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# A High Intrinsic Peculiarity Rate Among Type Ia Supernovae

## 1  Introduction

Supernovae (SNe) are classified as Type Ia on the basis of distinguishing features in their optical spectra (e.g., Harkness & Wheeler 1990). During the early photospheric phase, for example, SN Ia spectra lack conspicuous lines of hydrogen and contain a strong absorption feature at about 6150 Å due to blueshifted Si II $`\lambda `$6355. The inferred expansion velocity of the ejecta is more than 10,000 km s-1, implying a violent explosion.

A striking characteristic of SNe Ia is that they display a remarkable degree of similarity, more than any other subclass of SNe, and their spectral evolution follows a reproducible pattern (e.g., Kirshner et al. 1973; Branch & Tammann 1992; Wells et al. 1994; Filippenko 1997). The light curves of SNe Ia are also impressively homogeneous (e.g., Leibundgut et al. 1992; Branch & Tammann 1992). At maximum brightness the color is strongly peaked near $`BV`$ = 0 mag (Patat et al. 1997), and the absolute magnitude has a much smaller dispersion than in other subclasses of SNe. For example, the dispersion of the Calán/Tololo Survey is only $``$ 0.2 mag when a few observationally red SNe Ia are excluded (Hamuy et al. 1996). Thus, SNe Ia have been considered homogeneous and used as “standard candles” (see Branch & Tammann 1992 for a review).

As summarized by Filippenko (1997) and in Section 2, however, the existence of the peculiar SN Ia 1986G and the appearance of two very peculiar SNe Ia (1991T and 1991bg) in the same year have drawn attention to diversity among SNe Ia. These variations have raised concerns about the cosmological utility of SNe Ia. In an attempt to quantify the rate of spectroscopically peculiar SNe Ia in the existing observed sample, Branch, Fisher, & Nugent (1993, hereafter BFN) compiled a set of 84 SNe Ia, and subclassified them as either normal or like one of the known peculiar SNe Ia: SN 1986G, SN 1991T, or SN 1991bg. They found that their sample is affected by the Malmquist bias; nevertheless, about 83% to 89% of their sample is normal. Even among the relatively normal SNe Ia, however, there are observed differences in spectra and light curves (e.g., Filippenko 1997; Hamuy et al. 1996; Riess et al. 1999a). Fortunately, the variation in luminosity is correlated with light-curve shape, providing a means to calibrate the peak luminosity of SNe Ia \[e.g., the $`\mathrm{\Delta }m_{15}(B)`$ method – Phillips 1993, Hamuy et al. 1996, Phillips et al. 1999; the multi-color light-curve shape method – Riess, Press, & Kirshner 1996, Riess et al. 1998; the stretch method – Perlmutter et al. 1997\]. Moreover, the photometric sequence exhibited by SNe Ia represents a spectroscopic sequence, from overluminous (by $``$0.4 mag in $`V`$) SN 1991T-like objects to subluminous (by $``$2 mag in $`V`$) SN 1991bg-like objects (Nugent et al. 1995).

The intrinsic peculiarity rate of SNe Ia has implications for our understanding of SNe Ia, especially their progenitor systems. SNe Ia are thought to come from thermonuclear explosions of mass-accreting white dwarfs in binary systems, when their masses reach the critical Chandrasekhar mass ($``$ 1.4 $`M_{}`$; for a review see Branch et al. 1995). The exact nature of the progenitors, however, is still controversial, and many scenarios have been proposed. If the majority of SNe Ia are normal, we might expect SNe Ia to come from one class of progenitor system, and the peculiar SNe Ia to come from some variation of the same system; on the other hand, if a significant fraction of SNe Ia are peculiar, additional classes of progenitor systems might be warranted.

In the past several years, many SNe Ia have been discovered in the course of two successful nearby SN surveys – the Lick Observatory Supernova Search (LOSS; Treffers et al. 1997; Li et al. 2000a; Filippenko et al. 2000) with the Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope (KAIT), and the Beijing Astronomical Observatory Supernova Survey (BAOSS; Li et al. 1996) with a 0.6-m telescope. Here we study the peculiarity rate of SNe Ia from these two surveys. In Sec. 2 we discuss the sample of SNe Ia used in the statistics, which consists of 45 SNe Ia discovered by LOSS and BAOSS (up through SN 2000A). Sec. 3 reports the observed and intrinsic peculiarity rate and luminosity function. The implications of our statistics are discussed in Sec. 4, and Sec. 5 summarizes our conclusions.

