Levi decompositions of a linear algebraic group

Abstract

If G is a connected linear algebraic group over the field k, a Levi factor of G is a reductive complement to the unipotent radical of G. If k has positive characteristic, G may have no Levi factor, or G may have Levi factors which are not geometrically conjugate. We give in this paper some sufficient conditions for the existence and the conjugacy of Levi factors of G. Let A be a Henselian discrete valuation ring with fractions K and with perfect residue field k of characteristic p>0. Let G be a connected and reductive algebraic group over K. Bruhat and Tits have associated to G certain smooth A-group schemes P whose generic fibers P/K coincide with G; these are known as *parahoric group schemes*. The special fiber P/k of a parahoric group scheme is a linear algebraic group over k. If G splits over an unramified extension of K, we show that P/k has a Levi factor, and that any two Levi factors of P/k are geometrically conjugate.