A motivated introduction to character sheaves and the orbit method for unipotent groups in positive characteristic
Mitya Boyarchenko, Vladimir Drinfeld
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77 pages, LaTeX. A few proofs are missing from this version of the paper (only the essential ideas are sketched), but otherwise it is complete. Main change compared with the first version: the term "$L$-packet" has been replaced with "$\mathbb{L}$-packet" (which is short for "Lusztig packet")
This article is based on lectures given by the authors in 2005 and 2006. Our first goal is to present an introduction to the orbit method with an emphasis on the character theory of finite nilpotent groups. The second goal (motivated by a recent work of G. Lusztig) is to explain several nontrivial aspects of character theory for finite groups of the form $G(F_{q^n})$, where $G$ is a unipotent algebraic group over a finite field $F_q$. In particular, we introduce the notion of a character sheaf for a unipotent group, and provide a toy model for the representation-theoretic notion of an L-packet.
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.
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.
Let X be a scheme of finite type over a Noetherian base scheme S admitting a dualizing complex, and let U be an open subset whose complement has codimension at least 2. We extend the Deligne-Bezrukavnikov theory of perverse coherent sheaves by showing that a coherent middle extension (or intersection cohomology) functor from perverse sheaves on U to perverse sheaves on X may be defined for a much broader class of perversities than has previously been known. We also introduce a derived category version of the coherent middle extension functor. Under suitable hypotheses, we introduce a construct…
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…
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_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…
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 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 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…
Let $G$ be a reductive group over a finite field with a maximal unipotent subgroup $U$, we consider certain sheaves on $G/U$ defined by Kazhdan and Laumon and show that their cohomology produces the cohomology of the Deligne-Lusztig varieties. We then use this comparison to give a new proof of a result of Dudas.
For a split reductive group $G$ over a finite field, we show that the neutral block of its mixed Hecke category with a fixed monodromy under the torus action is monoidally equivalent to the mixed Hecke category of the corresponding endoscopic group $H$ with trivial monodromy. We also extend this equivalence to all blocks. We give two applications. One is a relationship between character sheaves on $G$ with a fixed semisimple parameter and unipotent character sheaves on the endoscopic group $H$, after passing to asymptotic versions. The other is a similar relationship between representations of…
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 …
This paper begins the project of defining Arthur packets of all unipotent representations for the $p$-adic exceptional group $G_2$. Here we treat the most interesting case by defining and computing Arthur packets with component group $S_3$. We also show that the distributions attached to these packets are stable, subject to a hypothesis. This is done using a self-contained microlocal analysis of simple equivariant perverse sheaves on the moduli space of homogeneous cubics in two variables. In forthcoming work we will treat the remaining unipotent representations and their endoscopic classifica…
We classify the unipotent character sheaves on a fixed connected component of a reductive algebraic group under a mild hypothesis on the characteristic of the ground field.
Let $\mathtt{k}$ be an algebraic closure of a finite field $\mathbb{F}_{q}$ of characteristic $p$. Let $G$ be a connected unipotent group over $\mathtt{k}$ equipped with an $\mathbb{F}_q$-structure given by a Frobenius map $F:G\to G$. We will denote the corresponding algebraic group defined over $\mathbb{F}_q$ by $G_0$. Character sheaves on $G$ are certain objects in the triangulated braided monoidal category $\mathscr{D}_G(G)$ of bounded conjugation equivariant $\bar{\mathbb{Q}}_l$-complexes (where $l\neq p$ is a prime number) on $G$. Boyarchenko has proved that the "trace of Frobenius" funct…
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…
Francois Rodier proved that it is possible to view smooth representations of certain totally disconnected abelian groups (the underlying additive group of a finite-dimensional p-adic vector space, for example) as sheaves on the Pontryagin dual group. For nonabelian totally disconnected groups, the appropriate dual space necessarily includes representations which are not one-dimensional, and does not carry a group structure. The general definition of the topology on the dual space is technically unwieldy, so we provide three different characterizations of this topology for a large class of tota…
Let $G$ be a finite group of Lie type. In order to determine the character table of $G$, Lusztig developed the theory of character sheaves. In this framework, one has to find the transformation between two bases for the space of class functions on $G$, one of them being the irreducible characters of $G$, the other one consisting of characteristic functions associated to character sheaves. In principle, this has been achieved by Lusztig and Shoji, but the underlying process involves some scalars which are still unknown in many cases. The problem of specifying these scalars can be reduced to con…
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 reductive connected group over an algebraic closure of a finite field. I define a tensor structure on the category of perverse sheaves on G which are direct sums of unipotent character sheaves in a fixed two-sided cell, in accordance with a conjecture I have made in 2004. I also show that that the resulting monoidal category is equivalent to the centre of a monoidal category which I defined in 1997 (a categorical version of the J-ring attached to the same two-sided cell), thus verifying a conjecture of Bezrukavnikov, Finkelberg, Ostrik. A possible interpretation of unipotent charact…
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) …
In order to define a geometric Fourier transform, one usually works with either $\ell$-adic sheaves in characteristic $p>0$ or with $D$-modules in characteristic 0. If one considers $\ell$-adic sheaves on the stack quotient of a vector bundle $V$ by the homothety action of $\mathbb{G}_m$, however, Laumon provides a uniform geometric construction of the Fourier transform in any characteristic. The category of sheaves on $[V/\mathbb{G}_m]$ is closely related to the category of (unipotently) monodromic sheaves on $V$. In this article, we introduce a new functor, which is defined on all sheaves on…
Let G(F_q) be the group of rational points of a split connected reductive group G defined over the finite field F_q. In this paper we show that the category of representations of G(F_q) which are finite direct sums of unipotent representations in a fixed two-sided cell is equivalent to the centre of a certain monoidal category of sheaves on the product of two copies of the flag manifold of G. We also consider a version of this for nonsplit groups.
