polynomial representation of the double affine Hecke algebra (DAHA) by the radical of the duality pairing is always irreducible assuming that it is finite dimensional (apart from the roots of unity). We also find necessary and sufficient conditions for the radical to be zero, which is a q-generalization of Opdam's formula for the singular k-parameters with the multiple zero-eigenvalues of the corresponding Dunkl operators.
Let U be the unipotent radical of a Borel subgroup of a connected reductive algebraic group G, which is defined over an algebraically closed field k. In this paper, we extend work by Goodwin-Röhrle concerning the commuting variety of Lie(U) for char(k)=0 to fields, whose characteristic is good for G
This work was inspired by two natural questions. The first question is when Lie(G')=Lie(G)', where G is a connected algebraic supergroup defined over a field of characteristic zero. The second question is whether the unipotent radical of any normal supersubgroup H of G coincides with the intersection of H and G_u, where G_u is the unipotent radical of G. Both questions have affirmative answers in the category of algebraic groups (in the second case one has to assume additionally that G and H are reduced whenever char K >0). Surprisingly, using the technique of Harish-Chandra superpairs and a c…
Let $F$ be a field with at least three elements and $G$ a locally finite group. This paper aims to show that if either $F$ is algebraically closed or the characteristic of $F$ is positive, then an element in the group algebra $FG$ is a product of unipotent elements if, and only if, it? lies in the first derived subgroup of the unit group of $FG$. In addition, it? is a product of at most three unipotent elements. Moreover, we explore some crucial properties satisfied by certain algebras like the connection between unipotent elements of index 2 and commutators as well as we investigate the unipo…
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…
We study the quotient of parabolic Deligne-Lusztig varieties by a finite unipotent group U^F where U is the unipotent radical of a rational parabolic subgroup P = L U. We show that in some particular cases the cohomology of this quotient can be expressed in terms of "smaller" parabolic Deligne-Lusztig varieties associated to the Levi subgroup L.
In this paper we study the structure of cohomology spaces for the Frobenius kernels of unipotent and parabolic algebraic group schemes and of their quantum analogs. Given a simple algebraic group $G$, a parabolic subgroup $P_J$, and its unipotent radical $U_J$, we determine the ring structure of the cohomology ring $H^\bullet((U_J)_1,k)$. We also obtain new results on computing $H^\bullet((P_J)_1,L(λ))$ as an $L_J$-module where $L(λ)$ is a simple $G$-module with high weight $λ$ in the closure of the bottom $p$-alcove. Finally, we provide generalizations of all our results to the quantum situat…
Let $\mathcal{U}$ be the unipotent variety of a complex reductive group $G$. Fix opposed Borel subgroups $B_\pm \subseteq G$ with unipotent radicals $U_\pm$. The map that sends $x_+x_- \mapsto x_+x_-x_+^{-1}$ for all $x_\pm \in U_\pm$ restricts to a map from $U_+U_- \cap gB_+$ into $\mathcal{U} \cap gB_+$, for any $g$. We conjecture that the restricted map forms half of a homotopy equivalence between these varieties, and thus, induces a weight-preserving isomorphism between their compactly-supported cohomologies. Noting that the map is equivariant with respect to certain actions of $B_+ \cap g…
Let X and Y be commuting nilpotent K-endomorphisms of a vector space V, where K is a field of characteristic p >= 0. If F=K(t) is the field of rational functions on the projective line, consider the K(t)-endomorphism A=X+tY of V. If p=0, or if the (p-1)-st power of A is 0, we show here that X and Y are tangent to the unipotent radical of the centralizer of A in GL(V). For all geometric points (a:b) of a suitable open subset of the projective line, it follows that X and Y are tangent to the unipotent radical of the centralizer of aX+bY. This answers a question of J. Pevtsova.
