Hecke algebras of type \(A\) with \(q=-1\) (Q1923946)

\textit{R. Dipper} and \textit{G. D. James} [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 52, 20-52 (1986; Zbl 0587.20007); ibid. 54, 57-82 (1987; Zbl 0615.20009); ibid. 59, No. 1, 23-50 (1989; Zbl 0711.20007)] have shown that there is a close relation between the modular representation theory of the symmetric group \({\mathfrak S}_n\) and the characteristic 0 representation theory of a certain Hecke algebra \({\mathcal H}_{n,q}\). In particular, a conjecture of \textit{G. James} [ibid. 60, No. 2, 225-265 (1990; Zbl 0760.20003)] gives a precise sense in which the decomposition matrix \(D\) of \({\mathcal H}_{n,-1}\), whose entries give the composition multiplicities of Specht modules \({\mathcal S}(\lambda)\) in terms of simple modules \({\mathcal D}(\mu)\), is a `first approximation' to the 2-modular decomposition matrix of \({\mathfrak S}_n\). The paper contains a partial calculation of the decomposition matrix \(D\) which goes far beyond the current state of knowledge for \({\mathfrak S}_n\). Recall that the rows of \(D\) are indexed by all partitions of \(n\) and the columns by 2-regular partitions of \(n\), i.e. strictly decreasing sequences \(\lambda=(\lambda_1,\dots,\lambda_r)\) of positive integers with sum \(n\). The authors show that \({\mathcal S}(\lambda)\) is simple if and only if \(\lambda\) is alternating in the sense that \(\lambda_i-\lambda_{i+1}\) is odd for \(1\leq i\leq r-1\). This allows the computation (as Littlewood-Richardson coefficients) of the rows of \(D\) which are indexed by partitions whose 2-weight is small compared to the size of their 2-core. Extensive results are obtained which include the determination of all rows of \(D\) indexed by partitions of length \(r\leq 4\) and (with one ambiguity) all columns indexed by partitions of length \(r\leq 3\). The methods are combinatorial and depend on induction and restriction of the projective indecomposable modules \({\mathcal P}(\lambda)\), where \(\lambda\) is 2-regular: a similar approach to the decomposition matrix of \({\mathfrak S}_n\) is described in Chapter 6 of \textit{G. D. James} and \textit{A. Kerber} [The representation theory of the symmetric group, Addison-Wesley (1981; Zbl 0491.20010)]. The methods suffice to calculate the full matrix \(D\) for \(n\leq 19\). In an appendix the authors give the 2-regular part of the principal block for the case \(n=20\), whose full calculation requires their \(q\)-analogue of the Jantzen-Schaper theorem [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 74, 241-274 (1997)].