The representation ring of the quantum double of a finite group (Q1907175)

The quantum double \(D(H)\) of a Hopf algebra \(H\) over a field \(k\) is a braided Hopf algebra for which the category \({\mathcal M} od D(H)\) of \(D(H)\)-modules and the centre \({\mathcal Z} {\mathcal M} od H\) of the monoidal category of \(H\)-modules are equivalent as braided monoidal categories. (Here we assume all \(k\)-vector spaces involved are finite dimensional.) A good reference for this is \textit{C. Kassel}'s book [``Quantum groups'', Grad. Texts Math. 155 (1995; Zbl 0808.17003)]. For any finite group \(G\) and algebraically closed \(k\), the present paper studies and calculates the ring \(R(D(G))\) obtained from isomorphism classes of objects of \({\mathcal M} od D(G)\) with addition, multiplication coming from direct sum, tensor product, respectively (where \(D(G) = D(kG))\). For any finite \(G\)-set \(X\), let \(elX\) denote the groupoid whose objects are the elements of \(X\) and whose arrows \(g : x \to y\) are elements of \(G\) with \(xg = y\) (so that equivariant functions \(Y \to X\) amount to set-valued functors from \(elX)\). Use is made of the algebra \(D_X (G)\) characterized by an equivalence between \({\mathcal M} od D_X (G)\) and the category of functors from \(elX\) to \({\mathcal V} ect_k\). The author's description of \(R(D(G))\) is as a product indexed by the transitive \(G\)-sets \(X\). This description is then used to find all the characters of \(R(D(G))\).