The inductive blockwise Alperin weight condition for \(\mathrm{PSL}_n(q)\) with \((n,q - 1)=1\) (Q2182364)

The blockwise Alperin weight conjecture is a central conjecture in the modular representation theory of finite groups. For an \(\ell\)-block \(B\) of a finite group it states that the number of irreducible Brauer characters in the block \(B\) should coincide with the number of \(B\)-weights. Here, a \(B\)-weight consists of a tuple \((R,\varphi)\), where \(R\) is a radical \(\ell\)-subgroup of \(G\) and \(\varphi\) is a defect zero character of \(N_G(R)/R\) whose inflation to \(N_G(R)\) lies in a block \(b\) with \(b^G=B\). In this form, the Alperin weight conjecture was reduced to a question about finite simple groups by \textit{B. Späth} [J. Group Theory 16, No. 2, 159--220 (2013; Zbl 1282.20010)] . In particular, in order to prove the Alperin weight conjecture for the finite group \(G\) it is sufficient to prove the so-called inductive Alperin weight condition for all finite simple groups involved in \(G\). This paper is a nice contribution to the progam of verifying the inductive condition and it verifies it for the family of simple groups \(S:=\mathrm{PSL}_n(q)\) whenever \((n,q-1)=1\). A first result in this direction was proved by \textit{E. Schulte} [J. Algebra 466, 314--369 (2016; Zbl 1377.20010)] who has (among several other cases) proved the inductive Alperin weight condition for \(\mathrm{PSL}_3(q)\) if \((3,q-1)=1\). The authors of the paper under review then later generalized her work to the case of arbitrary rank \(n\) but under the additional assumption that \(\operatorname{Out}(S)\) is cyclic [J. Algebra 495, 130--149 (2018; Zbl 1457.20016)]. In the present paper, this assumption on the automorphism group is removed. The main obstacle which needed to be solved was to show that for any weight \((R,\varphi)\) of \(S\), the character \(\varphi\) extends to its inertia group in \(N_{\Aut(S)}(R)\). Although their proof is quite involved due to the technical description of weights its main ideas can be summarized as follows. Firstly, they use the description of weights of \(S\) by \textit{J. L. Alperin} and \textit{P. Fong} [J. Algebra 131, No. 1, 2--22 (1990; Zbl 0714.20007)] and transfer it to a certain twisted version of the group \(S\) in which calculations with automorphisms are easier to handle. This method in this context originates from a paper by \textit{M. Cabanes} and \textit{B. Späth} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 728, 153--194 (2017; Zbl 1456.20009)]. Secondly, for characters of \(S\) it is known by the same paper by Cabanes-Späth [loc. cit] that every character of \(S\) extends to its inertia subgroup in \(\Aut(S)\). Using the explicit construction of the characters of the local subgroups, the authors are then able to apply this result to their situation.