Linear Algebraic Groups: an Introduction

If G is a connected linear algebraic group over the field k, a Levi factor of G is a reductive complement to the unipotent radical of G. If k has positive characteristic, G may have no Levi factor, or G may have Levi factors which are not geometrically conjugate. In this paper we give some sufficient conditions for the existence and conjugacy of the Levi factors of G. Let $$ \mathcal{A} $$ be a Henselian discrete valuation ring with fractions K and with perfect residue field k of characteristic p > 0. Let G be a connected and reductive algebraic group over K. Bruhat and Tits have associated to G certain smooth $$ \mathcal{A} $$ -group schemes $$ \mathcal{P} $$ whose generic fibers $$ {{\mathcal{P}} \left/ {K} \right.} $$ coincide with G; these are known as parahoric group schemes. The special fiber $$ {{\mathcal{P}} \left/ {K} \right.} $$ of a parahoric group scheme is a linear algebraic group over k. If G splits over an unramified extension of K, we show that $$ {{\mathcal{P}} \left/ {K} \right.} $$ has a Levi factor, and that any two Levi factors of $$ {{\mathcal{P}} \left/ {K} \right.} $$ are geometrically conjugate.

Originating from a summer school taught by the authors, this concise treatment includes many of the main results in the area. An introductory chapter describes the fundamental results on linear algebraic groups, culminating in the classification of semisimple groups. The second chapter introduces more specialized topics in the subgroup structure of semisimple groups and describes the classification of the maximal subgroups of the simple algebraic groups. The authors then systematically develop the subgroup structure of finite groups of Lie type as a consequence of the structural results on algebraic groups. This approach will help students to understand the relationship between these two classes of groups. The book covers many topics that are central to the subject, but missing from existing textbooks. The authors provide numerous instructive exercises and examples for those who are learning the subject as well as more advanced topics for research students working in related areas.

The original Novikov conjecture concerns the (oriented) homotopy invariance of higher sig-natures of manifolds and is equivalent to the rational injectivity of the assembly map in surgery theory. The integral injectivity of the assembly map is important for other purposes and is called the integral Novikov conjecture. There are also assembly maps in other theories and hence re-lated Novikov and integral Novikov conjectures. In this paper, we discuss several results on the integral Novikov conjectures for all torsion free arithmetic subgroups of linear algebraic groups and all S-arithmetic subgroups of reductive linear algebraic groups over number fields. For re-ductive linear algebraic groups over function fields of rank 0, the integral Novikov conjecture also holds for all torsion-free S-arithmetic subgroups. Since groups containing torsion elements occur naturally and frequently, we also discuss a generalized integral Novikov conjecture for groups containing torsion elements, and prove it for all arithmetic subgroups of reductive linear algebraic groups over number fields and S-arithmetic subgroups of reductive algebraic groups of rank 0 over function fields. 1

A linear algebraic group G over a field k is called a Cayley group if it admits a Cayley map, that is, a G-equivariant birational isomorphism over k between the group variety G and its Lie algebra. A Cayley map can be thought of as a partial algebraic analog of the exponential map. A prototypical example is the classical “Cayley transform” for the special orthogonal group SOn defined by Arthur Cayley in 1846. A linear algebraic group G is called stably Cayley if is Cayley for some r≥0. Here denotes the split r-dimensional k-torus. These notions were introduced in 2006 by Lemire, Popov, and Reichstein, who classified Cayley and stably Cayley simple groups over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. In this paper, we study reductive Cayley groups over an arbitrary field k of characteristic zero. Our main results are a criterion for a reductive group G to be stably Cayley, formulated in terms of its character lattice, and a classification of stably Cayley simple groups.

We solve the question about the splitting of the normalizer of a maximal torus in the exceptional linear algebraic groups over the algebraic closures of finite fields of positive characteristic.

Degree 2 cohomological invariants of linear algebraic groups

Informally, essential dimension is the minimal number of parameters required to define an algebraic object. This invariant has numerous connections to Galois cohomology, linear algebraic groups and birational geometry. In particular, the essential dimension of finite groups has connections to the Noether problem, inverse Galois theory and the simplification of polynomials via Tschirnhaus transformations. This thesis studies finite groups of low essential dimension using methods from birational geometry. Specifically, the main results are a classification of finite groups of essential dimension 2, and a proof that the alternating and symmetric groups on 7 letters have essential dimension 4.

