Some relations between admissible monomials for the polynomial algebra (Q1751347)

Summary: Let \(\mathbf{P}(n) = \mathbb{F}_2 [x_1, \ldots, x_n]\) be the polynomial algebra in \(n\) variables \(x_i\), of degree one, over the field \(\mathbb{F}_2\) of two elements. The mod-2 Steenrod algebra \(\mathcal{A}\) acts on \(\mathbf{P}(n)\) according to well known rules. A major problem in algebraic topology is of determining \(\mathcal{A}^+ \mathbf{P}(n)\), the image of the action of the positively graded part of \(\mathcal{A}\). We are interested in the related problem of determining a basis for the quotient vector space \(\mathbf{Q}(n) = \mathbf{P}(n) / \mathcal{A}^+ \mathbf{P}(n)\). \(\mathbf{Q}(n)\) has been explicitly calculated for \(n = 1,2, 3,4\) but problems remain for \(n \geq 5\). Both \(\mathbf{P}(n) = \bigoplus_{d \geq 0} \mathbf{P}^d(n)\) and \(\mathbf{Q}(n)\) are graded, where \(\mathbf{P}^d(n)\) denotes the set of homogeneous polynomials of degree \(d\). In this paper, we show that if \(u = x_1^{m_1} \cdots x_{n - 1}^{m_{n - 1}} \in \mathbf{P}^{d'}(n - 1)\) is an admissible monomial (i.e., \(u\) meets a criterion to be in a certain basis for \(\mathbf{Q}(n - 1)\)), then, for any pair of integers \((j, \lambda)\), \(1 \leq j \leq n\), and \(\lambda \geq 0\), the monomial \(h_j^\lambda \left(u\right) = x_1^{m_1} \cdots x_{j - 1}^{m_{j - 1}} x_j^{2^{\lambda - 1}} x_{j + 1}^{m_j} \cdots x_n^{m_{n - 1}} \in \mathbf{P}^{d' +(2^\lambda - 1)}(n)\) is admissible. As an application we consider a few cases when \(n = 5\).