FI-modules and stability for representations of symmetric groups

Combinatorial aspects of representation theory (05E10) Special categories (18B99) Representations of finite symmetric groups (20C30) Cohomology of groups (20J06) Homology with local coefficients, equivariant cohomology (55N25) Discriminantal varieties and configuration spaces in algebraic topology (55R80)

Abstract: In this paper we introduce and develop the theory of FI-modules. We apply this theory to obtain new theorems about: - the cohomology of the configuration space of n distinct ordered points on an arbitrary (connected, oriented) manifold - the diagonal coinvariant algebra on r sets of n variables - the cohomology and tautological ring of the moduli space of n-pointed curves - the space of polynomials on rank varieties of n x n matrices - the subalgebra of the cohomology of the genus n Torelli group generated by H^1 and more. The symmetric group S_n acts on each of these vector spaces. In most cases almost nothing is known about the characters of these representations, or even their dimensions. We prove that in each fixed degree the character is given, for n large enough, by a polynomial in the cycle-counting functions that is independent of n. In particular, the dimension is eventually a polynomial in n. In this framework, representation stability (in the sense of Church-Farb) for a sequence of S_n-representations is converted to a finite generation property for a single FI-module.

Review text

Let \(\mathrm{FI}\) be the category whose objects are finite sets and whose morphisms are injections. An \(\mathrm{FI}\)-module over a commutative ring \(k\) is a functor \(V: \mathrm{FI} \rightarrow \mathcal{M}od_{k}\), where \(\mathcal{M}od_{k}\) denotes the category of \(k\)-modules. Since \(\mathrm{End}_{\mathrm{FI}}\big(\{1,2,\dots,n\}\big)=\mathfrak S_n\), the symmetric group, then each \(k\)-module \(V(\{1,2,\dots,n\})\) is a \(k[\mathfrak S_n]\)-module. In this paper the authors give some results about \(\mathfrak S_n\)-representations, show the relation between finite generation of \(\mathrm{FI}\)-modules and representation stability for a sequence of \(\mathfrak S_n\)-representations (see [\textit{T. Church} and \textit{B. Farb}, Adv. Math. 245, 250--314 (2013; Zbl 1300.20051)]), and apply their theory to obtain results about cohomology of configuration spaces, cohomology of moduli spaces, coinvariant algebras and rank varieties, etc.

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