Application of multihomogeneous covariants to the essential dimension of finite groups (Q601756)

Let \(k\) be a field, and \(G\) be a finite group. Denote by \(\mathrm{edim}_k G\) the essential dimension of \(G\) over \(k\). In a previous paper, the author of this paper under review together with his coauthors used the technique of multihomogeneous covariants to study \(\mathrm{edim}_k G\) [\textit{H. Kraft, R. Lötscher} and \textit{G. W. Schwarz}, J. Algebra 322, No. 1, 94--107 (2009; Zbl 1173.14036)]. The goal of this paper is to use multihomogeneous covariants in a more general setting and to obtain new results. Before summarizing the main results of this paper, we recall two definitions. A finite group \(G\) is called semi-faithful over a field \(k\) if \(G\) admits a completely reducible faithful representation over \(k\). By an old result of Nakayama, it is known that \(G\) is semi-faithful over \(k\) if and only if either (i) \(\mathrm{char} k = 0\), or (ii) \(\mathrm{char} k = p > 0\) and \(G\) contains no non-trivial normal \(p\)-group. Another definition is the \(k\)-center of \(G\), denoted by \(Z(G,k)\), which is defined as \(\{g \in Z(G): k \text{ contains primitive } (\mathrm{ord}, g)-\text{th roots of unity} \}\) where \(Z(G)\) is the center of \(G\). A key result about multihomogeneous covariants is Theorem 5 of this paper, which gives an upper bound of \(\mathrm{edim}_k G -\mathrm{rank} (Z(G,k))\). The first application is Theorem 9 which gives the precise value of \(\mathrm{edim}_k G - \mathrm{rank} (Z(G,k))\) when \(G\) is semi-faithful and \(k\) contains enough roots of unity. This theorem generalizes various previous formulae of the essential dimension of a central extension group. The second application is the twisting by some torsor of the projective multihomogeneous covariant of a semi-faithful group \(G\) for a graded faithful representation \(V\) (see \textit{M. Florence}'s paper [Invent. Math. 171, No. 1, 175--189 (2008; Zbl 1136.14035)] for the definition of the twist construction). The main result is Theorem 14, which generalizes some results in the paper by \textit{N. A. Karpenko} and \textit{A. S. Merkurjev} [Invent. Math. 172, No. 3, 491--508 (2008; Zbl 1200.12002)].