Maximal compatible splitting and diagonals of Kempf varieties (Q424850)

Let \(G\) be a connected semisimple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field \(k\), and let \(B\) be a Borel subgroup and \(P\supset B\) a parabolic subgroup. Let \(X_P=G/P\) and \(X=G/B\). Wahl conjectured (in \(\mathrm{char} k=0\)) that the Gaussian map \[ H^0(X_P\times X_P, \mathcal {I}_\Delta \otimes (\mathcal{L}_1\boxtimes \mathcal{L}_2)) \to H^0(X_P, \Omega_{X_P}^1\otimes \mathcal{L}_1\otimes \mathcal{L}_2), \] is surjective for any ample line bundles \(\mathcal{L}_1, \mathcal{L}_2\) on \(X_P\), where \(\mathcal{I}_\Delta\) is the ideal sheaf of the diagonal \(\Delta\) and \(\Omega_{X_P}^1\) is the sheaf of \(1\)-forms on \(X_P\). This conjecture was proved (in \(\mathrm{char} k=0\)) by the reviewer by using the combination of geometric and representation theoretic techniques. The same question when \(\mathrm{char} k=p>0\) has been considered by Frobenius splitting methods. For any smooth projective variety \(Y\) over \(\mathrm{char} k=p>0\), any Frobenius splitting of \(Y\) canonically gives rise to a section \(\sigma\) of the line bundle \(\omega_Y^{\otimes 1-p}\), where \(\omega_Y\) is the canonical line bundle of \(Y\). Moreover, if an irreducible smooth closed subscheme \(Z\) of \(Y\) of codimension \(d\) is compatibly split, then \(\sigma\) vanishes with multiplicity at most \((p-1)d\) along \(Z\). If \(\sigma\) vanishes with multiplicity exactly equal to \((p-1)d\) along \(Z\), we call the splitting of \(Y\) to \textit{maximally compatibly split} along \(Z\). Such a Frobenius splitting of \(Y\) lifts to a Frobenius splitting of the blow-up \(B_Z(Y)\) of \(Y\) along \(Z\) compatibly splitting the exceptional divisor. Lakshmibai-Mehta-Parameswaran showed that if the blow-up \(B_\Delta(X_P\times X_P)\) is Frobenius split compatibly splitting the exceptional divisor, then the analogue of Wahl's conjecture for \(X_P\) is true over \(k\) of \(\mathrm{char} p>0\). Moreover, they conjectured that \(X_P\times X_P\) admits a Frobenius splitting maximally compatibly splitting the diagonal \(\Delta\). Now, in the paper under review, the authors prove that for \(G=SL_N\), \(X\times X\) admits a Frobenius splitting maximally compatibly splitting the diagonal \(\Delta\), where \(X=SL_N/B\). From this it follows that the same result is true for any flag variety \(X_P\times X_P\), where \(X_P=SL_N/P\) for any parabolic subgroup \(P\). Earlier, this result was obtained for Grassmannians by Mehta-Parameswaran; for symplectic and orthogonal Grassmannians for any odd \(p\) by Lakshmibai-Raghavan-Sankaran; and for any minuscule \(G/P\) by Brown-Lakshmibai. Moreover, the explicit splitting of \(X\times X\) Lauritzen-Thomsen produce in this paper, compatibly splits \(K\times K\), where \(K\subset X\) is any Kempf variety, which is a certain smooth subvariety of \(X\).