Strong Gelfand pairs of SL(2, <i> p ⁿ </i> ) (Q6561426)

A strong Gelfand pair \((G, H)\) is a finite group \(G\) together with a subgroup \(H\) such that every irreducible (complex) character of \(H\) induces a multiplicity-free character of \(G\). In other words, for any \(\chi \in \mathrm{Irr}(G)\) and any \(\psi \in \mathrm{Irr}(H)\) we have \([\chi, \psi^G]_G\leq 1\). Equivalently, \((G, H)\) is a strong Gelfand pair if and only if the Schur ring determined by the \(H\)-classes \(g^H = \{h^{-1} g h : h\in H\}\), \(g \in G\), is commutative.\N\NExtending the results of [\textit{A. Burton} and \textit{S. Humphries}, J. Algebra Appl. 22, No. 6, Article ID 2350133, 13 p. (2023; Zbl 1517.20070)], the authors of this paper classify the strong Gelfand pairs \((G,H)\) when \(G=\mathrm{SL}(2,q)\).\N\NIn fact, fix the following notation:\N\begin{itemize}\N\item \(C_n\) is the cyclic subgroup of order \(n\);\N\item \(B=C_q\rtimes C_{q-1}\) is the Borel subgroup of upper triangular matrices;\N\item \(B_2\leq B\) is the subgroup of \(B\) whose diagonal entries are squares in \(\mathbb{F}_q^\times\);\N\item \(D_{2(q+1)}\) is the maximal dihedral subgroup of order \(2(q+1)\) (when \(p=2\)).\N\end{itemize}\NThen, the authors prove the following result: Let \(q=p^n > 11\), where \(p\) is a prime and let \(G=\mathrm{SL}(2,q)\). Up to conjugacy, the strong Gelfand pairs \((G,H)\), where \(G\neq H\), are exactly those with:\N\begin{itemize}\N\item[(i)] \(H=B\) if \(p\equiv 1 \pmod 4\);\N\item[(ii)] \(H\in \{B, B_2\}\) if \(p\equiv 3 \pmod 4\);\N\item[(iii)] \(H \in \{B, D_{2(q+1)}, C_{q+1}\}\) if \(p=2\).\N\end{itemize}\NA full classification is also given for the cases \(q=p\in \{2,3,5,7,9,11\}\).