The group acts by . Inverse entries are regular on a general linear group, so this is an algebraic group action. Its stabilizer is the automorphism group of a quiver representation.
Orbit dimension formula Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-11-05
For an algebraic group action, a group orbit has dimension
where is the stabilizer subgroup. The orbit map has fibres that are cosets of , so the fiber dimension theorem gives the formula.
For the base change action on quiver representations, the stabilizer subgroup is the automorphism group of a quiver representation. It is a Zariski-open set in the endomorphism ring of that quiver representation, so their dimensions agree. The Ringel form then identifies orbit codimension with the dimension of the self-extension group. This open-unit-group argument applies to this representation-classification setting; a general vector stabilizer subgroup need not have that form.
The dimension of a topological space by irreducible chains is the supremum of the integers for which there is a chain of nonempty irreducible closed subsets of the space. Closedness here is relative to the given locally closed space. For varieties this is their Krull dimension.
An algebraic group is a group whose underlying space is an algebraic variety and whose multiplication and inversion are morphisms. An algebraic group action on a variety is a morphism satisfying the identity and associativity axioms of a group action.
For the homomorphism , the kernel is , so the kernel is closed. To prove closedness of the image, use the Chevalley constructibility theorem: the image of a morphism of varieties is constructible. Thus is a constructible subset of a variety and an abstract subgroup. Its closure is also a subgroup: translation by elements of preserves , and continuity then extends multiplication and inversion to .
A dense constructible subset contains a dense open subset of its closure. For , both and are dense open subsets of , so their intersection is nonempty. If with , then . Hence , proving that the image is closed. This is the principle that a constructible subgroup is closed.
Every nonempty fiber of is a translate of and has that same dimension. The fiber dimension theorem therefore gives
This dimension formula for an algebraic group homomorphism is a dimension statement, so it does not require separability of .
For a dimension vector of a quiver representation , set
The base change action on quiver representations is
The entries are regular functions on the product of the general linear groups and the quiver representation space, because inverse entries are cofactors divided by the invertible determinant. Thus this is an algebraic group action.
For nonzero , let be the common scalar subgroup and define . Common scalars act trivially, so the formula descends to an algebraic group action of this projective base change group of a quiver. This is a quotient by one common scalar, not a product of the individual projective groups. If every , the representation space is a point and both actions are taken to be trivial.