Exponential matrices (Q2419029)

Consider the ring Mat\((n,k[T])\) of \(n\times n\) matrices over a polynomial ring over a field \(k\). The author defines a matrix \(A(T)\) in this ring to be an exponential matrix if \(A(0)=I\) and \(A(T)A(T^{\prime })=A(T+T^{\prime})\) for indeterminates \(T\) and \(T^{\prime}\). Suppose that \(A(T)\) is an exponential matrix. We can write \(A(T)\) as a finite sum \(\sum _{i}T^{i}N_{i}\) with uniquely determined \(N_{i}\in\) Mat\((n,k)\) and \(N_{0}=I\). If char\((k)=0\) then \(N:=N_{1}\) must be nilpotent and \(N_{i}=N^{i}/i!\) for all \(i\), so the situation is quite straightforward. On the other hand, when char\((k)=p>0\), \(A(T)\) is completely determined by the values of \(N_{1} ,N_{p},N_{p^{2}},\dots\); these must be pairwise commuting nilpotent matrices with their \(p\)th powers equal \(0\), and \(A(T)=\prod_{r\geq 0}\mathrm{Exp}(T^{p^{r}}N_{p^{r}})\) where Exp\((TN)\) is the truncated series \(\sum _{i=0}^{p-1}T^{i}N^{i}/i!\). The main part of this paper considers the question of classifying the exponential matrices under similarity by a matrix from GL\((n,k)\). For characteristic \(0\) the classification reduces to classifying a single nilpotent matrix under similarity (the Jordan form), so the interest lies in the cases where \(p>0\). For \(n=2\) and \(3\), it is relatively easy to describe the classes of exponential matrices when char\((k)=p>0\), but already for \(n=4\) the problem is more difficult. The obstruction is related to the known difficult problem of classifying representations of finite \(p\)-groups (see, for example, [\textit{D. J. Benson}, Representations of elementary abelian \(p\)-groups and vector bundles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2017; Zbl 06653745)]). The Heisenberg subgroup \({H(}n,k[T])\) of GL\((n,k[T])\) consists of the upper triangular matrices with diagonal entries \(1\) and with \(0\)'s elsewhere except along the first row and the last column. The author first solves the problem of classifying the exponential matrices in \({H(}n,k[T])\) and then uses this to give a classification of the exponential matrices in Mat\((n,k[T])\). He concludes by giving a description of the representations of degree \(4\) for elementary abelian \(p\)-groups over a field of characteristic \(p\).