The first author [J. Brough, ‘On vanishing criteria that control finite group structure’, J. Algebra458 (2016), 207–215] has shown that for certain arithmetical results on conjugacy class sizes it is enough to consider only the vanishing conjugacy class sizes. In this paper we further weaken the conditions to consider only vanishing elements of prime power order.

For a finite group $G$ , denote by $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(G)$ the degree of a minimal permutation representation of $G$ . We call $G$ exceptional if there is a normal subgroup $N\unlhd G$ with $\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(G/N)>\unicode[STIX]{x1D707}(G)$ . To complete the work of Easdown and Praeger [‘On minimalfaithful permutation representations of finite groups’, Bull. Aust. Math. Soc.38(2) (1988), 207–220], for all primes $p\geq 3$ , we describe an exceptional group of order $p^{5}$ and prove that no exceptional group of order $p^{4}$ exists.

Classical finite association schemes lead to finite-dimensional algebras which are generated by finitely many stochastic matrices. Moreover, there exist associated finite hypergroups. The notion of classical discrete association schemes can be easily extended to the possibly infinite case. Moreover, this notion can be relaxed slightly by using suitably deformed families of stochastic matrices by skipping the integrality conditions. This leads to a larger class of examples which are again associated with discrete hypergroups. In this paper we propose a topological generalization of association schemes by using a locally compact basis space $X$ and a family of Markov-kernels on $X$ indexed by some locally compact space $D$ where the supports of the associated probability measures satisfy some partition property. These objects, called continuous association schemes, will be related to hypergroup structures on $D$. We study some basic results for this notion and present several classes of examples. It turns out that, for a given commutative hypergroup, the existence of a related continuous association scheme implies that the hypergroup has many features of a double coset hypergroup. We, in particular, show that commutative hypergroups, which are associated with commutative continuous association schemes, carry dual positive product formulas for the characters. On the other hand, we prove some rigidity results in particular in the compact case which say that for given spaces $X,D$ there are only a few continuous association schemes.

A canonical basis in the sense of Lusztig is a basis of a free module over a ring of Laurent polynomials that is invariant under a certain semilinear involution and is obtained from a fixed “standard basis” through a triangular base change matrix with polynomial entries whose constant terms equal the identity matrix. Among the better known examples of canonical bases are the Kazhdan–Lusztig basis of Iwahori–Hecke algebras (see Kazhdan and Lusztig, Representations of Coxeter groups and Hecke algebras, Invent. Math. 53 (1979), 165–184), Lusztig’s canonical basis of quantum groups (see Lusztig, Canonical bases arising from quantized enveloping algebras, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 3(2) (1990), 447–498) and the Howlett–Yin basis of induced $W$-graph modules (see Howlett and Yin, Inducing W-graphs I, Math. Z. 244(2) (2003), 415–431; Inducing W-graphs II, Manuscripta Math. 115(4) (2004), 495–511). This paper has two major theoretical goals: first to show that having bases is superfluous in the sense that canonicalization can be generalized to nonfree modules. This construction is functorial in the appropriate sense. The second goal is to show that Howlett–Yin induction of $W$-graphs is well-behaved a functor between module categories of $W$-graph algebras that satisfies various properties one hopes for when a functor is called “induction,” for example transitivity and a Mackey theorem.

Let $G$ be an orthogonal, symplectic or unitary group over a non-archimedean local field of odd residual characteristic. This paper concerns the study of the “wild part” of an irreducible smooth representation of $G$, encoded in its “semisimple character”. We prove two fundamental results concerning them, which are crucial steps toward a complete classification of the cuspidal representations of $G$. First we introduce a geometric combinatorial condition under which we prove an “intertwining implies conjugacy” theorem for semisimple characters, both in $G$ and in the ambient general linear group. Second, we prove a Skolem–Noether theorem for the action of $G$ on its Lie algebra; more precisely, two semisimple elements of the Lie algebra of $G$ which have the same characteristic polynomial must be conjugate under an element of $G$ if there are corresponding semisimple strata which are intertwined by an element of $G$.

The genus spectrum of a finite group G is the set of all g such that G acts faithfully on a compact Riemann surface of genus g. It is an open problem to find a general description of the genus spectrum of the groups in interesting classes, such as the Abelian p-groups. Motivated by earlier work of Talu for odd primes, we develop a general combinatorial method, for arbitrary primes, to obtain a structured description of the so-called reduced genus spectrum of Abelian p-groups, including the reduced minimum genus. In particular, we determine the complete genus spectrum for a large subclass, namely, those having ‘large’ defining invariants. With our method we construct infinitely many counterexamples to a conjecture of Talu, which states that an Abelian p-group is recoverable from its genus spectrum. Finally, we give a series of examples of our method, in the course of which we prove, for example, that almost all elementary Abelian p-groups are uniquely determined by their minimum genus, and that almost all Abelian p-groups of exponent p2 are uniquely determined by their minimum genus and Kulkarni invariant.

