Adams operations on the Green ring of a cyclic group of prime-power order (Q975090)

Let \(G=C(p^\nu)\) be the cyclic group of order \(p^\nu\) and denote by \(R_{KG}\) its Green ring over a field \(K\) of prime characteristic \(p\). In this paper the authors determine the Adams operations \(\psi^n\) on \(R_{KG}\), where \(n\) is not divisible by \(p\). These operations are defined by means of exterior powers and symmetric powers of \(KG\)-modules. For a \(KG\)-module \(V\), consider the power series \[ \Lambda(V, t)=1 + \Lambda^1(V)t + \Lambda^2(V)t^2 + \dots \] and apply the formal expansion of \(\log (1+x)\) to \(\log \Lambda(V, t)\). Then \(\psi_\Lambda^n(V)\) can be defined in \(R_{KG}\) by the equation \[ \psi^1_\Lambda(V)t-\tfrac{1}{2}\,\psi^2_\Lambda(V)t^2+ \tfrac{1}{3}\,\psi^3_\Lambda(V)t^3-\dots = \log \Lambda(V, t). \] Similarly one can obtain \(\psi_S^n(V)\) by using \(S^i(V)\) instead of \(\Lambda^i(V)\). According to the first author [\textit{R. M. Bryant}, J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 68, No.~2, 355--370 (2003; Zbl 1056.17002)], in the present case, that is, where \(n\) is not divisible by \(p\), these two types of operations are equal to each other, so one writes \(\psi^n=\psi_\Lambda^n=\psi_S^n\). It is observed that these \(\psi^n\) are periodic in \(n\) and \(\psi^n=\psi^{2p-n}\) holds for \(n < p\) (Theorem 3.3). One knows that there are, up to isomorphism, exactly \(p^\nu\) indecomposable \(KG\)-modules \(V_1, V_2, \dots, V_{p^\nu}\) where \(V_r\) has dimension \(r\). Then they form a \({\mathbb Z}\)-basis for \(R_{KG}\). The main results of this paper are Theorems 4.7 and 5.1. The first of these theorems can be summarized as: \(\psi^n(V_r)\) can be described recursively in terms of the values \(\psi^n(V_j)\) for \(j<r\). Theorem 5.1 shows that \(\psi^n(V_r)\) has a strikingly simple form such as \[ \psi^n(V_r)=V_{j_1}-V_{j_2}+V_{j_3}- \dots \pm V_{j_{\ell}} \] where \(p^\nu \geq j_1 > j_2 > \dots > j_{\ell} \geq 1\). This allows one to propose a framework for calculating \(\Lambda^n(V_r)\) and \(S^n(V_r)\), since it is known [op. cit.] that they can be written as polynomials in \(\psi^1(V_r), \dots, \psi^n(V_r)\) with rational coefficients. This one seems simpler and more elegant than that of \textit{I. Hughes} and \textit{G. Kemper} [Commun. Algebra 28, No.~4, 2059--2088 (2000; Zbl 0965.13004)].