Conjugacy in groups of upper triangular matrices (Q1265518): Difference between revisions

Let \(U_n(F_q)\) denote the group of unipotent upper triangular \(n\times n\) matrices over the field \(F_q=\text{GF}(q)\), so that \(U_n(F_q)\) is a Sylow \(p\)-subgroup of the general linear group \(\text{GL}_n(F_q)\), where \(q\) is a power of \(p\). The authors highlight the fact that despite the evidence of the cases \(n\leq 12\), the characters of \(U_n(F_2)\) are not always real valued. Equivalently, for sufficiently large \(n\), there exist matrices in \(U_n(F_2)\) that are not conjugate in this group to their inverses. Furthermore, they give an example, by taking \(n=20\), which shows that not every matrix in \(U_n(F_3)\) is conjugate to its fourth power. They explain also the reason why it is that the characters of \(U_n(F_2)\) are real, and even rational, valued for so many small values of \(n\).