## 2 The Sample of Type Ia SNe

### 2.1  Definition of Peculiar SNe Ia

As we attempt to compare our results to those of BFN, we follow their definition of normal and peculiar SNe Ia. A summary of this definition is given here; see also Filippenko (1997).

A “normal” SN Ia is defined as one whose optical spectra resemble those of SNe 1981B (Branch et al. 1983), 1989B (Barbon et al. 1990), 1992A (Kirshner et al. 1993), and 1972E (Kirshner et al. 1973). Normal SNe Ia near maximum light show conspicuous absorption features near 6150 Å due to Si II and near 3750 Å due to Ca II. Other absorption features include those of Co II, S II, O I, and Mg II, as well as additional lines of Si II and Ca II. Two weeks after maximum the Si II 6150 Å and the Ca II 3750, 8300 Å lines are strong, several Fe II lines develop at the blue end of the spectrum, and the absorption near 5700 Å is usually attributed to Na I. Blends of forbidden emission lines of iron and cobalt dominate the nebular phase, starting about a month past maximum brightness.

A “spectroscopically peculiar” SN Ia is defined as one that has feature strengths (not just expansion velocities) that differ significantly from those of the normal ones at a given phase. Three well-observed examples, SNe 1991T, 1991bg, and 1986G, serve as prototypes of peculiar SNe Ia.

Spectra of SN 1991T (Filippenko et al. 1992a; Phillips et al. 1992; Ruiz-Lapuente et al. 1992; Jeffery et al. 1992; Mazzali et al. 1995) before maximum brightness are strikingly peculiar in having unusually weak lines of Si II, S II, and Ca II, yet prominent high-excitation features of Fe III. The usual Si II, S II, and Ca II lines develop in the post-maximum spectra, and by a few weeks past maximum the spectra look nearly normal. However, as Filippenko et al. (1992a) and Li et al. (1999) pointed out, at late times subtle differences still exist between high-quality spectra of SN 1991T-like objects and those of normal SNe Ia. SN 1999aa (Filippenko, Li, & Leonard 1999) is similar to SN 1991T (Figure 1) in having very weak Si II 6150 Å absorption and prominent Fe III lines near 4300 Å and 5000 Å, but it also shows strong absorption centered at 3750 Å that is probably due to Ca II H&K, which is very weak in SN 1991T. Whether objects like SN 1999aa (to be discussed in more detail by Li et al. 2000c) are of an intermediate type between SN 1991T-like events and normal SNe Ia remains to be determined. Not to complicate the classification scheme, however, here we still classify SN 1999aa-like objects as “SN 1991T-like,” even though most SN 1991T-like objects seem to actually be like SN 1999aa. At this time there is widespread familiarity with SN 1991T subclass, whereas SN 1999aa-like objects were only recently recognized and are unknown to most researchers. See Section 4.1 for further discussion of this issue.

The main spectral peculiarities of SN 1991bg (Filippenko et al. 1992b; Leibundgut et al. 1993; Turatto et al. 1996; Mazzali et al. 1997), when at maximum brightness, are the presence of a broad absorption trough extending from about 4100 to 4400 Å due to Ti II lines, and enhanced Si II 5800 Å absorption relative to Si II 6150 Å.

SN 1986G (Phillips et al. 1987; Cristiani et al. 1992) is similar to SN 1991bg but less extreme. The Ti II 4100-4400 Å absorption trough is present in the spectra of SN 1986G, yet is weaker than that of SN 1991bg. Since it is difficult to differentiate SN 1986G-like objects from SN 1991bg-like ones without having excellent data, we have combined the two classes together, and call them SN 1991bg-like objects hereafter, unless otherwise noted.

Various authors have shown that the spectroscopic behavior of SNe Ia is correlated with their photometric behavior, which in turn is related to their absolute magnitudes (e.g., Nugent et al. 1995; Filippenko 1997, and references therein). SN 1991T-like objects rise to their maximum more slowly and decline more slowly, and are overluminous relative to normal SNe Ia; SN 1991bg-like objects rise to their maximum and decline more quickly, and are subluminous relative to normal SNe Ia. Thus light curves, if available, can often serve as an independent check of the peculiarities of SNe Ia, though exceptions do exist (e.g., SN 1992bc, Maza et al. 1994; SN 1999ee, Hamuy 2000, private communication).

