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Sarah Witherspoon

Publications and source records attributed to Sarah Witherspoon.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2017

Tensor products and support varieties for some noncocommutative Hopf algebras

We explore questions of projectivity and tensor products of modules for finite dimensional Hopf algebras. We construct many classes of examples in which tensor powers of nonprojective modules are projective and tensor products of modules in one order are projective but in the other order are not. Our examples are smash coproducts with duals of group algebras, some having algebra and coalgebra structures twisted by a cocycle. We develop a theory of support varieties for these Hopf algebras to use as a tool in our investigations.

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arXiv2016

Varieties for modules of finite dimensional Hopf algebras

We survey variety theory for modules of finite dimensional Hopf algebras, recalling some definitions and basic properties of support and rank varieties where they are known. We focus specifically on properties known for classes of examples such as finite group algebras and finite group schemes. We list open questions about tensor products of modules and projectivity, where varieties may play a role in finding answers.

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arXiv2016

Deforming group actions on Koszul algebras

We give Braverman-Gaitsgory style conditions for general PBW deformations of skew group algebras formed from finite groups acting on Koszul algebras. When the characteristic divides the order of the group, this includes deformations of the group action as well as of the Koszul relations.

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arXiv2016

Hopf automorphisms and twisted extensions

We give some applications of a Hopf algebra constructed from a group acting on another Hopf algebra A as Hopf automorphisms, namely Molnar's smash coproduct Hopf algebra. We find connections between the exponent and Frobenius-Schur indicators of a smash coproduct and the twisted exponents and twisted Frobenius-Schur indicators of the original Hopf algebra A. We study the category of modules of the smash coproduct.

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arXiv2015

An Alternate Approach to the Lie Bracket on Hochschild Cohomology

We define Gerstenhaber's graded Lie bracket directly on complexes other than the bar complex, under some conditions. The Koszul complex of a Koszul algebra in particular satisfies our conditions. As examples we recover the Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket for a polynomial ring and the Gerstenhaber bracket for a group algebra of a cyclic group of prime order.

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arXiv2015

Gerstenhaber brackets on Hochschild cohomology of twisted tensor products

We construct the Gerstenhaber bracket on Hochschild cohomology of a twisted tensor product of algebras, and, as examples, compute Gerstenhaber brackets for some quantum complete intersections arising in work of Buchweitz, Green, Madsen, and Solberg. We prove that a subalgebra of the Hochschild cohomology ring of a twisted tensor product, on which the twisting is trivial, is isomorphic, as Gerstenhaber algebras, to the tensor product of the respective subalgebras of the Hochschild cohomology rings of the factors.

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arXiv2015

PBW deformations of skew polynomial rings and their group extensions

We examine PBW deformations of finite group extensions of skew polynomial rings, in particular the quantum Drinfeld orbifold algebras defined by the first author. We give a homological interpretation, in terms of Gerstenhaber brackets, of the necessary and sufficient conditions on parameter functions to define a quantum Drinfeld orbifold algebra, thus clarifying the conditions. In case the acting group is trivial, we determine conditions under which such a PBW deformation is a generalized enveloping algebra of a color Lie algebra; our PBW deformations include these algebras as a special case.

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arXiv2015

Tensor ideals and varieties for modules of quantum elementary abelian groups

In a previous paper we constructed rank and support variety theories for "quantum elementary abelian groups," that is, tensor products of copies of Taft algebras. In this paper we use both variety theories to classify the thick tensor ideals in the stable module category, and to prove a tensor product property for the support varieties.

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arXiv2014

Gerstenhaber brackets on Hochschild cohomology of quantum symmetric algebras and their group extensions

We construct chain maps between the bar and Koszul resolutions for a quantum symmetric algebra (skew polynomial ring). This construction uses a recursive technique involving explicit formulae for contracting homotopies. We use these chain maps to compute the Gerstenhaber bracket, obtaining a quantum version of the Schouten-Nijenhuis bracket on a symmetric algebra (polynomial ring). We compute brackets also in some cases for skew group algebras arising as group extensions of quantum symmetric algebras.

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arXiv2014

Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt Theorems

We sample some Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorems appearing in mathematics. Along the way, we compare modern techniques used to establish such results, for example, the Composition-Diamond Lemma, Groebner basis theory, and the homological approaches of Braverman and Gaitsgory and of Polishchuk and Positselski. We discuss several contexts for PBW theorems and their applications, such as Drinfeld-Jimbo quantum groups, graded Hecke algebras, and symplectic reflection and related algebras.

