Deligne-Lusztig induction 2026-10-14
For a rational maximal torus , choose a Borel subgroup containing it with unipotent radical . The alternating compactly supported étale cohomology of , in the appropriate -isotypic component, defines the virtual character of . It is independent of the chosen Borel. When the Borel subgroup is rational, this is ordinary induction from its rational points after inflation of a group representation from .
Elliptic maximal torus 2026-10-14
A rational maximal torus is elliptic when it is contained in no proper rational parabolic subgroup. This definition allows the split central torus of the ambient group; an absolute absence of every split subtorus is not the right condition when the centre is nontrivial.
For a rational Levi subgroup of a rational parabolic subgroup and a rational maximal torus , the torus case of the induction-restriction formula is
In particular it vanishes if there is no rational conjugate of in . If , transitivity gives . Together with adjunction these identities show that an irreducible character up to sign arising from is cuspidal exactly when is elliptic.
Write , and let be the entrywise th-power Frobenius endomorphism of an algebraic group on the general linear group . The algebraic closure is visible in the original PDF; it is lost in the converted TeX. Let be the diagonal maximal algebraic torus and the upper triangular Borel subgroup.
Choose with . Such a exists because is an algebraic closure, and . Put
Transporting the standard -model through the algebraic group automorphism gives a rational structure on an algebraic group over the same field . In particular these are genuine Frobenius endomorphisms of an algebraic group, and their fixed-point groups are
The auxiliary need not be rational for the original structure: it changes the identification with the geometric group, not the field over which the transported model is defined.
For either sign, take the rational maximal torus and Borel subgroup
Indeed for , so both subgroups are -stable. Conjugacy also preserves maximality of the algebraic torus and the property of being a Borel subgroup.
Finally,
Neither nor is central, so neither endomorphism is . If , surjectivity of on would imply that is central. But
is not scalar in any characteristic. Thus the two nonstandard rational structures have distinct Frobenius endomorphisms, including when .
For the special linear group , let , and choose a generator of the character group of . Every linear character of the diagonal rational maximal torus has a unique expression
The upper triangular Borel subgroup is rational. Consequently its Deligne-Lusztig induction is the actual principal series of a finite reductive group
where is the inflation of a group representation across . The geometric reason for this split case is : the associated torus covering supplies , and the auxiliary unipotent fibres contribute a single even cohomological degree, hence no minus sign.
The rational Bruhat decomposition indexes by . Applying the Mackey restriction formula and Frobenius reciprocity gives
Each intersection contains , and the two linear characters are trivial on its unipotent part. Its contribution is therefore one exactly when fixes , and zero otherwise. Complete reducibility over makes this character inner product the sum of squares of irreducible representation multiplicities. Thus the principal series of a finite reductive group is irreducible exactly when the Weyl group stabilizer is trivial.
To compute that stabilizer, represent by the triple . Two triples give the same linear character on determinant-one diagonal matrices exactly when they differ by a common factor . For example, triviality of on all such matrices first gives by varying , and then by varying . The Weyl group permutes the three entries.
A transposition fixes precisely when its two interchanged entries coincide: the third, fixed entry forces the common factor to be one. These three obstructions are , , and . A three-cycle can also fix without any two entries coinciding. Its common factor must satisfy ; in the nontrivial case the entries, up to order and common factor, are . This happens exactly when and .
The complete condition is therefore
In particular pairwise distinct coordinate characters alone are insufficient. For the only distinct triples have the order-three symmetry, and no character of this split rational maximal torus gives an irreducible principal series of a finite reductive group.
Choose a rational Borel subgroup with rational maximal algebraic torus , and use the Lang map . Conjugating the pair by gives . Part (a) therefore gives
Moreover , and , so this inverse image is stable under right multiplication by . The flag variety identification consequently restricts to the required isomorphism
The second printed isomorphism is false as written: it omits a unipotent quotient. Take with standard Frobenius endomorphism of an algebraic group and . Then consists of the rational lines in , so has dimension zero. Every Borel subgroup has one-dimensional unipotent radical . The Lang map is a finite surjective étale morphism, so has dimension one. Quotienting by the finite group preserves that dimension. Thus no choices of and can make the asserted two varieties isomorphic in this example.
Here is the corrected construction, including the missing quotient. Choose by the Lang theorem for algebraic groups so that . Define
Then , so is a rational maximal torus contained in . Put . The correct unipotent quotient in a Deligne-Lusztig variety is
The semidirect product denotes the subgroup acting on the right. Both and are normalized by , so the action is well defined. Also
for , showing directly that the map lands in the Deligne-Lusztig variety.
To prove surjectivity and identify its fibres, use the intermediate variety
The right -action follows from the twisted-translation identity for the Lang map. Right multiplication by also acts, and . Indeed if , write it as . Replacing by , with , changes its torus factor to . Surjectivity of the twisted Lang map on the connected algebraic torus makes this factor one. Once the factor is one, two representatives of the same flag differ by with and . This proves both surjectivity and the asserted finite covering, including its group of fibres.
Now map to by . Given , replace by . Then
Thus belongs to and maps to the original point . This proves surjectivity. Two preimages have the form and , where . Since and , the identity
shows that precisely when , hence precisely when . Therefore the fibres are exactly the right -orbits.
These are isomorphisms of geometric quotients, not just bijections on points. The groups contain root subgroups for the same maximal algebraic torus, so their intersection is smooth. The map is a smooth surjection with fibre : the differential of the Lang map is invertible, and the kernel of the differential of on is the translate of . This gives . Finally , so quotienting the remaining finite torus action gives the displayed corrected formula.
For , is exactly the affine-line factor in the counterexample. More generally retains unipotent fibres of dimension ; it becomes the printed isomorphism only when this intersection is trivial. The missing factor is also recorded in the quotient construction in Tiep's lectures, proof of Theorem 5.22.