Computation of the Scharlau Invariant, I

MaRDI QIDQ6441373zbMATH OpenFDO

Authors R. Keith Dennis, Paul Young

Publication date 24 June 2023

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Group rings of finite groups and their modules (group-theoretic aspects) (20C05) Ordinary representations and characters (20C15) Abstract finite groups (20D99)

Abstract: The Scharlau invariant determines whether or not a finite group has a fixed point free representation over a field: if $0$, yes, otherwise, no. Until now it was known to be one of $0$, $1$, $p$, $p^2$ for $p$ a prime dividing the order of the group. We eliminate $p^2$ as a possibility. Work of Scharlau [Sch] reduces the question to the above list with $p^2$ being possible for the groups $ext{SL}_2({BbbZ}_p)$ for $p$ a Fermat prime larger than $5$. A computation using GAP in the Senior Thesis [Y] of the second author solves the problem for $p=17$. With this motivation, we found a short proof of the result not requiring a computer.

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