For an orientable surface S of finite topological type with genus g ≥ 3, we construct a finite set of curves whose union of iterated rigid expansions is the curve graph $\mathcal{C}$(S). The set constructed, and the method of rigid expansion, are closely related to Aramayona and Leiniger's finite rigid set in Aramayona and Leininger, J. Topology Anal.5(2) (2013), 183–203 and Aramayona and Leininger, Pac. J. Math.282(2) (2016), 257–283, and in fact a consequence of our proof is that Aramayona and Leininger's set also exhausts the curve graph via rigid expansions.

We introduce a path theoretic framework for understanding the representation theory of (quantum) symmetric and general linear groups and their higher-level generalizations over fields of arbitrary characteristic. Our first main result is a ‘super-strong linkage principle’ which provides degree-wise upper bounds for graded decomposition numbers (this is new even in the case of symmetric groups). Next, we generalize the notion of homomorphisms between Weyl/Specht modules which are ‘generically’ placed (within the associated alcove geometries) to cyclotomic Hecke and diagrammatic Cherednik algebras. Finally, we provide evidence for a higher-level analogue of the classical Lusztig conjecture over fields of sufficiently large characteristic.

This paper examines a systematic method of constructing a pair of (inter-related) root systems for arbitrary Coxeter groups from a class of nonstandard geometric representations. This method can be employed to construct generalizations of root systems for a large family of linear groups generated by involutions. We then give a characterization of Coxeter groups, among these groups, in terms of such paired root systems. Furthermore, we use this method to construct and study the paired root systems for reflection subgroups of Coxeter groups.

As generalizations of inverse semigroups, Ehresmann semigroups are introduced by Lawson and investigated by many authors extensively in the literature. In particular, Lawson has proved that the category of Ehresmann semigroups and admissible morphisms is isomorphic to the category of Ehresmann categories and strongly ordered functors, which generalizes the well-known Ehresmann–Schein–Nambooripad (ESN) theorem for inverse semigroups. From a varietal perspective, Ehresmann semigroups are derived from reducts of inverse semigroups. In this paper, inspired by the approach of Jones [‘A common framework for restriction semigroups and regular $\ast$-semigroups’, J. Pure Appl. Algebra216 (2012), 618–632], Ehresmann semigroups are extended from a varietal perspective to pseudo-Ehresmann semigroups derived instead from reducts of regular semigroups with a multiplicative inverse transversal. Furthermore, motivated by the method used by Gould and Wang [‘Beyond orthodox semigroups’, J. Algebra368 (2012), 209–230], we introduce the notion of inductive pseudocategories over admissible quadruples by which pseudo-Ehresmann semigroups are described. More precisely, we show that the category of pseudo-Ehresmann semigroups and (2,1,1,1)-morphisms is isomorphic to the category of inductive pseudocategories over admissible quadruples and pseudofunctors. Our work not only generalizes the result of Lawson for Ehresmann semigroups but also produces a new approach to characterize regular semigroups with a multiplicative inverse transversal.

Left restriction semigroups are the unary semigroups that abstractly characterize semigroups of partial maps on a set, where the unary operation associates to a map the identity element on its domain. This paper is the sequel to two recent papers by the author, melding the results of the first, on membership in the variety $\mathbf{B}$ of left restriction semigroups generated by Brandt semigroups and monoids, with the connection established in the second between subvarieties of the variety $\mathbf{B}_{R}$ of two-sided restriction semigroups similarly generated and varieties of categories, in the sense of Tilson. We show that the respective lattices ${\mathcal{L}}(\mathbf{B})$ and ${\mathcal{L}}(\mathbf{B}_{R})$ of subvarieties are almost isomorphic, in a very specific sense. With the exception of the members of the interval $[\mathbf{D},\mathbf{D}\vee \mathbf{M}]$, every subvariety of $\mathbf{B}$ is induced from a member of $\mathbf{B}_{R}$ and vice versa. Here $\mathbf{D}$ is generated by the three-element left restriction semigroup $D$ and $\mathbf{M}$ is the variety of monoids. The analogues hold for pseudovarieties.

Fix a finite semigroup $S$ and let $a_{1},\ldots ,a_{k},b$ be tuples in a direct power $S^{n}$. The subpower membership problem (SMP) for $S$ asks whether $b$ can be generated by $a_{1},\ldots ,a_{k}$. For combinatorial Rees matrix semigroups we establish a dichotomy result: if the corresponding matrix is of a certain form, then the SMP is in P; otherwise it is NP-complete. For combinatorial Rees matrix semigroups with adjoined identity, we obtain a trichotomy: the SMP is either in P, NP-complete, or PSPACE-complete. This result yields various semigroups with PSPACE-complete SMP including the six-element Brandt monoid, the full transformation semigroup on three or more letters, and semigroups of all $n$ by $n$ matrices over a field for $n\geq 2$.