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arXiv2014

Hochschild cohomology and quantum Drinfeld Hecke algebras

Quantum Drinfeld Hecke algebras are generalizations of Drinfeld Hecke algebras in which polynomial rings are replaced by quantum polynomial rings. We identify these algebras as deformations of skew group algebras, giving an explicit connection to Hochschild cohomology. We compute the relevant part of Hochschild cohomology for actions of many reflection groups and we exploit computations from our paper with Shroff for diagonal actions. By combining our work with recent results of Levandovskyy and Shepler, we produce examples of quantum Drinfeld Hecke algebras. These algebras generalize the braided Cherednik algebras of Bazlov and Berenstein.

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arXiv2013

PBW deformations of skew group algebras in positive characteristic

We investigate deformations of a skew group algebra that arise from a finite group acting on a polynomial ring. When the characteristic of the underlying field divides the order of the group, a new type of deformation emerges that does not occur in characteristic zero. This analogue of Lusztig's graded affine Hecke algebra for positive characteristic can not be forged from the template of symplectic reflection and related algebras as originally crafted by Drinfeld. By contrast, we show that in characteristic zero, for arbitrary finite groups, a Lusztig-type deformation is always isomorphic to a Drinfeld-type deformation. We fit all these deformations into a general theory, connecting Poincaré-Birkhoff-Witt deformations and Hochschild cohomology when working over fields of arbitrary characteristic. We make this connection by way of a double complex adapted from Guccione, Guccione, and Valqui, formed from the Koszul resolution of a polynomial ring and the bar resolution of a group algebra.

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arXiv2013

Examples of support varieties for Hopf algebras with noncommutative tensor products

The representations of some Hopf algebras have curious behavior: Nonprojective modules may have projective tensor powers, and the variety of a tensor product of modules may not be contained in the intersection of their varieties. We explain a family of examples of such Hopf algebras and their modules, and classify left, right, and two-sided ideals in their stable module categories.

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arXiv2012

A Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt theorem for quadratic algebras with group actions

Braverman and Gaitsgory gave necessary and sufficient conditions for a nonhomogeneous quadratic algebra to satisfy the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt property when its homogeneous version is Koszul. We widen their viewpoint and consider a quotient of an algebra that is free over some (not necessarily semisimple) subalgebra. We show that their theorem holds under a weaker hypothesis: We require the homogeneous version of the nonhomogeneous quadratic algebra to be the skew group algebra (semidirect product algebra) of a finite group acting on a Koszul algebra, obtaining conditions for the Poincare-Birkhoff-Witt property over (nonsemisimple) group algebras. We prove our main results by exploiting a double complex adapted from Guccione, Guccione, and Valqui (formed from a Koszul complex and a resolution of the group), giving a practical way to analyze Hochschild cohomology and deformations of skew group algebras in positive characteristic. We apply these conditions to graded Hecke algebras and Drinfeld orbifold algebras (including rational Cherednik algebras and symplectic reflection algebras) in arbitrary characteristic, with special interest in the case when the characteristic of the underlying field divides the order of the acting group.

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arXiv2011

Group actions on algebras and the graded Lie structure of Hochschild cohomology

Hochschild cohomology governs deformations of algebras, and its graded Lie structure plays a vital role. We study this structure for the Hochschild cohomology of the skew group algebra formed by a finite group acting on an algebra by automorphisms. We examine the Gerstenhaber bracket with a view toward deformations and developing bracket formulas. We then focus on the linear group actions and polynomial algebras that arise in orbifold theory and representation theory; deformations in this context include graded Hecke algebras and symplectic reflection algebras. We give some general results describing when brackets are zero for polynomial skew group algebras, which allow us in particular to find noncommutative Poisson structures. For abelian groups, we express the bracket using inner products of group characters. Lastly, we interpret results for graded Hecke algebras.

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arXiv2011

Support Varieties and Representation Type of Self-Injective Algebras

We use the theory of varieties for modules arising from Hochschild cohomology to give an alternative version of the wildness criterion of Bergh and Solberg: If a finite dimensional self-injective algebra has a module of complexity at least 3 and satisfies some finiteness assumptions on Hochschild cohomology, then the algebra is wild. We show directly how this is related to the analogous theory for Hopf algebras that we developed. We give applications to many different types of algebras: Hecke algebras, reduced universal enveloping algebras, small half-quantum groups, and Nichols (quantum symmetric) algebras.

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