Derangement characters of the finite general linear group. (Q816636)

A complex-valued function \(\alpha\) on a group \(G\) is called a character or a positive definite class function if \(\alpha(xy)=\alpha(yx)\) for all \(x,y\in G\) and for all complex-valued functions \(f\) on \(G\) of finite support, one has \(\sum\alpha(y^{-1}x)f(x)f(y)\geq 0\). Now let \(G_n=\text{GL}(n,q)\) be the group of invertible \(n\) by \(n\) matrices with entries in the field with \(q\) elements. We embed \(G_n\) into \(G_{n+1}\) in the upper left hand corner. Taking the union of all \(G_n\) gives the group \(G_\infty\). A character \(\sigma\) on \(G_n\) is called a derangement character if \(\sigma(g)\) depends only on \(r(g)=\dim(g-1_n)\). By \textit{H.-L. Skudlarek} [Math. Ann. 223, 213-231 (1976; Zbl 0313.43010)], the cone of characters of \(G_\infty\) is the convex hull of the \(\sigma_k\cdot\chi\) where \(\chi\) is a linear character and \(\sigma_k\) is the Thoma character defined by \(\sigma_k(g)=q^{kr(g)}\). The authors study the derangement characters on \(G_n\) for finite \(n\). They find explicit decomposition of Thoma characters into irreducibles and they find some extreme derangement characters.