Symmetric powers of modular representations, hilbert series and degree bounds (Q4953308)

It is a basic problem in modular invariant theory to study the ring of invariants \(K[V]^G\), where \(G=\mathbb{Z}_p\) is a cyclic group of prime order \(p\) with a representation \(\rho:G\to GL(V)\) over a field \(K\) of characteristic \(p\). The authors derive formulas for the decompositions of all symmetric tensor powers of \(V\) into indecomposables. In particular, they determine the Hilbert series of \(K[V]^G\). The paper is motivated by (and provides a shorter approach to) earlier work of \textit{G. Almkvist} and \textit{R. Fossum} [in: Sémin. d'Algèbre D. Dubreil, Proc., Paris 1976-1977, Lect. Notes Math. 641, 1-111 (1978; Zbl 0381.16015)] studying the special case when \(V\) is indecomposable. The results generalize to groups of the type \(\mathbb{Z}_p\times H\) with \(|H|\) coprime to \(p\). Along the way, it is proved that if \(G\) is any finite group whose order is divisible by \(p\) but not by \(p^2\), the invariant ring \(K[V]^G\) is generated by homogeneous invariants of degrees at most \(\dim(V)\cdot(|G|-1)\).