Modular representations of profinite groups. (Q626717)

The aim of this carefully written article is to transfer several foundational results from the modular representation theory of finite groups to the wider context of profinite groups. Let \(G\) be a profinite group, and let \(k\) be a finite field of characteristic~\(p\). The author considers profinite modules over the completed group algebra \(k[\![G]\!]\). After introducing the concept of relative projectivity, he provides several characterisations of finitely generated relatively \(H\)-projective modules, where \(H\) is a closed subgroup of \(G\). Some of these are analogous to the setting of finite groups, others are new additions in the profinite setting. Particularly noteworthy is the following useful proposition: a finitely generated profinite \(k[\![G]\!]\)-module \(U\) is relatively \(H\)-projective if and only if it is relatively \(HN\)-projective for every open normal subgroup \(N\) of~\(G\). A vertex \(Q\) of a finitely generated indecomposable \(k[\![G]\!]\)-module \(U\) is a closed subgroup of \(G\) such that \(U\) is relatively \(Q\)-projective, but not projective relative to any proper closed subgroup of~\(Q\). The author shows that vertices always exist and are unique up to conjugacy in~\(G\). Crucial in this context, and elsewhere, is the helpful fact that the endomorphism ring \(\mathrm{End}_{k[\![G]\!]}(U)\) of a finitely generated indecomposable \(k[\![G]\!]\)-module \(U\) is a local ring. For a finitely generated indecomposable module \(U\) over a finite group \(G\) one attaches to any vertex \(Q\) of \(U\) a finitely generated indecomposable \(kQ\)-module \(S\) with the property that \(U\) is (isomorphic to) a direct summand of the induced module \(\mathrm{ind}_Q^G(S)\). This `source' of \(U\) is unique up to conjugation by elements of the normaliser \(N_G(Q)\). If \(G\) is a profinite or even a pro-\(p\) group, the corresponding notion of source seems less natural; for instance, already the existence of sources is not clear in general. Nonetheless the author proves that, if \(G\) is virtually pro-\(p\) and \(U\) a finitely generated indecomposable \(k[\![G]\!]\)-module with vertex \(Q\), then any two finitely generated sources of \(U\) are conjugate under \(N_G(Q)\). Finally, the author proves a profinite analogue of \textit{J.~A.~Green}'s indecomposability theorem for finite groups [Math.\ Z.\ 70, 430-445 (1959; Zbl 0086.02403)]. More precisely, he shows that, if \(G\) is a virtually pro-\(p\) group, \(H\) a closed subnormal subgroup of \(G\) with \(|G:H|\) a (possibly infinite) power of \(p\), and \(V\) a finitely generated absolutely indecomposable \(k[\![H]\!]\)-module, then the induced \(k[\![G]\!]\)-module \(\mathrm{ind}_H^G(V)\) is absolutely indecomposable. The proof relies on a characterisation of absolutely indecomposable modules in terms of their endomorphism rings, which can be generalised from finite to virtually pro-\(p\) groups. In many of the proofs the author uses a class of quotient modules known as co-invariant modules; these provide a reasonably explicit inverse system for a finitely generated \(k[\![G]\!]\)-module \(U\).