### 2.2  The Sample of SNe Ia

We have compiled a set of 45 nearby SNe Ia discovered in the sample galaxies of LOSS and BAOSS. This includes 38 SNe Ia discovered by LOSS and BAOSS, and 7 SNe Ia that were initially discovered by other groups, but were subsequently rediscovered in the course of LOSS or BAOSS. Table 1 lists the information for all these SNe in the following format: Column (1): SN name. Column (2): host galaxy of the SN. Column (3): the Hubble type of the host galaxy. A classification followed by a “:” means it is uncertain. Column (4): the number of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Circular that contains the spectroscopic classification of the SN. Column (5): the age of the SN at the time of the spectroscopic classification, relative to the time of $`B`$-band maximum brightness. This is generally not the age of the SN at discovery, as it takes severals days (sometimes longer) for the spectroscopic classification of a SN to be made. The quoted ages are derived either from the IAU Circular listed in Column (4), which are marked with a colon and generally have uncertainties of about $`\pm `$5 days, or from our own light-curve database and/or spectral analysis, which usually have uncertainties of about $`\pm `$2 days. Column (6): discoverer of the SN. “L” means LOSS, “B” means BAOSS, and “O” means other groups. Column (7): whether the SN is peculiar. If it is, the type of peculiarity is listed. Objects marked as peculiar type “91Taa” are those that are similar to SN 1999aa as discussed earlier. For SNe 1997cw and 1999gp, no spectroscopic information are available to us to determine whether they are SN 1999aa-like, and they are classified as “91T/91Taa”. Columns (8) to (11): evidence of the peculiarity of the SN. Specifically, Ti II absorption (Col. 8), a relatively strong Si II 5800 Å absorption (Col. 9), prominent Fe III absorption lines (Col. 10), and weak or no Si II 6150 Å absorption (Col. 11). Our major source of information for the host galaxies of the SNe is NED111The NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED) is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration., and that for the SNe is the IAU Circulars.

One danger of using the information in the IAUCs to subclassify a SN Ia is that it was most likely derived by the observer during, or shortly after the observations. This “on-the-fly” classification might result in quick-look reduction errors and approximations. The subclassification also depends on the observer’s ability to recognize the peculiarities in the spectra of SNe Ia and the willingness to include the information in the report to the IAUC. Sometimes classifications of SNe in the IAUCs are revised because of subsequent observations or reductions. For this reason, we count a SN Ia as peculiar only when there is direct evidence of peculiarity included in the classification of the SN in IAUCs, or we have our own spectra to support the classification. Columns (8) to (11) in Table 1 list the evidence reported in the relevant IAUCs. A SN is classified as SN 1999bg/1986G-like only when there is evidence in the IAUC that its spectrum shows Ti II absorption and a relatively strong Si II 5800 Å line, while a SN 1991T-like object must show evidence of Fe III absorption lines and weak (or absent) Si II lines.

We have classified two SNe as peculiar even though they were not listed as such in the IAUCs. SN 1999bh was discovered by LOSS (Li 1999). Aldering et al. (1999) reported that the spectrum was of a SN Ia within one week after maximum brightness. Nugent (1999) communicated that Aldering’s spectrum of SN 1999bh resembled SN 1986G at 3 days past maximum. In addition, comparisons of its spectrum at a month past maximum to that of a normal SN Ia (SN 1998bu; Jha et al. 1999) and a SN 1991bg-like SN Ia (SN 1997cn; Turatto et al. 1998) at comparable epochs (Figure 2) reveal that SN 1999bh is similar to SN 1997cn at this phase. We thus classify SN 1999bh as a SN 1986G/1991bg-like object.

SN 1999dg was also discovered by LOSS (Modjaz & Li 1999). Filippenko, Metzger, & Small (1999) classified it as a SN Ia within a week past maximum brightness. A spectrum of the SN is shown in Figure 1. Apparent Ti II absorption is seen at around 4100-4300 Å, and the Si II absorption at 5800 Å is relatively strong. We classify SN 1999dg as a SN 1986G/1991bg-like object.