1. Relation to the literature. This paper concerns itself with two rather different kinds of covariants of the general linear algebra, which might, for convenience, be distinguished by the adjectives scalar and vector. Consider the general linear algebrat E with the units e1, * * *, en and with the constants of multiplication 'Yijk (i, j, k = 1, **, n), where the general number of the algebra is X = Exi ei. In a previous papert we defined a rational integral covariant C of the algebra E as a rational integral function of the y's and the x's which possesses the invariantive property whenever the units are subjected to a linear transformation. The paper just mentioned uses such covariants to characterize linear associative algebras in two and three units. The present paper proves for such covariants several fundamental theorems analogous to the fundamental theorems in the theory of invariants for algebraic forms. Since these covariants are isobaric and homogeneous, we can apply here Hilbert's proof of the finiteness of the number of covariants of algebraic forms. We must not, however, content ourselves with the study of such covariants, since they are not sufficient to characterize linear algebras, both associative and non-associative, even when there are only two units. Accordingly, we consider rational integral functions of the y's, the x's and also the units es (i = 1, ..., n) which possess the invariantive property. Since these functions involve the e's, we call them vector covariants in contradistinction to the functions C mentioned above, which we might call scalar covariants. At first sight, it might seem as if we were confronted with a rather inconvenient difficulty for the following reason. In a theory of such covariants we would expect to find treated certain differential operators analogous to the familiar annihilators Q and 0; but Scheffers has shown that, in a linear algebra, a

Let K be a differential field with algebraically closed field of constants CK . Let K P V ∞ be the (iterated) Picard-Vessiot closure of K. Let G be a linear differential algebraic group over K, and X a differential algebraic torsor for G over K. We prove that X ( K P V ∞ ) is Kolchin dense in X. In the special case that G is finite-dimensional we prove that X ( K P V ∞ ) = X ( K diff ) (where Kdiff is the differential closure of K). We also give close relationships between Picard-Vessiot extensions of K and the category of torsors for suitable finite-dimensional linear differential algebraic groups over K.

Arithmetic purity of strong approximation for homogeneous spaces

This article introduces and studies the tight approximation property, a property of algebraic varieties defined over the function field of a complex or real curve that refines the weak approximation property (and the known cohomological obstructions to it) by incorporating an approximation condition in the Euclidean topology. We prove that the tight approximation property is a stable birational invariant, is compatible with fibrations, and satisfies descent under torsors of linear algebraic groups. Its validity for a number of rationally connected varieties follows. Some concrete consequences are: smooth loops in the real locus of a smooth compactification of a real linear algebraic group, or in a smooth cubic hypersurface of dimension≥2{\geq 2}, can be approximated by rational algebraic curves; homogeneous spaces of linear algebraic groups over the function field of a real curve satisfy weak approximation.

We study the algebra of conformal endomorphisms CendG,G n of a finitely generated free module M n over the coordinate Hopf algebra H of a linear algebraic group G. It is shown that a conformal subalgebra of Cend n acting irreducibly on M n generates an essential left ideal of CendG,G n if enriched with operators of multiplication on elements of H. In particular, we describe such subalgebras for the case where G is finite.

Homology of linear groups via cycles in BG× X

Let $k$ be a finitely generated field, let $X$ be an algebraic variety and $G$ a linear algebraic group, both defined over $k$. Suppose $G$ acts on $X$ and every element of a Zariski-dense semigroup $\Gamma \subset G(k)$ has a rational fixed point in $X(k)$. We then deduce, under some mild technical assumptions, the existence of a rational map $G\to X$, defined over $k$, sending each element $g\in G$ to a fixed point for $g$. The proof makes use of a recent result of Ferretti and Zannier on diophantine equations involving linear recurrences. As a by-product of the proof, we obtain a version of the classical Hilbert Irreducibility Theorem valid for linear algebraic groups.

In this chapter the results of the preceding one will be applied to algebraic groups. The notations are as in 2.1. ‘Linear algebraic group over F’ will be abbreviated to ‘F-group.’ As before, F S is a separable closure of F.