Decomposing modular tensor products: `Jordan partitions', their parts and p-parts

Abstract

Determining the Jordan canonical form of the tensor product of Jordan blocks has many applications including to the representation theory of algebraic groups, and to tilting modules. Although there are several algorithms for computing this decomposition in literature, it is difficult to predict the output of these algorithms. We call a decomposition of the form $J_r\otimes J_s=J_{λ_1}\oplus\cdots\oplus J_{λ_b}$ a `Jordan partition'. We prove several deep results concerning the $p$-parts of the $λ_i$ where $p$ is the characteristic of the underlying field. Our main results include the proof of two conjectures made by McFall in 1980, and the proof that ${\rm lcm}(r,s)$ and $\gcd(λ_1,\dots,λ_b)$ have equal $p$-parts. Finally, we establish some explicit formulas for Jordan partitions when $p=2$.

Old Theorems 14 and 16 in v1 have been shortened and combined using comments by M.J.J. Barry. A reference of Gow and Laffey added, and an additional ARC grant acknowledgement