Related papers: Essential dimension of algebraic groups, including…

We define and study the essential dimension of an algebraic stack. We compute the essential dimension of the stacks Mgn and MgnBar of smooth, or stable, n-pointed curves of genus g. We also prove a general lower bound for the essential…

We determine the essential dimension of the spin group Spin(n) as an algebraic group over a field of characteristic 2, for n at least 15. In this range, the essential dimension is the same as in characteristic not 2. In particular, it is…

We give an upper bound for the essential dimension of a smooth unipotent algebraic group over an arbitrary field. We also show that over a field $k$ which is finitely generated over a perfect field, a smooth unipotent algebraic $k$-group is…

We provide a simple method to compute upper bounds on the essential dimension of split reductive groups with finite or connected center by means of their generically free representations. Combining our upper bound with previously known…

We determine the essential dimension of an arbitrary semisimple group of type $B$ of the form \[G=\big(\operatorname{\mathbf{Spin}}(2n_{1}+1)\times\cdots \times \operatorname{\mathbf{Spin}}(2n_{m}+1)\big)/\boldsymbol{\mu}\] over a field of…

Let $p$ be a prime integer, $1\leq s\leq r$ integers, $F$ a field of characteristic $p$. Let $\cat{Dec}_{p^r}$ denote the class of the tensor product of $r$ $p$-symbols and $\cat{Alg}_{p^r,p^s}$ denote the class of central simple algebras…

This is a survey of the existing literature, the state of the art, and a few minor new results and open questions regarding the essential dimension of central simple algebras and finite sequences of such algebras over fields whose…

Given a finite smooth group scheme $G$ over a field of characteristic $p > 0$, we show that the essential dimension of $G$ at $p$ is $0$ when $p$ does not divide the order of $G$, and $1$ when it does.

Suppose $G$ is a finite group and $p$ is either a prime number or $0$. For $p$ positive, we say that $G$ is weakly tame at $p$ if $G$ has no non-trivial normal $p$-subgroups. By convention we say that every finite group is weakly tame at…

We study the essential dimension of a finite group G over a field K. A generalization of the central extension theorem of Buhler and Reichstein (Compositio Math. 106 (1997) 159-179, Theorem 5.3) is obtained. We also get lower bounds of…

Let $G$ be a connected algebraic group. An unrefinable chain of $G$ is a chain of subgroups $G = G_0 > G_1 > \cdots > G_t = 1$, where each $G_i$ is a maximal connected subgroup of $G_{i-1}$. We introduce the notion of the length…

We discuss the notion of essential dimension of a finite group and explain its relation with birational algebraic geometry. We show how this leads to a (partial) classification of simple finite groups of essential dimension less than or…

The representation dimension of a finite group $G$ is the minimal dimension of a faithful complex linear representation of $G$. We prove that the representation dimension of any finite group $G$ is at most $\sqrt{|G|}$ except if $G$ is a…

Let $G$ be a linear algebraic group over a field. We show that, under mild assumptions, in a family of primitive generically free $G$-varieties over a base variety $B$ the essential dimension of the geometric fibers may drop on a countable…

The category of linear algebraic groups admits non-surjective epimorphisms. For simple algebraic groups of rank $2$ defined over algebraically closed fields, we show that the minimal dimension of a closed epimorphic subgroup is $3$.

We continue our study of exponent semigroups of rational matrices. Our main result is that the matricial dimension of a numerical semigroup is at most its multiplicity (the least generator), greatly improving upon the previous upper bound…

Let $1\leq m \leq n$ be integers with $m|n$ and $\cat{Alg}_{n,m}$ the class of central simple algebras of degree $n$ and exponent dividing $m$. In this paper, we find new, improved upper bounds for the essential dimension and 2-dimension of…

We prove that spin groups act generically freely on various spinor modules, in the sense of group schemes and in a way that does not depend on the characteristic of the base field. As a consequence, we extend the surprising calculation of…

In this paper, we study the essential dimension of classes of central simple algebras with involutions of index less or equal to 4. Using structural theorems for simple algebras with involutions, we obtain the essential dimension of…

We classify all finite groups of essential dimension 2 over an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0.