Representation dimension of exterior algebras (Q2501078)

The purpose of this paper is to provide the first known examples of finite-dimensional \(k\)-algebras \(A\) so that the value of Auslander's representation dimension of \(A\) can be any positive integer. Auslander defined the representation dimension of a \(k\)-algebra \(A\) as the infimum of the global dimension of the endomorphism algebra of injective cogenerators of \(A\). Recently the representation dimension attained some interest since Iyama showed that the representation dimension of a finite-dimensional algebra is always finite, and since Igusa Todorov showed that the representation dimension being at most \(3\) for all algebras would imply the finitistic dimension conjecture. Up to the present paper no algebra was known to have representation dimension at least \(4\). The author defines the dimension of a triangulated category inductively as follows. Starting from a finite object \(M\), the dimension \(1\) generated piece generated by \(M\) is given by direct summands of direct sums of shifts of \(M\). The dimension \(d\) generated piece by \(M\) is the additive category generated by middle terms of triangles where the left part of the triangle is in the dimension \(d-1\) generated piece by \(M\), and the right part of the triangle is in the dimension \(1\) generated piece by \(M\). The triangulated category is of dimension at most \(d\) if there is an \(M\) so that the whole triangulated category is in the dimension \(d\) generated piece by \(M\). In a first step the author shows that for self-injective algebras the Loewy length of \(A\) is bigger than the representation dimension and the representation dimension is bigger than \(2\) plus the dimension of of the stable category of \(A\). Slightly weaker statements hold for finite-dimensional algebras in general. In a second step the author shows that the stable category of the exterior algebra of an \(n\)-dimensional vector space has a stable category with dimension \(n-1\), is of representation dimension \(n+1\) and has a derived category of bounded complexes with dimension \(n\). In case \(k\) is not countable and \(n\geq 3\), the author gives a short and elementary proof that the representation dimension is at least \(4\), using relatively elementary algebraic geometry. The complete proof in the general case uses more sophisticated machinery, in particular more advanced algebraic geometry. In a final section the author applies the results in a very tricky way, using methods from group cohomology, to show that for a finite group \(G\), and a \(2\)-block \(B\) of \(G\) the Loewy length of this block is bigger than the \(2\)-rank of the defect group of \(B\).