## 3 Statistics

### 3.1  The Observed Peculiarity Rate

Out of the 45 SNe in our sample, 9 are SN 1991T-like and 7 are SN 1991bg-like. The total peculiarity rate is 36$`\pm `$9%. The rate for SN 1991T-like objects is 20$`\pm `$7%, and for SN 1991bg-like objects it is 16$`\pm `$6%. The uncertainties quoted here are derived only from Poisson statistics. Our total peculiarity rate is substantially higher than the BFN result (less than 17%); details are presented in Sec. 4.2.

### 3.2  The Intrinsic Peculiarity Rate

Because of the variations among the luminosities, light-curve shapes, and spectral evolution of different kinds of SNe Ia, there are several possible observational biases in the observed SN sample, and the observed peculiarity rate could be either an overestimate or an underestimate of the intrinsic peculiarity rate. The relationship between the observed and the intrinsic peculiarity rates largely depends on the way the SNe are discovered – that is, on the survey methods.

SN surveys can be generally divided into two categories, magnitude-limited and distance-limited. In a magnitude-limited SN survey, the target fields are usually random regions on the sky that contain many galaxies at different redshifts. The number of SNe discovered depends on the detection limit of the images (hence magnitude-limited). Target fields for a distance-limited SN survey, on the other hand, are individual galaxies or clusters of galaxies. The limiting magnitude of the survey images may be much deeper than all the possible SNe in the sample galaxies or clusters (as long as they aren’t heavily extinguished), so the number of SNe discovered largely depends on the number and distances of the sample galaxies or clusters (hence distance-limited). A few SN surveys can be best described as a hybrid of these two categories. They are distance-limited, but many of the discovered SNe are in the background of the target galaxies and some of them have magnitudes close to the detection limit of the survey images.

Li et al. (2000b; hereafter Paper I) have used Monte Carlo simulations to study various observational biases of SN Ia observations in SN surveys. They found that there are four main observational biases. The “age bias,” which is caused by the fact that SN 1991T-like objects can only be easily identified with spectra taken prior to or near maximum brightness; the Malmquist bias, which is caused by the difference in luminosity among SNe Ia; the “light-curve shape bias,” which is caused by the difference in the light-curve shapes of SNe Ia; and the “extinction bias,” which is caused by the fact that SN 1991T-like objects often occur in dusty, star-forming regions and may suffer more extinction than the other objects. They also found that the effect of these biases depends on the characteristics of the SN survey, such as distance-limited or magnitude-limited, baseline, and limiting magnitude. The adopted cutoff for the age bias and the assumed extra extinction applied to SN 1991T-like objects for the extinction bias also play important roles in determining the results of the observations. One result from the simulations (Figures 11 and 15 in Paper I) is that for a distance-limited survey conducted in the $`R`$ band with (a) the limiting distance set to where normal SNe Ia have a peak apparent magnitude of 16.0, (b) a limiting magnitude of 19.0, and (c) a baseline of $``$ 10 days, all the observational biases play negligible roles (even for extreme cases such as a cutoff of 1 day before maximum light for the age bias, and an extra extinction of 0.8 mag for SN 1991T-like objects) and all SNe Ia are found in the survey, yielding the intrinsic peculiarity rate and the luminosity function of SNe Ia.

LOSS searches about 5000 fields containing 6000 galaxies, most of which have radial velocities less than 8,000 km s-1. BAOSS searches about 3000 fields containing some 4,000 target galaxies (BAOSS has a larger field of view than LOSS), most of which have radial velocities less than 6,000 km s-1. For the period of this study, most galaxies in the two searches overlapped, but whereas BAOSS searches more galaxies in the winter season when it has good weather, LOSS searches more galaxies in the summer season for the same reason. Both surveys are condutcted in unfiltered mode, whose closest match to the standard passbands is $`R`$. Using a Hubble constant of 65 km s-1 Mpc-1, and an absolute magnitude of normal SNe Ia of $`M(B)=19.5`$, we derive that the limiting distances for LOSS and BAOSS are where normal SNe Ia have apparent peak magnitudes of 16.0 and 15.3, respectively. Figure 3 shows the number of galaxies in the LOSS sample versus the expected peak apparent magnitude of normal SNe Ia. We see that more than 96% of the expected SNe Ia in the sample galaxies have peak apparent magnitudes brighter than 16 (the dashed vertical line). The usual survey images of LOSS and BAOSS have a limiting magnitude of about 19.0, much fainter than the faintest normal, unextinguished SNe Ia in the samples. The two surveys are thus limited by the distances of their sample galaxies and belong to the distance-limited SN surveys.

