Decomposing homogeneous modules of finite groups in characteristic zero. (Q731260)

Algorithms for splitting representations of groups over finite fields are well-developed, based on the `Meat-axe' methods pioneered by R. A. Parker in the early 1980s. Over fields of characteristic \(0\), however, the situation is much less satisfactory. Various approaches have been tried, perhaps the most successful being to use Meat-axe methods modulo several primes at once, followed by rational reconstruction. Plesken and Souvignier advocate a different approach, based on real (or rational) approximations. Here, the author constructs the endomorphism ring of a module by approximating the average over the group of the translates of an arbitrary matrix. The key to success is to use product replacement to get fast convergence, before rounding errors destroy the computation. Now suppose we are given a homogeneous module, so that its endomorphism ring is a full matrix algebra \(M\) over a division ring \(D\). The idea is to first compute a basis for a maximal order in \(M\), and then to use the LLL-algorithm to find short vectors in this maximal order. These short vectors are likely to have a reducible minimal polynomial, which is all that is required to split the module.