Cross-sections, quotients, and representation rings of semisimple algebraic groups. (Q649083)

Let \(G\) be a connected semisimple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field \(k\). In 1965 Steinberg proved that if \(G\) is simply connected, then in \(G\) there exists a closed irreducible cross-section of the set of closures of regular conjugacy classes. The author shows that in arbitrary \(G\) such a cross-section exists if and only if the universal covering isogeny \(\tau\colon\widehat G\to G\) is bijective. This answers a question posed by Grothendieck in a letter to Serre dated January 15, 1969. In particular, for \(\text{char\,}k=0\), the converse to Steinberg's theorem holds. The existence of a cross-section in \(G\) implies, at least for \(\text{char\,}k=0\), that the algebra \(k[G]^G\) of class functions on \(G\) is generated by \(\text{rk\,}G\) elements. Several more questions from the same letter are answered in the paper. For arbitrary \(G\), a minimal generating set of \(k[G]^G\) and of the representation ring of \(G\) are given. The existence of a rational (i.e., local) section of the quotient morphism \(G\to G/\!/G\) is established for arbitrary \(G\) as well as the existence of a rational cross-section in \(G\) (for \(\text{char\,}k=0\), this has been proved earlier). The existence of a rational section is shown to be equivalent to the existence of a rational \(W\)-equivariant map \(T\dashrightarrow G/T\) where \(T\) is a maximal torus of \(G\) and \(W\) the Weyl group.