The \(\text{GL}_n(q)\)-module structure of the symmetric algebra around the Steinberg module. (Q555598)

Let \(\mathbb F\) be an algebraically closed field of characteristic \(p>0\) and let \(V\) denote the vector space \(\mathbb F^n\) for \(n>0\). The vector space \(V\) is naturally a module for the finite general linear group \(\text{GL}_n(q)\) of \(n\) by \(n\) invertible matrices with entries in the finite field with \(q\) elements where \(q=p^r\) for some \(r\geq 1\). Further, the symmetric algebra \(S^\bullet(V)\) is a graded module over \(\text{GL}_n(q)\). Let \(\text{GL}_n(\mathbb F)\) denote the associated algebraic group which comes with its standard root datum. For a dominant weight \(\lambda\), let \(L(\lambda)\) denote the irreducible \(\text{GL}_n(\mathbb F)\)-module of highest weight \(\lambda\). Recall that the simple modules for \(\text{GL}_n(q)\) arise as the restrictions of the \(L(\lambda)\) for those weights \(\lambda\) that are \(q\)-restricted. Of particular interest is the Steinberg module \(\text{St}_r=L((q-1)\rho)\) (where \(\rho =(n-1,n-2,\dots,1,0)\)) which is simple and projective over \(\text{GL}_n(q)\). The main objective of this paper is to determine the graded composition multiplicity of a simple \(\text{GL}_n(q)\)-module in \(S^\bullet(V)\). More precisely, let \(L(\lambda)\) denote a simple \(\text{GL}_n(q)\)-module and \(P(\lambda)\) denote its projective cover. By the ``graded composition multiplicity'' of \(L(\lambda)\) in \(S^\bullet(V)\) is meant the Hilbert series: \(\sum_it^i\dim\Hom_{\text{GL}_n(q)}(P(\lambda),S^i(V))\). The main result is a determination of this series for a large class of modules near \(\text{St}_r\) when \(p>n\). For example, the theorem applies to a simple module \(L(\lambda)\) with highest weight having the form \(\lambda=(q-1)\rho-\mu+k\omega_n\) where \(\mu\) is appropriately ``small'', \(\omega_n=(1,1,\dots,1)\), and \(0\leq k\leq q-2\). For a special subset of modules, the multiplicity is determined without the restriction on \(p\). This recovers and extends a result for \(r=1\) of \textit{D. P. Carlisle} and \textit{G. Walker} [Proc. R. Soc. Edinb., Sect. A 113, No. 1-2, 27-41 (1989; Zbl 0698.20026)]. To obtain the main result, the authors first investigate the Steinberg module and determine the graded multiplicity of \(\text{St}_r\) not simply in \(S^\bullet(V)\) but more generally in the tensor product \(S^\bullet(V)\otimes\bigwedge^m(V)\otimes\text{Det}^k\) for \(0\leq m\leq n\), \(1\leq k\leq q-1\), where \(\bigwedge^m(V)\) denotes the \(m\)-th exterior power and \(\text{Det}\) denotes the one-dimensional determinant module. This is determined in part by translating a problem of counting certain multiplicities over \(\text{GL}_n(q)\) to a problem of counting certain multiplicities over the algebraic group \(\text{GL}_n(\mathbb F)\). More generally, this is done with \(\bigwedge^m(V)\) replaced by its dual or by tensor products of exterior powers. These results for the Steinberg module are then used to obtain the aforementioned multiplicities in \(S^\bullet(V)\) for simple modules. Finally, the authors note that the main result may be reformulated in terms of composition multiplicities in the coinvariant algebra \(S^\bullet(V)_{\text{GL}_n(q)}\). They also pose several interesting questions for further investigation.