The ring generated by the elements of degree 2 in \(H^*(U_n(\mathbb{F}_p),\mathbb{Z})\) (Q5936948)

Let \(p\) be a prime number and \(0<n\leq p-1\). The cohomology ring \(H^*(\text{GL}_{n+1}(\mathbb{F}_p),\mathbb{Z})\) is hard to compute. As a first step towards such a computation the author considers a subring of \(H^*(U_{n+1}(\mathbb{F}_p),\mathbb{Z})\), where \(U_{n+1}(\mathbb{F}_p)\) is his notation for the \(p\)-Sylow subgroup of unipotent upper triangular matrices. The case of \(H^*(U_3(\mathbb{F}_p),\mathbb{Z})\) is due to \textit{G. Lewis} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 132, 501-529 (1968; Zbl 0217.34903)]. Taking that as a starting point, the author now determines the subring of \(H^*(U_{n+1}(\mathbb{F}_p),\mathbb{Z})\) generated by elements in degree two. The result is \(\mathbb{Z}[X_1,\dots,X_n]\) modulo the ideal generated by the \(pX_i\) and the \(X_i^pX_{i+1}-X_iX_{i+1}^p\). A much larger subring will be considered in a subsequent paper.