Supercharacters of the Sylow \(p\)-subgroups of the finite symplectic and orthogonal groups. (Q1011614)

A ``supercharacter theory'' for a finite group \(G\), as developed by \textit{P. Diaconis} and \textit{I. M. Isaacs} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 360, No. 5, 2359-2392 (2008; Zbl 1137.20008)], consists of a set \(\mathcal H\) of complex characters of \(G\) (called ``supercharacters'') together with a partition \(\mathcal K\) of \(G\) (into ``superclasses'') such that: (1) \(|\mathcal H|=|\mathcal K|\); (2) the supercharacters are constant on the superclasses; (3) every irreducible character of \(G\) is a constituent of a unique supercharacter. Letting \(\mathcal H\) be the set of all irreducible characters of \(G\) and \(\mathcal K\) the set of conjugacy classes of \(G\), we see that the usual character theory of \(G\) is an example of a supercharacter theory. However, there may be other interesting examples which yield information about \(G\), and this should be of particular use when the full character theory of \(G\) is difficult to determine. A case in point is when \(G=U_n(q)\) is the group of upper unitriangular matrices over a finite field of \(q\) elements (e.g., see \textit{C. A. M. André} [J. Algebra 175, No. 1, 287-319 (1995; Zbl 0835.20052)] and subsequent papers). The purpose of this paper is to study supercharacter theories for the Sylow \(p\)-subgroups of orthogonal and symplectic groups over finite fields of odd characteristic (i.e., for the intersection of the group of upper unitriangular matrices with the orthogonal and symplectic groups). The main aim is to show that earlier results of the authors [found in J. Algebra 305, No. 1, 394-429 (2006; Zbl 1104.20041)] remain valid in all odd characteristics. In particular, they show how to construct supercharacter theories parametrized by certain basic subsets of positive roots. Many of the proofs involve taking a known result for the full group of unitriangular matrices \(U_n(q)\) and showing the analogous result holds for the intersection of this group with the symplectic and orthogonal groups. Reviewer's remark: The terminology ``supercharacter'' and ``superclass'' is apparently due to R. W. Carter and replaces the ``basic characters'' in the first author's earlier work. The superclasses here should not be confused with those introduced by \textit{S. Donkin} in a different context [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 97, No. 3, 281-301 (1995; Zbl 0834.20006)].