The module structure of a group action on a polynomial ring (Q1306909)

This article gives a partial affirmative answer to the following interesting question of S. Siegel: Is it true that for every finite group \(G\) and every finitely generated \(KG\)-module \(V\) only a finite number of non-isomorphic indecomposable \(KG\)-modules occur as summands in the symmetric powers \(S^i(V)\)? The authors deal with the case where the dimension of \(V\) is~3. The case \(\dim(V)=2\) was settled by \textit{D. J. Glover} [J. Algebra 51, 425-475 (1978; Zbl 0376.20008)], and \(\dim(V)=1\) is trivial. Siegel's question for \(n\)-dimensional modules is easily reduced to the case where \(G=\text{U}_n(q)\) is the group of upper unipotent matrices acting naturally. For the group \(\text{U}_3(q)\), the authors do much more than giving an answer to Siegel's question: Their result essentially provides a complete overview of the decomposition of the symmetric powers \(S^i(V)\). The paper reveals a sort of periodic behavior of the symmetric powers, which is afforded by multiplication with certain homogeneous invariants \(dx\), \(dy\), and \(dz\). More precisely, the authors find a submodule \(T\) of the symmetric algebra \(S\) such that \(S\cong K[dz]\otimes T\). \(T\) contains a large projective summand \(Q\). The hardest part of the paper lies in identifying what is left of \(T\) after removing \(Q\). The paper is very well-written. It contains involved arguments and many interesting ideas.