Let H be a Hecke algebra arising as an endomorphism algebra of the representation of a Chevalley group G over F_q induced by a unipotent cuspidal representation of a Levi quotient L of a parabolic subgroup. We assume that L is not a torus. In this paper we outline a geometric interpretation of the coefficients of the canonical basis of H in terms of perverse sheaves. We illustrate this in detail in the case where the Weyl group of G is of type B_4 and that of L is of type B_2.
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 $G$ 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…
We discuss various computational issues around the problem of determining the character values of finite Chevalley groups, in the framework provided by Lusztig's theory of character sheaves. Some of the remaining open questions (concerning certain roots of unity) for the cuspidal unipotent character sheaves of groups of exceptional type are resolved.
We apply the ideas of derived algebraic geometry and topological field theory to the representation theory of reductive groups. Our focus is the Hecke category of Borel-equivariant D-modules on the flag variety of a complex reductive group G (equivalently, the category of Harish Chandra bimodules of trivial central character) and its monodromic variant. The Hecke category is a categorified analogue of the finite Hecke algebra, which is a finite-dimensional semi-simple symmetric Frobenius algebra. We establish parallel properties of the Hecke category, showing it is a two-dualizable Calabi-Yau …
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…
Let $(V,W)$ be an exceptional spetsial irreducible reflection group $W$ on a complex vector space $V$, that is a group $G_n$ for $n \in \{4, 6, 8, 14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37\}$ in the Shephard-Todd notation. We describe how to determine some data associated to the corresponding (split) "spets", given complete knowledge of the same data for all proper subspetses (the method is thus inductive). The data determined here is the set Uch$(\mathbb G)$ of "unipotent characters" of $\mathbb G$ and the associated set of Frobenius eigenvalues, and its repartition into fami…
With this work we initiate a study of the representations of a unipotent group over a field of characteristic zero from the modular point of view. Let $G$ be such a group. The stack of all representations of a fixed finite dimension $n$ is badly behaved. We introduce an invariant, $w$, of $G$, its \textit{width}, as well as a certain nondegeneracy condition on representations, and we prove that nondegenrate representations of dimension $n \le w+1$ form a quasi-projective variety. Our definition of the width is opaque; as a first attempt to elucidate its behavior, we prove that it is bounded by…
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.
Recently, a strong exponential character bound has been established in [3] for all elements $g \in \mathbf{G}^F$ of a finite reductive group $\mathbf{G}^F$ which satisfy the condition that the centraliser $C_{\mathbf{G}}(g)$ is contained in a $(\mathbf{G},F)$-split Levi subgroup $\mathbf{M}$ of $\mathbf{G}$ and that $\mathbf{G}$ is defined over a field of good characteristic. In this paper, assuming a weak version of Lusztig's conjecture relating irreducible characters and characteristic functions of character sheaves holds, we considerably generalize this result by removing the condition that…
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.
If A is a finite dimensional nilpotent associative algebra over a finite field k, the set G=1+A of all formal expressions of the form 1+a, where a is an element of A, has a natural group structure, given by (1+a)(1+b)=1+(a+b+ab). A finite group arising in this way is called an algebra group. One can also consider G as a unipotent algebraic group over k. We study representations of G from the point of view of ``geometric character theory'' for algebraic groups over finite fields (cf. G. Lusztig, ``Character sheaves and generalizations'', math.RT/0309134). The main result of this paper is a cons…
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 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).
We make a study of unipotent elements in a connected reductive group over an algebraically closed field with emphasis on the case where the characteristic is a bad prime. We try to see how much of the theory of Dynkin-Kostant extends to this case. We also study the variety of Borel subgroups containing a unipotent element and prove a purity property for its cohomology in certain cases in bad characteristic.
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.
This paper is an introduction, in a simplified setting, to Lusztig's theory of character sheaves. It develops a notion of character sheaves on reductive Lie algebras which is more general then such notion of Lusztig, and closer to Lusztig's theory of character sheaves on groups. The development is self contained and independent of the characteristic $p$ of the ground field. The results for Lie algebras are then used to give simple and uniform proofs for some of Lusztig's results on groups.
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.
