On the unipotent \(l\)-blocks of finite reductive groups when \(l\) is bad (Q1582234)

Let \(\mathbf G\) be a reductive connected algebraic group, defined over a finite field \(\mathbb{F}_q\) of order \(q\), with Frobenius map \(F\). Let \(G\) denote the group of the points of \(\mathbf G\) invariant under \(F\). Let \(\ell\) be a prime number which does not divide \(q\). In the paper under review, the author studies the repartition of the irreducible characters of \(G\) into the unipotent \(\ell\)-blocks of \(G\). This paper completes previous results, by treating the cases of exceptional groups with \(\ell\) bad for \(\mathbf G\) [see \textit{M. Cabanes, M. Enguehard}, Invent. Math. 117, No. 1, 149-164 (1994; Zbl 0817.20046), and the references there]. The \(\ell\)-blocks of a finite group \(G\) are the central primitive idempotents of the group algebra of \(G\) over a complete local ring \(\mathcal O\) with zero characteristic, whose residual field \(k\) is sufficiently large for \(G\). The unipotent characters of \(G\) are the ones which occur in a Deligne-Lusztig virtual character of the kind \(R_\mathbf T^\mathbf G(1)\), for some \(F\)-stable maximal torus \(\mathbf T\) of \(\mathbf G\). A unipotent \(\ell\)-block in \(G\) is any \(\ell\)-block which is the identity on at least one irreducible unipotent character of \(G\). For instance, the principal block, which fixes the trivial character, is unipotent. The origine of the relation between blocks and Lusztig application is the compatibility of the latter with Brauer decomposition map. To each \(F\)-stable torus \(\mathbf S\) of \(\mathbf G\) is attached a polynomial \(P_{\mathbf S,F}(X)\), the polynomial order of \(\mathbf S\), such that \(\mathbf S^{F^b}\) has order \(P_{\mathbf S,F}(q^b)\) for infinitely many positive integers \(b\). Moreover, \(P_{\mathbf S,F}\) is a product of cyclotomic polynomials. If \(P_{\mathbf S,F}=\prod_e\phi^{\alpha(e)}_e\), the product \(\prod_ee^{\alpha(e)}\) is called the cycle order of \(\mathbf S\). The torus \(\mathbf S\) is said to be a \(\phi_e\)-subgroup of \(\mathbf G\) if its cycle order is a power of \(e\). A Levi subgroup \(\mathbf L\) of \(\mathbf G\) is called \(e\)-split if it is the centralizer in \(\mathbf G\) of a \(\phi_e\)-subgroup of \(\mathbf G\). A unipotent character \(\chi\) of \(G\) is said to be \(e\)-cuspidal if \(^*R^\mathbf G_\mathbf T(\chi)=0\) for any \(F\)-stable maximal subtorus \(\mathbf T\) of \(\mathbf G\) which contains a non-central \(\phi_e\)-subgroup. (Here \(^*R^\mathbf G_\mathbf T\) denotes the Deligne-Lusztig restriction functor.) For each integer \(e\), a unipotent \(e\)-cuspidal datum in \((\mathbf G,F)\) is a couple \((\mathbf L,\zeta)\), where \(\mathbf L\) is an \(e\)-split Levi subgroup of \((\mathbf G,F)\) and \(\zeta\) is a unipotent \(e\)-cuspidal character of \(L\). The datum \((\mathbf L,\zeta)\) is said of central \(\ell\)-defect if \(\zeta(1)_\ell |\text{Z}(L)|_\ell=|L|_\ell\), where \(\text{Z}(L)\) is the center of \(L\) and \(?_\ell\) denotes the \(\ell\)-part of \(?\). Let \(e_q(\ell)\) be the multiplicative order of \(q\) modulo \(\ell\). When \(\ell\) is odd and good for \(\mathbf G\), any \(e_q(\ell)\)-cuspidal datum is of central \(\ell\)-defect [see loc. cit., Prop.~4.3]. Also \(\ell\) is bad for \(\mathbf G\) if and only if, for each \(q\) prime with \(\ell\), there exists an \(e_q(\ell)\)-cuspidal unipotent datum in \(\mathbf G(\mathbb{F}_q)\), which has central \(\ell\)-defect. The author proves: (a) for each \(e\)-cuspidal unipotent datum \((\mathbf L,\zeta)\) in \((\mathbf G,F)\), there exists an \(\ell\)-block \(b_G(\mathbf L,\zeta)\) of \(G\) which fixes any irreducible character \(\chi\) of \(G\) such that \(\langle R_\mathbf L^\mathbf G(\zeta),\chi\rangle\neq 0\). (Here \(\langle\;,\;\rangle\) is the usual inner product of the space of class functions on \(G\).) (b) the map \((L,\zeta)\mapsto b_G(\mathbf L,\zeta)\) defined in (a) induces a bijection between the set of \(G\)-conjugacy classes of \(e\)-cuspidal unipotent data with central \(\ell\)-defect in \((\mathbf G,F)\) and the set of unipotent \(\ell\)-blocks of \(G\). (c) when \(\mathbf G\) is irreducible, if \((\mathbf L,\zeta)\) is an \(e\)-cuspidal unipotent datum in \((\mathbf G,F)\), which does not have central \(\ell\)-defect (which implies that \(\ell\) is bad for both \(\mathbf L\) and \(\mathbf G\)) or such that \(\zeta=1\) (in this case \(\mathbf L\) is a torus), then \(b_G(\mathbf L,\zeta)\) is the principal \(\ell\)-block of \(G\), except in a few exceptional cases (which are listed in the paper) if \(G\) is of type \(\mathbf E_8(q)\). Assume that the center of \(\mathbf G\) is connected. For \(\ell\) a given prime number, let \(e\in\{1,2\}\) if \(\ell=2\), and let \(e\) denote the order of \(e\) modulo \(\ell\) if \(\ell\neq 2\). Let \(s\) be an \(F\)-stable \(\ell\)-element in the Langlands dual \(\mathbf G^*\) of \(\mathbf G\). The author attaches that to each \(C_{G^*}(s)\)-conjugacy class of \(e\)-cuspidal unipotent data \((\mathbf L_s^*,\zeta_s)\) with central \(\ell\)-defect in \((C_{\mathbf G^*}(s),F)\) a \(G\)-conjugacy class of \(e\)-cuspidal unipotent data \((\mathbf L,\zeta)\) with central \(\ell\)-defect in \((\mathbf G,F)\). This correspondence induces a map between sets of unipotent \(\ell\)-blocks \[ J_s^{\mathbf G,F}\colon b_{C_{G^*}(s)}(\mathbf L_s^*,\zeta_s)\mapsto b_G(\mathbf L,\zeta), \] such that, for any character \(\chi\) belonging to the Lusztig series \(\mathcal E(G,s)\) defined by \(s\), \[ b_G(\chi)=J_s^{\mathbf G,F}\left(b_{C_{G^*}(s)}(\mathcal L_s^{\mathbf G,F}(\chi))\right), \] where \[ \mathcal L_s^{\mathbf G,F}\colon\mathcal E(G,s)\to\mathcal E(C_{G^*}(s),1) \] is the map giving the Lusztig parametrization of the irreducible characters belonging to \(\mathcal E(G,s)\).