On alternating invariants and Hilbert ideals (Q1763897)

Recall that the Hilbert ideal \(h(G)\) of a group \(G\) acting linearly on a finite dimensional vector space is the ideal in the coordinate ring generated by the homogeneous invariants of positive degree. Consider the natural \(n\)-dimensional representation of the symmetric group \(S_n\) and its alternating subgroup \(A_n\). Using Macaulay inverses, the author proves that \(h(S_n)=h(A_n)\) if and only if the characteristic of the base field divides the order of \(A_n\). The proof given earlier by \textit{A. K. Singh} [Ill. J. Math. 42, 441--448 (2005; Zbl 0915.13004)] used identities involving elementary symmetric functions, and left out the case of characteristic two. The method is applied to situations that occurred in the study of F-rationality by \textit{D. Glassbrenner} [J. Algebra 176, 824--860 (1995; Zbl 0847.14004)]. The paper is finished with observations examining when \(h(G_1)\) and \(h(G_2)\) can be equal for two finite subgroups of the general linear group.