The geometry and cohomology of the Mathieu group \(M_{12}\) (Q1174632)

Generators and relations are obtained for the mod 2 cohomology ring \(H^*(M_{12},\mathbb{Z}/2)\), as well as an explicit computation of the Poincaré series of this algebra and the action of some of the Steenrod squares on the generators. As a corollary of this it is determined that the cohomology ring is Cohen-Macaulay. The authors obtain also the cohomology of certain subgroups to do with the 2-local structure of \(M_{12}\), namely two subgroups of order 32, two subgroups of order 192, and the Sylow 2-subgroup of \(M_{12}\) of order 64. The methods used here are the Lyndon-Hochschild-Serre spectral sequence to get the cohomology of the 2-groups and the stable element method of Cartan and Eilenberg to go up to the groups of order 192. Using the same methods they identify the cohomology of \(M_{12}\) as a certain specific subalgebra of the cohomology of the Sylow 2-subgroup. A technique of the reviewer's for computing Poincaré series is then used to show that a certain list of generators and relations for this subalgebra is sufficient to define it, and to perform this calculation the authors determine the structure of the poset of elementary abelian 2-subgroups of \(M_{12}\). The calculations are quite complicated and extensive use is made of a computer, both in the computation of the internal structure of \(M_{12}\), and in manipulating algebras given by generators and relations. In a final section the authors examine a certain 496- dimensional representations of \(M_{12}\), which has also appeared in the work of \textit{S. Rees} [Eur. J. Comb. 9, No.\ 2, 183-187 (1988; Zbl 0646.20017)].