Frobenius-Schur indicators for near-group and Haagerup-Izumi fusion categories (Q2305454)

The main results of the present paper concern the computation of the higher Frobenius-Schur indicators of certain spherical fusion categories and the consequent investigation of the FS indicator rigidity of their Grothendieck rings. In what follows a \textit{fusion category} is, broadly speaking, a category whose objects behave like finite-dimensional complex representations of a finite group: it is a semisimple locally finite \(\mathbb{C}\)-linear abelian rigid (strict) monoidal category \((\mathcal{C},\otimes,\boldsymbol{1})\) with finitely many irreducible objects and such that \(\mathsf{End}_{\mathcal{C}}(\boldsymbol{1}) \cong \mathbb{C}\) and \(\boldsymbol{1}\) is irreducible. A \textit{pivotal structure} on a fusion category is a choice of a natural monoidal isomorphism \((-)^{**}\cong (-)\) from the double dual endofunctor to the identity endofunctor. This allows us to consider left and right pivotal (or quantum) traces. A pivotal fusion category is \textit{spherical} if the pivotal traces coincide, giving rise to a well-defined notion of trace of a morphism. An important invariant of spherical fusion categories is provided by the \textit{(categorical) Frobenius-Schur indicators} introduced in [\textit{S.-H. Ng} and \textit{P. Schauenburg}, Contemp. Math. 441, 63--90 (2007; Zbl 1153.18008)]. If \(n\) is a positive integer and \(V\) is an object in a spherical fusion category \(\mathcal{C}\), then the \(n\)-th Frobenius-Schur indicator of \(V\) is the pivotal trace of a certain endomorphism of the finite-dimensional vector space \(\mathsf{Hom}_{\mathcal{C}}(\boldsymbol{1},V^{\otimes n})\). The \textit{Grothendieck ring} \(K_0(\mathcal{C})\) of a fusion category \(\mathcal{C}\) is the \(\mathbb{Z}\)-based ring with basis given by the set of isomorphism classes of simple objects in \(\mathcal{C}\), addition given by the direct sum in \(\mathcal{C}\) and multiplication by the tensor product. We say that \(\mathcal{C}\) \textit{categorifies} a ring \(K\) if \(K_0(\mathcal{C}) \cong K\) and that a ring \(K\) exhibits \textit{FS indicator rigidity} if its categorifications can all be distinguished by their Frobenius-Schur indicators. Henceforth, let \(G\) be a finite group. A fusion category \(\mathcal{C}\) is a \textit{near-group} if its Grothendieck ring is given by \(K_0(\mathcal{C}) = \mathbb{Z}\left[G \cup \{\rho\}\right]\), where multiplication is given by the group law and \[ \rho g = \rho = g\rho \qquad \text{and} \qquad \rho^2 = m\rho + \sum_{h \in G} h \] for \(m \in \mathbb{N}\) and for all \(g \in G\). It is a \textit{Tambara-Yamamagami category} if \(m = 0\). It is a \textit{Haagerup-Izumi fusion category} if \(K_0(\mathcal{C}) =\mathbb{Z}\left[G \cup \{g\rho \mid g \in G\}\right]\), where multiplication is given by the group law and \[ g(h\rho) = (gh)\rho = (h\rho)g^{-1} \qquad \text{and} \qquad (g\rho)(h\rho) = gh^{-1} + \sum_{x \in G} x\rho \] for all \(g,h \in G\). By following the notation introduced in the paper, we set \(\mathrm{NG}(G,m) := \mathbb{Z}\left[G \cup \{\rho\}\right]\) and \(\mathrm{HI}(G) := \mathbb{Z}\left[G \cup \{g\rho \mid g \in G\}\right]\). It is known [\textit{T. Basak} and \textit{R. Johnson}, Algebra Number Theory 9, No. 8, 1793--1823 (2015; Zbl 1330.18008)] that the rings \(\mathrm{NG}(G,0)\) exhibit FS indicator rigidity. In the present paper, by taking advantage of the classifications provided in [\textit{M. Izumi}, Rev. Math. Phys. 13, No. 5, 603--674 (2001; Zbl 1033.46506); \textit{D. E. Evans} and \textit{T. Gannon}, Adv. Math. 255, 586--640 (2014; Zbl 1304.18017); Adv. Math. 310, 1-43 (2017; Zbl 1362.81083)] and of the formula for computing Frobenius-Schur indicators by resorting to modular data of the Drinfel'd center from [\textit{S.-H. Ng} and \textit{P. Schauenburg}, Adv. Math. 211, No. 1, 34--71 (2007; Zbl 1138.16017)], the author computes the indicators for the non-invertible object \(\rho\) in the known cases, concluding that: \(\mathbf{(1)}\) The near-group fusion ring \(\mathrm{NG}(G,|G|-1)\) exhibits FS indicator rigidity. \(\mathbf{(2)}\) In all known near-group categories with \(m = |G|\), the non-invertible object has Frobenius-Schur indicators given by quadratic Gauss sums. Moreover, the near-group fusion ring \(\mathrm{NG}(G,|G|)\) for \(G=\mathbb{Z}/13\mathbb{Z}\) does not have FS indicator rigidity, but the lesser odd order groups do exhibit FS indicator rigidity. \(\mathbf{(3)}\) All known Haagerup-Izumi categories have Frobenius-Schur indicators given by quadratic Gauss sums. Moreover, the Haagerup-Izumi fusion rings do not have FS indicator rigidity.