On the affineness of distinguished Deligne-Lusztig varieties (Q2437954)

Let \(k_{0}\) be a finite field of characteristic \(p\), and let \(k\) be an algebraic closure for \(k_{0}.\)Let \(B\) be a Borel subgroup of a connected reductive algebraic group over \(k_{0}\) which is stable under the action of a map \(F\) with the property that \(F^{d}=frob\times \text{Spec}\left( k\right) \) for some \(d\). Let \(T\) be a maximal torus inside \(B\), let \(W=N_{G}\left( T\right) /T,\) and let \(\Phi\) (resp. \(\Delta)\) be the set of roots (resp. simple roots). Let \(\sigma\) be the permutation of \(\Phi\) induced by \(F.\) For each \(I\subset W\) we let \(W_{I}\) be the subgroup of \(W\) generated by the simple reflections associated to elements of \(I;\) furthermore we let \(P_{I}=BW_{I}B\) and denote by \(X_{I}\) the set of parabolic subgroups conjugate to \(X_{I}.\) Given \(I\subset\Delta,\) the group \(G\) acts on \(X_{I}\times X_{\sigma I}\) via conjugation on each factor. For \(w\in W,\) let \(O_{I,\sigma I}\left( w\right) \) be the orbit of \(\left( P_{I},^{\dot{w}}P_{\sigma I}\right) ,\) where \(\dot{w}\) is a representative of \(w\) in \(N_{G}\left( T\right) \). For \(w\in W_{I}\backslash W/W_{\sigma I}\) we say the orbit \(O_{I,\sigma I}\left( w\right) \) is distinguished if \(I=\tilde{w}\sigma I,\) where \(\tilde{w}\) is the minimal length representative for \(w.\) The generalized Deligne-Lusztig variety \(X_{I}\left( w\right) \) is the subscheme of \(X_{I}\) consisting of parabolic subgroups \(P\) such that \(\left( P,F\left( P\right) \right) ,\) and \(X_{I}\left( w\right) \) is distinguished if \(O_{I,\sigma I}\left( w\right) \) is. The work under review is a continuation of an investigation as to whether a distinguished \(X_{I}\left( w\right) \) is necessarily affine. While counter-examples exist for non-distinguished varieties, at this point there is no distinguished Deligne-Lusztig variety which is known to be not affine The main result in this paper reduces the problem of \(X_{I}\left( w\right) \) being affine to a problem of quasi-finiteness in a related variety. As a consequence, if a power of \(p\) related to certain roots is sufficiently large, then \(X_{1}\left( w\right) \) is affine. Additionally, if \(\Delta\setminus I\) is a single point, \(X_{I}\left( w\right) \) is affine, and a simple criterion for affineness is given in the case where \(\Delta\setminus I\) consists of two points. As a final result, all distinguished Deligne-Lusztig varieties associated to groups of rank 2 are affine. To summarize (from the paper): ``almost all distinguished Deligne-Lusztig varieties are affine''.