A Moore--Penrose inverse of an arbitrary complex matrix A is defined as a unique matrix A' such that AA'A=A, A'AA'=A', and AA', A'A are Hermite matrices. We show that this definition has a natural generalization in the context of shortly graded simple Lie algebras corresponding to parabolic subgroups with aura (abelian unipotent radical) in simple complex Lie groups, or equivalently in the context of simple complex Jordan pairs. We give further generalizations and applications.
We study the local factor at p of the semi-simple zeta function of a Shimura variety of Drinfeld type for a level structure given at p by the pro-unipotent radical of an Iwahori subgroup. Our method is an adaptation to this case of the Langlands-Kottwitz counting method. We use Hecke algebra isomorphisms to determine the test functions at p.
Let $G$ be a reductive linear algebraic group over an algebraically closed field $\mathbb{K}$ of characteristic $2$. Fix a parabolic subgroup $P$ such that the corresponding parabolic subgroup over $\mathbb{C}$ has abelian unipotent radical and fix a Levi subgroup $L\subseteq P$. We parametrize the orbits of a Borel $B\subseteq P$ over the Hermitian symmetric variety $G/L$ supposing the root system $Φ$ is irreducible. For $Φ$ simply laced we prove a combinatorial characterization of the Bruhat order over these orbits. We also prove a formula to compute the dimension of the orbits from combinat…
We study coadjoint $B$-orbits on $\mathfrak{n}^*$, where $B$ is a Borel subgroup of a complex orthogonal group $G$, and $\mathfrak{n}$ is the Lie algebra of the unipotent radical of $B$. To each basis involution $w$ in the Weyl group $W$ of $G$ one can assign the associated $B$-orbit $Ω_w$. We prove that, given basis involutions $σ$, $τ$ in $W$, if the orbit $Ω_σ$ is contained in the closure of the orbit $Ω_τ$ then $σ$ is less than or equal to $τ$ with respect to the Bruhat order on $W$. For a basis involution $w$, we also compute the dimension of $Ω_w$ and present a conjectural description of…
Let $G$ be a connected reductive group defined over a non-archimedean local field $F$. Let $B$ be a minimal $F$-parabolic subgroup with Levi factor $T$ and unipotent radical $U$. Let $ψ$ be a non-degenerate character of $U(F)$ and $λ$ a character of $T(F)$. Let $(K,ρ)$ be a Bushnell-Kutzko type associated to the Bernstein block of $G(F)$ determined by the pair $(T,λ)$. We study the $ρ$-isotypical component $(c\text{-ind}_{U(F)}^{G(F)}ψ)^ρ$ of the induced space $c\text{-ind}_{U(F)}^{G(F)}ψ$ of functions compactly supported mod $U(F)$. We show that $(c\text{-ind}_{U(F)}^{G(F)}ψ)^ρ$ is cyclic mod…
Let $G$ be a simple algebraic group of classical type over an algebraically closed field $k$. Let $P$ be a parabolic subgroup of $G$ and let $\p = \Lie P$ be the Lie algebra of $P$ with Levi decomposition $\p = ł\oplus \u$, where $\u$ is the Lie algebra of the unipotent radical of $P$ and $ł$ is a Levi complement. Thanks to a fundamental theorem of R. W. Richardson, $P$ acts on $\u$ with an open dense orbit; this orbit is called the {\em Richardson orbit} and its elements are called {\em Richardson elements}. Recently, the first author gave constructions of Richardson elements in the case $k =…
Let $F$ be a local non-archimedian field and let $G$ be a group of points of a split reductive group over $F$. For a parabolic subgroup $P$ of $G$ we set $X_P=G/[P,P]$. For any two parabolics $P$ and $Q$ with the same Levi component $M$ we construct an explicit unitary isomorphism $L^2(X_P)\to L^2(X_Q)$ (which depends on a choice of an additive character of $F$). The formula for the above isomorphism involves the action of the principal nilpotent element in the Langlands dual group of $M$ on the unipotent radicals of the corresponding dual parabolics. We use the above isomorphisms to define a …
