English

Neutral representations in dimension $\leq 3$ and fields of moduli

Algebraic Geometry 2026-04-13 v1

Abstract

A representation VV of an algebraic group GG induces a vector bundle [V/G]BG[V/G] \to BG. The representation VV of GG is neutral if, for every twisted form VG\mathcal{V} \to \mathcal{G} of [V/G]BG[V/G] \to BG over a field kk, we have G(k)\mathcal{G}(k) \neq \emptyset. Twisted forms of representations arise in many ways, for instance as cohomology of families of varieties on residual gerbes of moduli spaces, and from quotient singularities. Moreover, every Tannakian category is the category of vector bundles on some gerbe. Because of this, studying neutral representations yields numerous applications, especially to problems about fields of moduli. The present article has three main results. First, we completely classify neutral, faithful representations of finite groups in dimension 3\leq 3. Second, we give a very general, computation-friendly result for proving that representations of finite abelian groups are neutral, in arbitrary dimensions. Third, we develop the abstract concept of the normalizer GNH\mathcal{G} \to \mathcal{N} \to \mathcal{H} of a morphism of gerbes GH\mathcal{G} \to \mathcal{H} on an arbitrary site (twisted representations correspond to morphisms of gerbes GBGLn\mathcal{G} \to B\mathrm{GL}_{n}), and show that the normalizer N\mathcal{N} only depends on the geometric type of GH\mathcal{G} \to \mathcal{H}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.08773,
  title  = {Neutral representations in dimension $\leq 3$ and fields of moduli},
  author = {Giulio Bresciani and Tianzhi Yang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.08773},
  year   = {2026}
}