Rational singularities of \(G\)-saturation (Q1622010)

The present article studies rational singularities for varieties of dimension higher than two. Let \(G\) be a connected semisimple algebraic group defined over an algebraically closed field \(k\) of characteristic 0, let \(M\) be a \(G\)-module and \(V\) a closed subvariety of \(M\), stabilized by a parabolic subgroup \(P\) of \(G\). The main result Theorem 3.1 states that if the varieties \(V\) and \(G\cdot M\) have rational singularities, and the induction functor \(R^i\)ind\(_P^GI(V)=0\) (I(V ) is the defining ideal of \(V\) in \(k[M]\)), then the variety \(G\cdot V\) has rational singularities. This result shows that \textit{G. R. Kempf}'s condition [Invent. Math. 37, 229--239 (1976; Zbl 0338.14015); Contemp. Math. 58, 179--182 (1986; Zbl 0602.14003)], that the action of \(P\) on \(V\) is completely reducible, can be relaxed. As an application, it is shown that nilpotent commuting varieties over \(3\times 3\) matrices have rational singularities.