Vanishing ranges for the mod $p$ cohomology of alternating subgroups of Coxeter groups

Abstract

We obtain vanishing ranges for the mod $p$ cohomology of alternating subgroups of finite $p$-free Coxeter groups. Here a Coxeter group $W$ is $p$-free if the order of the product $st$ is prime to $p$ for every pair of Coxeter generators $s,t$ of $W$. Our result generalizes those for alternating groups formerly proved by Kleshchev-Nakano and Burichenko. As a byproduct, we obtain vanishing ranges for the twisted cohomology of finite $p$-free Coxeter groups with coefficients in the sign representations. In addition, a weak version of the main result is proved for a certain class of infinite Coxeter groups.