We study the numbers of involutions and their relation to Frobenius–Schur indicators in the groups $\text{SO}^{\pm }(n,q)$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}^{\pm }(n,q)$. Our point of view for this study comes from two motivations. The first is the conjecture that a finite simple group $G$ is strongly real (all elements are conjugate to their inverses by an involution) if and only if it is totally orthogonal (all Frobenius–Schur indicators are 1), and we observe this holds for all finite simple groups $G$ other than the groups $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}^{\pm }(4m,q)$ with $q$ even. We prove computationally that for small $m$ this statement indeed holds for these groups by equating their character degree sums with the number of involutions. We also prove a result on a certain twisted indicator for the groups $\text{SO}^{\pm }(4m+2,q)$ with $q$ odd. Our second motivation is to continue the work of Fulman, Guralnick, and Stanton on generating functions and asymptotics for involutions in classical groups. We extend their work by finding generating functions for the numbers of involutions in $\text{SO}^{\pm }(n,q)$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FA}^{\pm }(n,q)$ for all $q$, and we use these to compute the asymptotic behavior for the number of involutions in these groups when $q$ is fixed and $n$ grows.

We consider smooth, complex quasiprojective varieties $U$ that admit a compactification with a boundary, which is an arrangement of smooth algebraic hypersurfaces. If the hypersurfaces intersect locally like hyperplanes, and the relative interiors of the hypersurfaces are Stein manifolds, we prove that the cohomology of certain local systems on $U$ vanishes. As an application, we show that complements of linear, toric, and elliptic arrangements are both duality and abelian duality spaces.

This paper studies the combinatorics of lattice congruences of the weak order on a finite Weyl group $W$ , using representation theory of the corresponding preprojective algebra $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}$ . Natural bijections are constructed between important objects including join-irreducible congruences, join-irreducible (respectively, meet-irreducible) elements of $W$ , indecomposable $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}$ -rigid (respectively, $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}^{-}$ -rigid) modules and layers of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}$ . The lattice-theoretically natural labelling of the Hasse quiver by join-irreducible elements of $W$ is shown to coincide with the algebraically natural labelling by layers of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}$ . We show that layers of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}$ are nothing but bricks (or equivalently stones, or 2-spherical modules). The forcing order on join-irreducible elements of $W$ (arising from the study of lattice congruences) is described algebraically in terms of the doubleton extension order. We give a combinatorial description of indecomposable $\unicode[STIX]{x1D70F}^{-}$ -rigid modules for type $A$ and $D$ .

We present an algorithm for calculating the geometric intersection number of two multicurves on the $n$ -punctured disk, taking as input their Dynnikov coordinates. The algorithm has complexity $O(m^{2}n^{4})$ , where $m$ is the sum of the absolute values of the Dynnikov coordinates of the two multicurves. The main ingredient is an algorithm due to Cumplido for relaxing a multicurve.

We investigate products of certain double cosets for the symmetric group and use the findings to derive some multiplication formulas for the $q$-Schur superalgebras. This gives a combinatorialization of the relative norm approach developed in Du and Gu (A realization of the quantum supergroup$\mathbf{U}(\mathfrak{g}\mathfrak{l}_{m|n})$, J. Algebra 404 (2014), 60–99). We then give several applications of the multiplication formulas, including the matrix representation of the regular representation and a semisimplicity criterion for $q$-Schur superalgebras. We also construct infinitesimal and little $q$-Schur superalgebras directly from the multiplication formulas and develop their semisimplicity criteria.

For a field $\text{k}$ , we prove that the $i$ th homology of the groups $\operatorname{GL}_{n}(\text{k})$ , $\operatorname{SL}_{n}(\text{k})$ , $\operatorname{Sp}_{2n}(\text{k})$ , $\operatorname{SO}_{n,n}(\text{k})$ , and $\operatorname{SO}_{n,n+1}(\text{k})$ with coefficients in their Steinberg representations vanish for $n\geqslant 2i+2$ .

Assume that $G$ is a finite group and $H$ is a 2-nilpotent Sylow tower Hall subgroup of $G$ such that if $x$ and $y$ are $G$ -conjugate elements of $H\cap G^{\prime }$ of prime order or order 4, then $x$ and $y$ are $H$ -conjugate. We prove that there exists a normal subgroup $N$ of $G$ such that $G=HN$ and $H\cap N=1$ .

Let p ≥ 3 be a prime. A generalized multi-edge spinal group

$$G = \langle \{ a\} \cup \{ b_i^{(j)} {\rm \mid }1 \le j \le p,\, 1 \le i \le r_j\} \rangle \le {\rm Aut}(T)$$

$b^{(j)}_{1}, \ldots, b^{(j)}_{r_{j}}$