Because of the high observation efficiencies (80 images per hour for LOSS and 60 for BAOSS), the two surveys have short baselines. Depending on the right ascension of the galaxies, LOSS has baselines of about 4 to 8 days and BAOSS has baselines of 4 to 10 days. Sometimes, because of spells of poor weather, the intervals between observations are longer than 10 days for either LOSS or BAOSS, but fortunately the weather in the two surveys is largely complementary as noted above. Since most sample galaxies are in both surveys, the combined result is a baseline $``$ 10 days.

The Monte Carlo simulations in Paper I indicate that for the characteristics of LOSS and BAOSS, essentially all SNe Ia in the LOSS and BAOSS sample galaxies should have been discovered (Figure 9 in Paper I), and the observed rates for the peculiar SNe Ia should equal their intrinsic values (Figures 11 and 15 in Paper I). \[The only rare exceptions are SNe that occurred in the host galaxy nuclei that are very bright and star-like, as in the case of Seyfert galaxies, and SNe that occurred in galaxies that are well past the meridian at the beginning of the night, which the two surveys don’t monitor much (Filippenko et al. 2000; Li et al. 2000a).\] This means that (1) the observed peculiarity rate (36%) in our sample is close to the intrinsic one, and the $`1\sigma `$ uncertainty of the rate is $`\pm `$9% according to Poisson statistics; and (2) the observed luminosity function of SNe Ia is intrinsic: SN 1991bg-like objects are 16$`\pm `$6%, normal objects are 64$`\pm `$12%, and SN 1991T-like objects are 20$`\pm `$7% of the total SN Ia sample.

## 4 Discussion

### 4.1 Caveats Concerning the High Peculiarity Rate

In discussing the high peculiarity rate of SNe Ia found by LOSS and BAOSS, it is relevant to ask whether this galaxy sample is representative of the general population of galaxies. For example, the sample would be biased if the galaxies were selected to be predominantly spirals rather than ellipticals, since the former have a higher SN rate than the latter. It is not entirely clear how such a selection bias would affect the resulting peculiarity rate and luminosity function of SNe Ia, because the relation between the distribution of peculiar SNe Ia and Hubble types of the host galaxies is still uncertain. This bias, however, is only present in the BAOSS sample during its first year of operation (1996, not included in the current study), when there were few elliptical galaxies in the sample. The situation was corrected at the beginning of 1997, when a totally new sample was constructed without any selection bias against particular Hubble types of galaxies (except, perhaps, the Ir and dwarf galaxies, which are under-represented in all galaxy catalogs). A comparison of the Hubble-type distribution of the galaxies in the LOSS sample, which is constructed in the same way as the BAOSS sample but extends to larger redshifts, with that of about 9,800 galaxies having $`cz`$ 8,000 km s-1 in the catalog of de Vaucouleurs et al. (1991), is displayed in Figure 4. In the LOSS sample there seems to be relatively more galaxies of Hubble type Sc than other types, but the galaxies that are somewhat under-represented are actually the very late-type spirals Scd, Sd, and Sdm. The relative fraction of elliptical galaxies in the LOSS sample is about 90% of that in the de Vaucouleurs et al. (1991) catalog, so discrimination against them is not significant.

Another concern is whether the high apparent peculiarity rate of SNe Ia in the LOSS and BAOSS sample is partly caused by the fact that most of the SNe were discovered before maximum brightness, and more than half of them were discovered at least a week before maximum. At those early times, the spectrum of a SN Ia reveals the physical conditions of the outermost parts of the ejecta, where differences among individual SNe (e.g., metallicity) are most likely to reside. The high peculiarity rate found in our sample may thus be partly caused by the inhomogeneity of normal SNe Ia at early times. In particular, we are concerned with the SN 1999aa-like objects. Although we classified them as SN 1991T-like objects in the calculations of the peculiarity rates because their spectra show prominent high-excitation Fe III lines as does SN 1991T, we note the existence of prominent Ca II H&K lines in their spectra, which are weak in SN 1991T. Whether these objects are SN 1991T-like ones, or intermediate ones between SN 1991T-like and normal, or normal ones caught at very early times, remains to be determined. One way to investigate this is by studying their photometric and spectroscopic behavior (Li et al. 2000c).

