 Solution

The roots-of-unity criterion for a splitting field for finite group representations says that the assumed $m$th roots of unity make $k$ a splitting field for $G$. Fix a multiplicative identification of the group ${\mu }_m(k)$ with the complex $m$th roots of unity. For a p-regular element $g$, its order divides $m$; the operator $\rho (g)$ is diagonalizable because $X^{|g|}-1$ has distinct roots in $k$. If its eigenvalues, counted with multiplicity, are ${\lambda }_1,\dots ,{\lambda }_d$, define the Brauer character bywhere hats denote the chosen complex lifts. This defines a class function on the p-regular elements, not on arbitrary elements of $G$.

A short exact sequence can be represented by block triangular matrices, so the eigenvalue multiset is the union of those on its submodule and quotient. Thus Brauer characters are additive on short exact sequences. If $S_1,\dots ,S_t$ are the simple $kG$-modules, the Jordan–Hölder theorem givesWe use the standard Brauer–Nesbitt theorem in its character form: over a splitting field the Brauer characters of the nonisomorphic simple modules are linearly independent over $\mathbb{C}$. ThereforeBoth the modular splitting-field criterion and this independence theorem are the representation-theoretic results used here.