Decomposition numbers for perverse sheaves

The purpose of this article is to set foundations for decomposition numbers of perverse sheaves, to give some methods to calculate them in simple cases, and to compute them concretely in two situations: for a simple (Kleinian) surface singularity, and for the closure of the minimal non-trivial orbit in a simple Lie algebra. This work has applications to modular representation theory, for Weyl groups using the nilpotent cone of the corresponding semisimple Lie algebra, and for reductive algebraic group schemes using the affine Grassmannian of the Langlands dual group

Springer basic sets and modular Springer correspondence for classical types

We define the notion of basic set data for finite groups (building on the notion of basic set, but including an order on the irreducible characters as part of the structure), and we prove that the Springer correspondence provides basic set data for Weyl groups. Then we use this to determine explicitly the modular Springer correspondence for classical types (for representations in odd characteristic). In order to do so, we compare the order on bipartitions introduced by Dipper and James with the order induced by the Springer correspondence.Comment: 31 page

Modular representations of reductive groups and geometry of affine Grassmannians

By the geometric Satake isomorphism of Mirkovic and Vilonen, decomposition numbers for reductive groups can be interpreted as decomposition numbers for equivariant perverse sheaves on the complex affine Grassmannian of the Langlands dual group. Using a description of the minimal degenerations of the affine Grassmannian obtained by Malkin, Ostrik and Vybornov, we are able to recover geometrically some decomposition numbers for reductive groups. In the other direction, we can use some decomposition numbers for reductive groups to prove geometric results, such as a new proof of non-smoothness results, and a proof that some singularities are not equivalent (a conjecture of Malkin, Ostrik and Vybornov). We also give counterexamples to a conjecture of Mirkovic and Vilonen stating that the stalks of standard perverse sheaves over the integers on the affine Grassmannian are torsion-free, and propose a modified conjecture, excluding bad primes.Comment: 13 page

Generic singularities of nilpotent orbit closures

According to a well-known theorem of Brieskorn and Slodowy, the intersection of the nilpotent cone of a simple Lie algebra with a transverse slice to the subregular nilpotent orbit is a simple surface singularity. At the opposite extremity of the nilpotent cone, the closure of the minimal nilpotent orbit is also an isolated symplectic singularity, called a minimal singularity. For classical Lie algebras, Kraft and Procesi showed that these two types of singularities suffice to describe all generic singularities of nilpotent orbit closures: specifically, any such singularity is either a simple surface singularity, a minimal singularity, or a union of two simple surface singularities of type $A_{2k-1}$. In the present paper, we complete the picture by determining the generic singularities of all nilpotent orbit closures in exceptional Lie algebras (up to normalization in a few cases). We summarize the results in some graphs at the end of the paper. In most cases, we also obtain simple surface singularities or minimal singularities, though often with more complicated branching than occurs in the classical types. There are, however, six singularities which do not occur in the classical types. Three of these are unibranch non-normal singularities: an $SL_2(\mathbb C)$-variety whose normalization is ${\mathbb A}^2$, an $Sp_4(\mathbb C)$-variety whose normalization is ${\mathbb A}^4$, and a two-dimensional variety whose normalization is the simple surface singularity $A_3$. In addition, there are three 4-dimensional isolated singularities each appearing once. We also study an intrinsic symmetry action on the singularities, in analogy with Slodowy's work for the regular nilpotent orbit.Comment: 56 pages (5 figures). Minor corrections. Accepted in Advances in Mat

Modular generalized Springer correspondence: an overview

This is an overview of our series of papers on the modular generalized Springer correspondence. It is an expansion of a lecture given by the second author in the Fifth Conference of the Tsinghua Sanya International Mathematics Forum, Sanya, December 2014, as part of the Master Lecture `Algebraic Groups and their Representations' Workshop honouring G. Lusztig. The material that has not appeared in print before includes some discussion of the motivating idea of modular character sheaves, and heuristic remarks about geometric functors of parabolic induction and restriction.Comment: 19 pages. Version 2 includes more examples and tables in Section