학술논문

Spin characters of the symmetric group which are proportional to linear characters in characteristic 2
Document Type
Working Paper
Source
Subject
Mathematics - Representation Theory
20C30 (primary) 20C20, 05E10 (secondary)
Language
Abstract
For a finite group, it is interesting to determine when two ordinary irreducible representations have the same $p$-modular reduction; that is, when two rows of the decomposition matrix in characteristic $p$ are equal, or equivalently when the corresponding $p$-modular Brauer characters are the same. We complete this task for the double covers of the symmetric group when $p=2$, by determining when the $2$-modular reduction of an irreducible spin representation coincides with a $2$-modular Specht module. In fact, we obtain a more general result: we determine when an irreducible spin representation has $2$-modular Brauer character proportional to that of a Specht module. In the course of the proof, we use induction and restriction functors to construct a function on generalised characters which has the effect of swapping runners in abacus displays for the labelling partitions.
Comment: 43 pages