To make our point more clearly, Figure 5 shows the near-maximum spectra of three SN 1999aa-like objects (SNe 1999aa, 1998es, 1999ac, all at age 1 day before maximum) and one normal object (SN 1994D at age 3 days before maximum). The overall similarity among the spectra is striking. Had the three SN 1999aa-like objects been initially observed at this phase or later, they would have been classified as normal SNe Ia. Unfortunately, there are no published spectra for genuine SN 1991T-like objects at this phase (e.g., SN 1991T – Filippenko et al. 1992a, Phillips et al. 1992; SN 1997br – Li et al. 1999), so it is not clear whether they showed the same spectral evolution. This comparison raises two possibilities:

(1) The SN 1999aa-like objects may be (photometrically) normal objects caught at very early phases. In other words, there may be two classes of SNe Ia that are photometrically normal, but spectroscopically distinct at very early times: those like SN 1999aa, which showed Fe III lines, Ca II H&K lines and no Si II 6150 Å line; and those like SN 1994D (e.g., Patat et al. 1996; Filippenko 1997) and SN 1990N (Leibundgut et al. 1991), which showed a strong Si II 6150 Å line and looked normal. If the SN 1999aa-like objects (including uncertain objects such as SN 1997cw and SN 1999gp) are counted as normal SNe Ia, the peculiarity rate in the LOSS and BAOSS sample becomes only 18$`\pm `$4% instead of 36$`\pm `$9%, in agreement with the rate reported by BFN (less than 17%).

(2) The cutoff of the age bias could be as early as 1 day before peak brightness if the SN 1999aa-like objects indeed belong to the class of SN 1991T-like objects. If this is true, the simulations in Paper I indicate that LOSS and BAOSS should still discover all the SNe Ia early enough and yield the intrinsic peculiarity rate and luminosity function (Figure 15 in Paper I). Inspection of Table 1, however, shows that this may not be the case. 21 out of the 45 SNe Ia in our sample were classified later than one day before maximum, so the age bias would be significant if the cutoff were one day before maximum and our rate of SN 1991T-like objects would be only a lower limit. There are two possible reasons for this discrepency between the observations and the simulations: (i) the age estimates in Table 1 are quite uncertain, especially those with “0:” which were reported in the IAU Circulars as “near maximum”; and (ii) the gap between the time of discovery and the time of spectroscopic classification is simulated as a random number between 2 and 5 days in Paper I, whereas in real observations, the gap could be much larger. For example, 6 out of the 45 SNe Ia in Table 1 were spectroscopically classified more than 10 days after their discovery; the observations will therefore have a more serious age bias than the simulations done in Paper I.

An earlier cutoff for the age bias also has a direct impact on explaining the null discovery of SN 1991T-like objects in the Calán/Tololo SN survey and the SN surveys done at high redshifts (see discussions below).

The third concern is that the LOSS and BAOSS sample may suffer from uncertainties caused by small-number statistics – there are only 45 SNe Ia. While this is not a much smaller sample than the 84 SNe Ia considered by BFN, a more accurate peculiarity rate and a more precise luminosity function for SNe Ia will be obtained when more SNe are discovered by the two surveys.

The high intrinsic rate of SN 1986G/1991bg-like and SN 1991T/1999aa-like objects also suggests that they are not uncommon among observed SNe Ia, and raises the question of whether it is appropriate to categorize them as “peculiar SNe Ia.” We call them “peculiar” for historical reasons – they were rare until the past two years, and they show distinct features in their spectra. Moreover, in comparing our results with those of BFN, it is appropriate to adopt the same terminology. With such a high peculiarity rate, however, these events become an important part of the whole SN Ia sample, and they may be part of a spectroscopic/photometric sequence of SNe Ia. For example, the SN 1999aa-like objects may be the “missing link” between SN 1991T-like objects and normal events. More spectroscopic and photometric observations are needed to test these suggestions.

