Some non-trivial Kazhdan-Lusztig coefficients of an affine Weyl group of type \(\widetilde A_n\). (Q625817)

Let \(W\) be a Coxeter group with \(S\) its distinguished generator set. The Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomial \(P_{y,w}\) in an indeterminate \(q\) is defined for any pair \(y,w\in W\) and satisfies the condition \(\deg P_{y,w}\leqslant\frac 12(\ell(w)-\ell(y)-1)\) if \(y<w\), where \(\ell\) is the length function and \(\leqslant\) the Bruhat-Chevalley order on \(W\). The coefficient \(\mu(y,w)\) of the term \(q^{\frac 12(\ell(w)-\ell(y)-1)}\) in \(P_{y,w}\) is important in representation theory and in understanding cohomology and first extension groups for irreducible modules of algebraic groups and of finite groups of Lie type. In the paper under review, the authors show that the coefficient \(\mu(y,w)\) of some Kazhdan-Lusztig polynomials \(P_{y,w}\) with \(y,w\) in the affine Weyl group of type \(\widetilde A_n\) is \(n+2\). Under the assumption of Lusztig's modular conjecture (known to hold for \(p\) very large [\textit{H. H. Andersen, J. C. Jantzen} and \textit{W. Soergel}, Representations of quantum groups at a \(p\)-th root of unity and of semisimple groups in characteristic \(p\): independence of \(p\). Astérisque 220 (1994; Zbl 0802.17009)]), this shows it can be arbitrary large as \(n\) becomes large for the dimensions of first extension groups for irreducible modules of the special linear group \(\text{SL}_{n+1}(\overline{\mathbb F}_p)\) over an algebraically closed field \(\overline{\mathbb F}_p\) of characteristic \(p\). Taken together with [\textit{E. T. Cline, B. J. Parshall} and \textit{L. L. Scott}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 361, No. 10, 5223-5261 (2009; Zbl 1183.20051)], this implies that the corresponding first extension groups for the finite groups \(\text{SL}_{n+1}(\mathbb F_q)\), \(q\) sufficiently large power of a sufficiently large prime \(p\), must also have unbounded dimensions.