Frobenius reciprocity explained

In mathematics, and in particular representation theory, Frobenius reciprocity is a theorem expressing a duality between the process of restricting and inducting. It can be used to leverage knowledge about representations of a subgroup to find and classify representations of "large" groups that contain them. It is named for Ferdinand Georg Frobenius, the inventor of the representation theory of finite groups.

Statement

Character theory

The theorem was originally stated in terms of character theory. Let be a finite group with a subgroup, let

\operatorname{Res} ^{G} _{H} denote the restriction of a character, or more generally, class function of to, and let \operatorname{Ind} ^{G} _{H} denote the induced class function of a given class function on . For any finite group, there is an inner product \langle - , - \rangle _{A} on the vector space of class functions A\to C (described in detail in the article Schur orthogonality relations). Now, for any class functions \psi:H\to C and \varphi:G\to C , the following equality holds:

$$\backslash langle\backslash operatorname\_H^G\backslash psi,\; \backslash varphi\backslash rangle\_G=\backslash langle\backslash psi,\backslash operatorname\_H^G\backslash varphi\backslash rangle\_H.$$

In other words,

\operatorname{Ind} ^{G} _{H} and \operatorname{Res} ^{G} _{H} are Hermitian adjoint.

Let

\psi:H\to C and \varphi:G\to C be class functions.

Proof. Every class function can be written as a linear combination of irreducible characters. As

\langle ⋅ , ⋅ \rangle is a bilinear form, we can, without loss of generality, assume \psi and \varphi to be characters of irreducible representations of H in W and of G in V, respectively.We define \psi(s) =0 for all s\in G\setminus H. Then we have

\sum_ \text(\psi)(t) \varphi(t^) \\&= \frac \sum_ \frac\sum_ \psi(s^ts) \varphi(t^) \\&= \frac \frac\sum_ \sum_ \psi(s^ts) \varphi((s^ts)^) \\&= \frac \frac\sum_ \sum_ \psi(t) \varphi(t^)\\&= \frac\sum_ \psi(t) \varphi(t^)\\&= \frac\sum_ \psi(t) \varphi(t^)\\&= \frac\sum_ \psi(t) \text(\varphi)(t^)\\&= \langle \psi, \text(\varphi)\rangle_H \end

In the course of this sequence of equations we used only the definition of induction on class functions and the properties of characters.

\Box

Alternative proof. In terms of the group algebra, i.e. by the alternative description of the induced representation, the Frobenius reciprocity is a special case of a general equation for a change of rings:

Hom _{\Complex} (W,U) = Hom _{\Complex} (\Complex [G] ⊗ _{\Complex} W, U). This equation is by definition equivalent to [how?]\langle W, Res (U)\rangle _{H=\langle} W,U\rangle _{H=\langle} Ind (W),U\rangle _{G.} As this bilinear form tallies the bilinear form on the corresponding characters, the theorem follows without calculation. \Box

Module theory

As explained in the section Representation theory of finite groups#Representations, modules and the convolution algebra, the theory of the representations of a group over a field is, in a certain sense, equivalent to the theory of modules over the group algebra [{{var|G}}].^[1] Therefore, there is a corresponding Frobenius reciprocity theorem for [{{var|G}}]-modules.

K[G] ⊗ _{K[H]} M corresponds to the induced representation \operatorname{Ind} ^{G} _{H} , whereas the restriction of scalars { _{K[H]} }N corresponds to the restriction \operatorname{Res} ^{G} _{H} . Accordingly, the statement is as follows: The following sets of module homomorphisms are in bijective correspondence:

$$\backslash operatorname\_(K[G]\backslash otimes\_\; M,N)\backslash cong\; \backslash operatorname\_(M,N)$$.^[2]

As noted below in the section on category theory, this result applies to modules over all rings, not just modules over group algebras.

Category theory

Let be a group with a subgroup, and let

\operatorname{Res} ^{G} _{H} be defined as above. For any group and field let bf{Rep} ^{K} _{A} denote the category of linear representations of over . There is a forgetful functor

This functor acts as the identity on morphisms. There is a functor going in the opposite direction:

\operatorname{Ind} ^{G} _{H} .^[3] In the case of finite groups, they are actually both left- and right-adjoint to one another. This adjunction gives rise to a universal property for the induced representation (for details, see Induced representation#Properties).

In the language of module theory, the corresponding adjunction is an instance of the more general relationship between restriction and extension of scalars.

See also

• See Restricted representation and Induced representation for definitions of the processes to which this theorem applies.
• See Representation theory of finite groups for a broad overview of the subject of group representations.
• See Selberg trace formula and the Arthur-Selberg trace formula for generalizations to discrete cofinite subgroups of certain locally compact groups.

References

• Book: Serre, Jean-Pierre. Linear representations of finite groups. 1977. Springer-Verlag. 0387901906. New York. 2202385. registration.
• Book: Sengupta, Ambar. Representing finite groups : a semisimple introduction. Induced Representations . 235–248 . 2012. 10.1007/978-1-4614-1231-1_8. 9781461412304. New York. 769756134.
• Web site: Induced Representation. Weisstein. Eric. mathworld.wolfram.com. en. 2017-11-02.

Notes and References

1. Specifically, there is an isomorphism of categories between [{{var|G}}]-Mod and Rep, as described on the pages Isomorphism of categories#Category of representations and Representation theory of finite groups#Representations, modules and the convolution algebra.
2. Book: James, Gordon Douglas. Representations and characters of groups. 1945–2001. Cambridge University Press. Liebeck, M. W. (Martin W.). 9780521003926. 2nd. Cambridge, UK. 52220683.
3. Web site: Frobenius reciprocity in nLab. ncatlab.org. 2017-11-02.