Algebraic and arithmetic groups

These notes provide an introductory overview of the theory of algebraic groups, Lie algebras, Lie groups, and arithmetic groups.

v0.0 Posted during the lectures at CMS, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Feb 28, 2005 --- May 7, 2005.
Note: When the course is ended I'll post a slightly revised version, so unless you wish to follow the course in "real time" you should wait for that version.

  1. Overview and examples
  2. Definition of an affine algebraic group
  3. Linear representations
  4. Matrix groups
  5. Example: the spin group
  6. Group theory
  7. Finite (etale) algebraic groups
    Notes for pages 1--51
  8. The connected components of an algebraic group
  9. Diagonalizable groups; tori
  10. Jordan decompositions
  11. Solvable algebraic groups
  12. The Lie algebra of an algebraic group: basics
  13. The Lie algebra of an algebraic group (continued)
    Notes for pages 52--98
  14. Semisimple algebraic groups and Lie algebras
  15. Reductive algebraic groups
  16. Split reductive groups: the program
  17. The root datum of a split reductive group
  18. Generalities on root data
  19. Classification of semisimple root data
    Notes for pages 99--140

Erratum
There are many "cosmetic problems" that need to be fixed --- missing punctuation, inconsistent spelling, inconsistent notation,...
Somewhere I should warn that algebraic groups over nonalgebraically closed fields are not "homogeneous". For example, their different connected components may look quite different. This is seen already with mu_3 over Q.
p6, in the section on nonconnected groups, the G should be an M.
p7, in the table, the group at left has a composition series whose quotients are the groups on the right.
p11, Example 2.8. SL_V(R) should be automorphism of R\otimes V etc., and similarly for the other groups.
p14, in the description of S for GL_n replace y^{-1} with y.
p15, there are minor errors in the diagrams for identity/co-identity, most of which are fixed on p23.
p15, in 2.11 should require the bialgebras to be finitely generated as k-algebras (or perhaps make this part of the definition of a k-bialgebra).
p16, in order of k[X]/(X^n) to be not reduced, need n>1 (not n>0).
p16, it is not true that the map Delta:A -> AotimesA defines a map B ->BotimesB. This can be seen already for G=G_a. Fortunately, the error can be corrected by working mainly with the ring A, or as in the original paper Oort, Inventiones Math. 2 (1966), 79-80.
p23, in the diagram for S, replace A at bottom-left with k.
p24, line 2, should be ... xy'.
p24, line 3, should be: This is an algebraic group because it is represented by k[X,Y,Z], and it is noncommutative.
p24, line 5. Omit the second matrix.
p28, Theorem 4.8. Replace "there exists a unique smooth" with "there exists a unique reduced" (if k is not perfect, it need not be smooth). For the uniqueness part of the statement, should assume that k is algebraically closed.
p37. It is not difficult to prove 5.18 directly. First show that a linear combination of reduced monomials is in the centre if and only if each monomial is, and then find the monomials that commute with each e_j.
p39, line 14. In the definition of the Clifford group, the condition should be gamma(t)Vt^{-1}=V.
p42, "is the sequence" is too strong --- with a little effort they can be shown to be isomorphic.
p45, 6.19b. The proof in fact shows that G->Q is a quotient map if G(kbar)->Q(kbar) is surjective and Q is smooth.
p48, 6.25b HcapN is a normal algebraic subgroup of H (not G).
p48, exercise 6-1. Need to assume k is perfect in order to be sure Abar\otimes Abar is reduced. Also need to add a condition on G_{red} for uniqueness! For example, it is the largest smooth subgroup; or the unique smooth subgroup H with spm(k[H])=spm(k[G]).
p49, n>1 (not n>=1).
p51, 7.7b: Better to say ... the algebraic group G is etale if and only if the morphism of schemes Spec k[G] -> Spec k is etale.
p52, 8.3. Here is a proof. Replace A with A/rad(a). Then we have to show that if a is not nilpotent then it is not contained in some maximal ideal m. But a will not be nilpotent in A\otimes kbar, and so there exists a k-algebra homomorphism f:A\otimes kbar -> kbar with f(a) nonzero (Nullstellensatz). The image of f:A -> kbar is a field (exercise), and so its kernel is a maximal ideal not containing a.
p53, the argument for the converse in the proof of 8.7 doesn't directly generalize to n. You can do it two at a time, or use a different argument to show that taking products of rings corresponds to taking disjoint unions of the spm's.
p54, the proof of 8.10 is still not persuasive. Because spmA is noetherian, it is a finite union of its irreducible components (AG 2.21). Each connected component is a finite union of irreducible components, and so there are only a finite number, say r, of connected components. The number of e_i is at most r.
p63, the proof that the sum is direct is incomplete, but is completed in (11.21).
p67. In 10.5 the subscripts n should be u.
p69, in the second last line of the proof of 10.11, it should be the inclusion \rho:V...
p69, the proof of 10.12(a) is incomplete --- see p72.
p85, in a noncommutative situation, the Leibniz rule should be written D(fg)=fD(g)+D(f)g.
p87,91, in 12.13, 12.22 and probably elsewhere, p is the characteristic of the field.
p87, Example 12.14 (and elsewhere). The notation id_V+\epsilon\alpha for the elements of Lie(GL_V) is bad --- the id_V should be id_{V+Vepsilon}. The element id+\epsilon\alpha sends x+\epsilon y to x+\epsilon y + \epsilon\alpha(x).
p121, roughly speaking, the reason the Weyl group W is constant is that W(k) equals the Weyl group of the root datum, which doesn't change when the field is enlarged.
p121, the first sentence of the proof of 17.9 should read: The key point is that the derived group of G_\alpha has rank one and T is a maximal torus in G_\alpha.
p122, in 17.10, T_alpha = 1 (not T).
p122, in 17.11, n_alpha represents the unique nontrivial element s_alpha of W(G_alpha,T) (not T_alpha).
p123, line 3, the 0 should be the neutral element of k^\times, usually denoted 1.
p124, line -4, the map is not chi_i but \sum a_i lambda_i.
p124, 125. There is a minus sign missing in all the descriptions of the Lie algebras. For example, on line 10 the equation should be phi(Ax,y)= (minus) phi(x,Ay).