A Classification of the Stable Type of $BG$

We develop a comprehensive theory of the stable representation categories of several sequences of groups, including the classical and symmetric groups, and their relation to the unstable categories. An important component of this theory is an array of equivalences between the stable representation category and various other categories, each of which has its own flavor (representation theoretic, combinatorial, commutative algebraic, or categorical) and offers a distinct perspe...

Classifying endotrivial kG-modules, i.e., elements of the Picard group of the stable module category for an arbitrary finite group G, has been a long-running quest. By deep work of Dade, Alperin, Carlson, Thevenaz, and others, it has been reduced to understanding the subgroup consisting of modular representations that split as the trivial module k direct sum a projective module when restricted to a Sylow p-subgroup. In this paper we identify this subgroup as the first cohomol...

A p-local finite group consists of a finite p-group S, together with a pair of categories which encode ``conjugacy'' relations among subgroups of S, and which are modelled on the fusion in a Sylow p-subgroup of a finite group. It contains enough information to define a classifying space which has many of the same properties as p-completed classifying spaces of finite groups. In this paper, we study and classify extensions of p-local finite groups, and also compute the fundame...

A symmetric pair of reductive groups $(G,H,\theta)$ is called stable, if every closed double coset of $H$ in $G$ is preserved by the anti-involution $g\mapsto \theta(g^{-1})$. In this paper, we develop a method to verify the stability of symmetric pairs over local fields of characteristic 0 (Archimedean and $p$-adic), using non-abelian group cohomology. Combining our method with results of Aizenbud and Gourevitch, we classify the Gelfand pairs among the pairs \begin{align*}...

In a previous paper, the author (together with Matthew Emerton) proved that the completed cohomology groups of SL_N(Z) are stable in fixed degree as N goes to infinity (Z may be replaced by the ring O_F of integers of any number field). In this paper, we relate these completed cohomology groups to K-theory and Galois cohomology. Various consequences include showing that Borel's stable classes become infinitely p-divisible up the p-congruence tower if and only if a certain p-a...

In this paper we describe a classifying theory for families of simplicial topological groups. If $B$ is a topological space and $G$ is a simplicial topological group, then we can consider the non-abelian cohomology $H(B,G)$ of $B$ with coefficients in $G$. If $G$ is a topological group, thought of as a constant simplicial group, then the set $H(B,G)$ is the set of isomorphism classes of principal $G$ bundles, or $G$ torsors, on $B$. For more general simplicial groups $G$, the...

Let $G$ be a finite group and $\mathcal{H}$ be a family of subgroups of $G$ which is closed under conjugation and taking subgroups. Let $B$ be a $G$-$CW$-complex whose isotropy subgroups are in $\mathcal{H}$ and let $\mathcal{F}= \{F_H\}_{H \in \mathcal{H}}$ be a compatible family of $H$-spaces. A $G$-fibration over $B$ with fiber $\mathcal{F}= \{F_H\}_{H \in \mathcal{H}}$ is a $G$-equivariant fibration $p:E \rightarrow B$ where $p^{-1}(b)$ is $G_b$-homotopy equivalent to $F_...

The cohomology of the degree-$n$ general linear group over a finite field of characteristic $p$, with coefficients also in characteristic $p$, remains poorly understood. For example, the lowest degree previously known to contain nontrivial elements is exponential in $n$. In this paper, we introduce a new system of characteristic classes for representations over finite fields, and use it to construct a wealth of explicit nontrivial elements in these cohomology groups. In parti...

Let G be a finite group. The stable module category of G has been applied extensively in group representation theory. In particular, it has been used to great effect that it is a triangulated category which is compactly generated. Let H be a subgroup of G. It is possible to define a stable module category of G relative to H. It too is a triangulated category, but no non-trivial examples have been known where this relative stable category was compactly generated. We show h...

Representation stability is a theory describing a way in which a sequence of representations of different groups is related, and essentially contains a finite amount of information. Starting with Church-Ellenberg-Farb's theory of $FI$-modules describing sequences of representations of the symmetric groups, we now have good theories for describing representations of other collections of groups such as finite general linear groups, classical Weyl groups, and Wreath products $S_...