Maximal subgroup | EPFL Graph Search

In mathematics, the term maximal subgroup is used to mean slightly different things in different areas of algebra. In group theory, a maximal subgroup H of a group G is a proper subgroup, such that no proper subgroup K contains H strictly. In other words, H is a maximal element of the partially ordered set of subgroups of G that are not equal to G. Maximal subgroups are of interest because of their direct connection with primitive permutation representations of G. They are also much studied for the purposes of finite group theory: see for example Frattini subgroup, the intersection of the maximal subgroups. In semigroup theory, a maximal subgroup of a semigroup S is a subgroup (that is, a subsemigroup which forms a group under the semigroup operation) of S which is not properly contained in another subgroup of S. Notice that, here, there is no requirement that a maximal subgroup be proper, so if S is in fact a group then its unique maximal subgroup (as a semigroup) is S itself.

Maximal subgroups acting with two composition factors on irreducible representations of exceptional algebraic groups

Nathan Scheinmann

Let

Y

be a simply connected simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field

k

of characteristic

p

and let

X

be a maximal closed connected simple subgroup of

Y

. Excluding some small primes in specific cases, we classify the

p

-restricted irreducible representations of

Y

on which

X

acts with exactly two composition factors. This work follows on naturally from the classification of irreducible subgroups of exceptional algebraic groups given by Testerman.

EPFL2019

Irreducibility of disconnected subgroups of exceptional algebraic groups

Soumaïa Nadia Ghandour

This dissertation is concerned with the study of irreducible embeddings of simple algebraic groups of exceptional type. It is motivated by the role of such embeddings in the study of positive dimensional closed subgroups of classical algebraic groups. The classification of the maximal closed connected subgroups of simple algebraic groups was carried out by E. B. Dynkin, G. M. Seitz and D. M. Testerman. Their analysis for the classical groups was based primarily on a striking result: if G is a simple algebraic group and ø : G → SL(V ) is a tensor indecomposable irreducible rational representation then, with specified exceptions, the image of G is maximal among closed connected subgroups of one of the classical groups SL(V), Sp(V ) or SO(V ). In the case of closed, not necessarily connected, subgroups of the classical groups, one is interested in considering irreducible embeddings of simple algebraic groups and their automorphism groups: given a simple algebraic group Y defined over an algebraically closed field K, one is led to study the embeddings G < Aut(Y ), where G and Aut(Y ) are closed subgroups of SL(V ) and V is an irreducible rational KY -module on which G acts irreducibly. A partial analysis of such embeddings in the case of classical algebraic groups Y was carried out by B. Ford. We purpose to classify all triples (G, Y, V ) where Y is a simple algebraic group of exceptional type, defined over an algebraically closed field K of characteristic p > 0, G is a closed non-connected positive dimensional subgroup of Y and V is a nontrivial irreducible rational KY -module such that V|G is irreducible. We obtain a precise description of such triples (G, Y, V ).

EPFL2008