Stuttering blocks of Ariki-Koike algebras (Q1726037)

This paper is a contribution to the combinatorial representation theory of cyclotomic Hecke algebras. The set-up is as follows. Suppose we have a positive integer $e$, and an $r$-tuple $\kappa=(\kappa_0,\dots,\kappa_{r-1})$ of elements of $\mathbb Z/e\mathbb Z$. Given an \textit{$r$-multipartition} $\lambda$, i.e.{} an $r$-tuple of integer partitions, we define the \textit{residue} of a node in the $r$th row and $c$th column of the $j$th component to be $c-r+\kappa_j$. Taking a free abelian group $Q$ with basis $\{\alpha_i:i\in\mathbb Z/e\mathbb Z\}$, we define $\alpha(\lambda)$ to be the sum of $\alpha_{\mathrm{res}(n)}$, summing over all nodes $n$ of $\lambda$. We then have an equivalence relation on the set of all multipartitions defined by saying that $\lambda$ and $\mu$ are equivalent if $\alpha(\lambda)=\alpha(\mu)$. This is relevant to the block theory of cyclotomic Hecke algebras. \par Now suppose $p$ is an integer dividing both $r$ and $e$. Say that $\kappa$ is \textit{compatible} if $\kappa_{i+r/p}=\kappa_i+e/p$ for all $i$. Assuming this is the case, we define a shift operation $\sigma$ on the set of all multipartitions by cyclically permuting the components by $r/p$ positions, and we define an operation (also called $\sigma$) on $Q$ by $\alpha_i\mapsto\alpha_{i+e/p}$. If a multipartition $\lambda$ is invariant under $\sigma$, then so is $\alpha(\lambda)$. The main result is a kind of converse to this statement: it says that if $\mu$ is a multipartition such that $\alpha(\mu)$ is invariant under $\sigma$, then there is another multipartition $\lambda$ with $\alpha(\lambda)=\alpha(\mu)$ and $\lambda$ invariant under $\sigma$. \par The proof is surprisingly difficult, and occupies most of the paper. Applications to cyclotomic Hecke algebras are given at the end. The paper is well written, though it quite long relative to the significance of the main theorem.