Essential dimension of algebraic groups, including bad characteristic

DOI10.1007/S00013-016-0925-ZMaRDI QIDQ304055zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Robert Guralnick, Skip Garibaldi

Publication date 23 August 2016

Published in Archiv der Mathematik (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1512.09158

adjoint representation essential dimension generic stabilizer

Galois cohomology of linear algebraic groups (11E72) Lie algebras of linear algebraic groups (17B45) Linear algebraic groups over arbitrary fields (20G15) Exceptional groups (20G41)

Abstract: We give upper bounds on the essential dimension of (quasi-)simple algebraic groups over an algebraically closed field that hold in all characteristics. The results depend on showing that certain representations are generically free. In particular, aside from the cases of spin and half-spin groups, we prove that the essential dimension of a simple algebraic group

G

of rank at least two is at most

m a t h r m d i m (G) - 2 (m a t h r m r a n k (G)) - 1

. It is known that the essential dimension of spin and half-spin groups grows exponentially in the rank. In most cases, our bounds are as good or better than those known in characteristic zero and the proofs are shorter. We also compute the generic stabilizer of an adjoint group on its Lie algebra.

Review text

The \textit{essential dimension} of an algebraic group \(G\) is the minimal transcendence degree of the field of definition of a versal \(G\)-torsor. In this paper, the authors focus on the case where \(G\) is simple over an algebraically closed \(k\), in which case they give upper bounds on the essential dimension of \(G\) which are particularly notable because they hold regardless of the characteristic of \(k\). One consequence of their results is that, for simple \(G\), either the essential dimension of \(G\) is at most \(\dim G -2(\text{rank}\, G)-1\), or else \(G\) is isomorphic to \(\text{PGL}_2\), \(\text{Spin}_n\) or \(\text{HSpin}_n\) for some \(n\). The given upper bounds depend on showing that certain representations of \(G\) are generically free.

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