On Clifford theory with Galois action (Q279721)

This is an important paper. It extends an important reduction in ordinary Clifford theory of finite groups, to the Clifford theory of finite groups over arbitrary fields of characteristic zero. Clifford theory concerns the study of the irreducible characters \(\chi\) of a finite group \(G\) given that \(G\) has a normal subgroup \(N\) and an irreducible character \(\theta\) such that \(\theta\) is contained in the restriction of \(\chi\) to \(N\). For many questions, one can reduce the study of the properties of \(\chi\) to the case when \(\theta\) is invariant under the action of \(G\). And, then one can reduce the study of the resulting questions to the study of the case when \(N\) is contained in the center of \(G\). These reductions are no longer valid if we are interested in rationality properties of the characters \(\chi\), such as Galois conjugation, fields of values, or Schur indices. It is known that, in this case, the first reduction mentioned can be substituted by the restriction to the case when \(\theta\) is semi-invariant. The paper concerns the substitute for the second reduction. It is proved that one can reduce the study of the properties of \(\chi\) (including rationality properties) when \(\theta\) is semi-invariant to the study of the properties of \(\chi\) when \(N\) has a normal cyclic subgroup \(C\) with \(N/C\) abelian. It was shown by the reviewer [J. Algebra 341, No. 1, 109--124 (2011; Zbl 1266.20009)] that two Clifford theories are isomorphic if and only if they yield the same element of the Brauer-Clifford group. The author uses the group structure of the Brauer-Clifford group to show that, in every case, the element of the Brauer-Clifford group associated with any \(G\), \(N\), and \(\theta\), with \(\theta\) quasi-invariant can also be obtained by similar \(G_1\), \(N_1\), and \(\theta_1\) with additional conditions, including the fact that \(N_1\) is cyclic by abelian.