Topological generation of exceptional algebraic groups

Conjugacy classes for groups (20E45) Representation theory for linear algebraic groups (20G05) Exceptional groups (20G41) Probabilistic methods in group theory (20P05)

Abstract: Let

G

be a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field

k

and let

C_{1}, l d o t s, C_{t}

be non-central conjugacy classes in

G

. In this paper, we consider the problem of determining whether there exist

g_{i} i n C_{i}

such that

l a n g l e g_{1}, l d o t s, g_{t} a n g l e

is Zariski dense in

G

. First we establish a general result, which shows that if

O m e g a

is an irreducible subvariety of

G^{t}

, then the set of tuples in

O m e g a

generating a dense subgroup of

G

is either empty or dense in

O m e g a

. In the special case

O m e g a = C_{1} i m e s c d o t s i m e s C_{t}

, by considering the dimensions of fixed point spaces, we prove that this set is dense when

G

is an exceptional algebraic group and

t g e q s l a n t 5

, assuming

k

is not algebraic over a finite field. In fact, for

G = G_{2}

we only need

t g e q s l a n t 4

and both of these bounds are best possible. As an application, we show that many faithful representations of exceptional algebraic groups are generically free. We also establish new results on the topological generation of exceptional groups in the special case

t = 2

, which have applications to random generation of finite exceptional groups of Lie type. In particular, we prove a conjecture of Liebeck and Shalev on the random

(r, s)

-generation of exceptional groups.

Review text

Let \(G\) be a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field \(k\), and let \(C_1, \ldots, C_t\) be a collection of non-central conjugacy classes from \(G\). It is of great interest in many settings (e.g., generic freeness of representations, topological generation of simple groups, random generation of finite simple groups) to know that there exists a tuple \((g_1,\ldots,g_t)\) with each \(g_i\in C_i\) such that the subgroup generated by the \(g_i\) is dense in \(G\). This paper gives many results along these lines; the following are representative. (Theorem 1 of the paper) Suppose \(G\) is simply connected and simple and \(k\) is not algebraic over a finite field. Suppose \(\Omega\) is an irreducible subvariety of the \(t\)-fold Cartesian product \(G^t\), and for \(x\in \Omega\) let \(G(x)\) denote the closure of the subgroup of \(G\) generated by the elements of \(x\). If we set \[ \Delta^+ = \{x\in \Omega\mid G(x) \text{ has positive dimension}\}, \] then either \(\Delta^+\) is dense in \(G\), or it contains no \(k'\)-points for any extensions \(k'/k\). (Theorem 7 of the paper) With notation as above, suppose also that \(G\) has exceptional type, and \(\Omega\) is a product of non-central conjugacy classes in \(G\). If \(t\geq 5\), then the set of \(x\in \Omega\) such that \(G(x) = G\) is dense. It is also shown that \(t\geq 4\) will do for \(G = G_2\), and that these bounds are best possible. The methods in the paper are a mixture of uniform proofs and case-by-case analysis for different Dynkin types, building on much previous work in the literature.

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