Uniform character bounds for finite classical groups (Q7019340)

A fundamental problem in the representation theory of finite groups concerns bounding the values of irreducible characters. Given a finite group \(G\), an element \(g \in G\), and an irreducible character \(\chi\), it is well known that \(|\chi(g)| \leq \chi(1)\), with equality occurring only when \(g\) is central. Classical results such as those of \textit{D. Gluck} [J. Algebra 174, No. 1, 229--266 (1995; Zbl 0842.20014)] provide upper bounds on the character ratio \(|\chi(g)| / \chi(1)\), but these are often dependent on the element's conjugacy class and the structure of the group.\N\NIn this paper, the authors establish uniform exponential bounds for character values in all finite quasisimple groups of Lie type of the form\N\[\N\frac{|\chi(g)|}{\chi(1)} \leq \chi(1)^{-c \rho(g)}, \quad \text{where} \quad \rho(g) = \frac{\log |g^G|}{\log |G|},\N\]\Nand \(c > 0\) is an explicit absolute constant. This result generalizes previous work (such as [\textit{M. W. Liebeck} and \textit{A. Shalev}, Ann. Math. (2) 154, No. 2, 383--406 (2001; Zbl 1003.20014)]) which demonstrated that the character ratio tends to zero for ``most'' elements but lacked a uniform bound for all elements. The key innovation in this work is that the bound applies without exception to every irreducible character and every element of a finite classical group.\N\NThe proof relies on a probabilistic bootstrapping method that translates combinatorial and representation-theoretic estimates into probabilistic statements about the distribution of character values. The key steps involve counting lemmas that control the size of conjugacy classes and the number of elements satisfying given constraints, mixing time estimates for random walks on Cayley graphs of classical groups, improving classical results of \textit{P. Diaconis} and \textit{M. Shahshani} [Z. Wahrscheinlichkeitstheor. Verw. Geb. 57, 159--179 (1981; Zbl 0485.60006)] and spectral gap techniques applied to the McKay graph of character degrees, settling a conjecture of Liebeck and Shalev [loc. cit.], regarding the diameter of McKay graphs for finite simple groups.\N\NA central application of these bounds is a new asymptotic proof of Thompson's conjecture for large finite simple groups of Lie type, particularly symplectic and orthogonal groups in characteristic \(2\). Thompson's conjecture states that every finite simple group \(G\) contains a conjugacy class \(C\) such that \(C^2 = G\). While previous results by \textit{E. W. Ellers} and \textit{N. Gordeev} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 350, No. 9, 3657--3671 (1998; Zbl 0910.20007)] resolved the case of groups of type \(A_r\), this work extends the proof to large families of classical groups, leaving only small unresolved cases for certain unitary and orthogonal groups.\N\NThe paper also explores further applications. It improves mixing times of random walks on conjugacy class Cayley graphs, refining asymptotics conjectured by \textit{A. Lubotzky} [Lond. Math. Soc. Lect. Note Ser. 218, 155-189 (1995; Zbl 0835.05033)] and \textit{A. Shalev} [Contemp. Math. 694, 209-221 (2017; Zbl 1448.20015)]. It establishes new results on McKay graphs and irreducible character products, proving that the diameter of McKay graphs is \(O(\log |G| / \log \chi(1))\) for all finite simple groups. It contributes to the study of power word maps, showing that the surjectivity of certain word maps on finite simple groups extends to previously excluded cases. It also provides new insights into the flatness of product morphisms in algebraic groups, proving that if \(S_1, \dots, S_k\) are sufficiently large conjugacy classes in a simple algebraic group \(G\), then the multiplication map \(S_1 \times \dots \times S_k \to G\) is flat.