The Donald-Flanigan problem for finite reflection groups

DOI10.1023/A:1010846906745MaRDI QIDQ5945523zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Murray Gerstenhaber, Anthony Giaquinto, Mary Schaps

Publication date 30 October 2002

Published in Letters in Mathematical Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0008058

Coxeter groups deformations of associative algebras Donald-Flanigan problem finite reflection groups finite representation type group algebras Weyl groups wreath products

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Group rings (16S34) Deformations of associative rings (16S80) Group rings of finite groups and their modules (group-theoretic aspects) (20C05) Modular representations and characters (20C20) Extensions, wreath products, and other compositions of groups (20E22) Reflection and Coxeter groups (group-theoretic aspects) (20F55) Finite abelian groups (20K01)

Abstract: The Donald--Flanigan problem for a finite group H and coefficient ring k asks for a deformation of the group algebra kH to a separable algebra. It is solved here for dihedral groups and for the classical Weyl groups (whose rational group algebras are also computed), leaving but six finite reflection groups with solutions unknown. We determine the structure of a wreath product of a group with a sum of central separable algebras and show that if there is a solution for H over k which is a sum of central separable algebras then there is also a solution for the wreath product of H with any symmetric group, abelian group, or dihedral group. The theorems suggested by the Donald-Flanigan conjecture and subsequently proven follow, we also show, from a geometric conjecture which although weaker for groups applies to a broader class of algebras than group algebras.

Review text

The paper under review is a new contribution to a very interesting problem. Let \(k\) be a field; if \(G\) is a finite group whose order is not a multiple of the characteristic of the field \(k\), then the group algebra \(kG\) is separable. If \(\text{char }k\) does divide \(|G|\), Donald and Flanigan conjectured in 1974 that there exists a separable deformation of \(kG\). Some years later, this conjecture became the so-called ``Donald-Flanigan problem. M. Schaps conjectured that the matrix blocks of the deformed algebra should be in one-to-one correspondence with those in characteristic 0 and that the dimension of each block should be equal to the dimension of the corresponding block in characteristic 0. This problem has already been solved in various situations (generally with a positive answer, sometimes with a negative one); a detailed bibliography is given at the end of the paper. The needed background in algebraic deformation theory is largely given in the first sections, together with examples. Global solutions, split global solutions and local solutions for the Donald-Flanigan problem are defined. Then a global solution of the problem is developed for finite Abelian groups and dihedral groups. The biggest part of the paper is devoted to more complicated constructions. From the abstract: ``We determine the structure of a wreath product of a group \(H\) with a sum of central separable algebras and show that if there is a solution for \(H\) over \(k\) which is a sum of central separable algebras and if \({\mathcal S}_n\) is the symmetric group then: (i) The problem is solvable also for the wreath product \(H\wr{\mathcal S}_n=H\times\cdots\times H\text{ (}n\) times)

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