### 4.2 Comparison with the BFN Results

An advantage of the LOSS and BAOSS sample is that the SNe Ia came from well-defined SN surveys, which enables the observational biases to be well studied. In addition, the assumed extinction of SN 1991T-like objects and the adopted cutoff of the age bias, which are at present poorly constrained by observations, play negligible roles in determining the observed peculiarity rate (Paper I) – for example, all SNe are discovered regardless of the extinction used for SN 1991T-like objects (within reasonable limits). Even if SN 1991T-like objects had the apparent brightness of SN 1991bg-like objects (which means an extra $`R`$-band extinction of $`A`$=1.4 mag), all of them would still be discovered in the LOSS and BAOSS surveys (just as all SN 1991bg-like objects are discovered).

The situation for the SN sample used by BFN, however, is very different. The SNe were discovered by many different groups using various survey methods. A large fraction of the SNe were discovered before 1985 when there were no systematic distance-limited SN surveys and few opportunities for rapid spectral classification. Most of the SNe in the BFN sample were discovered after maximum brightness and the spectra used to classify them were obtained even later. It is thus very difficult to disentangle the various observational biases in the sample, many of which were indeed mentioned by BFN. Moreover, since many of BFN’s SNe came from magnitude-limited surveys, the uncertain extinction of SN 1991T-like objects makes it difficult to derive the intrinsic peculiarity rate from the observed one. The observed peculiarity rate as derived by BFN (less than 17%) is thus a very rough estimate of the intrinsic one. The relatively small number for the peculiarity rate quoted by BFN can be understood primarily in the following way: (1) the sample underestimates the rate of SN 1991bg-like objects because of the light-curve shape bias and the Malmquist bias; and (2) the sample underestimates the rate of SN 1991T-like objects because of the age bias. These two reasons also probably explain why SN 1991T-like and SN 1991bg-like objects were not recognized before 1990.

### 4.3 Comparison with the High-Redshift Results

During the past few years, two groups have presented strong evidence that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating rather than decelerating (Riess et al. 1998; Perlmutter et al. 1999). This surprising result comes from distance measurements to about fifty SNe Ia in the redshift range $`z`$ = 0.1 to 1, and is based on the assumption that there are no significant differences between the SNe Ia at high redshift and their low-redshift counterparts. Although this assumption is supported to first order by comparisons of the photometric and spectroscopic properties of SNe Ia at high and low redshifts (e.g., Riess et al. 1998, 2000; Coil et al. 2000), there is also some evidence for differences between SNe Ia at different redshifts. In particular, Riess et al. (1999c) tentatively point out that the risetime (from explosion to maximum brightness) of low-redshift SNe Ia as determined by Riess et al. (1999b) differs from that of their high-redshift counterparts as determined by Groom (1998) and Goldhaber (1998), although a new measurement of the high-redshift risetime by Aldering, Knop, & Nugent (2000) diminishes the significance of this difference. Also, we note that Howell, Wang, & Wheeler (2000) point out a difference in the low-redshift and high-redshift radial distributions of SNe Ia in their host galaxies. There may additionally be systematic differences in the colors of low-redshift and high-redshift SNe Ia (Falco et al. 1999).

The peculiarity rate of SNe Ia at different redshifts, if taken at face value, may be another preliminary indication that the high-redshift SNe Ia differ to some extent from their low-redshift counterparts. Our study shows that the peculiarity rate for the nearby SNe Ia is $``$ 36%. For the high-redshift SNe Ia, however, there has not been a single peculiar SN Ia reported among the $``$ 50 spectroscopically classified SNe (Riess et al. 1998; Perlmutter et al. 1999; Adam Riess 1999, private communication; Peter Nugent 1999, private communication). The high-redshift SN searches are magnitude-limited surveys conducted in approximately the rest-frame $`B`$ band with a baseline of $``$ 20 days in the rest frame. With the intrinsic luminosity function for SNe Ia derived in Section 3, the rates of SN 1991bg-like and SN 1991T-like objects can be correctly derived for the magnitude-limited surveys using the Monte Carlo simulations in Paper I. The results are shown in Figure 6 for six cases, with SN 1991T having different amounts of adopted extra extinction in the $`B`$ band and two cutoffs (7 days after and 1 day before peak brightness) for the age bias. We see that the rate for SN 1991bg-like objects is less than 2%, regardless of the adopted extra extinction for SN 1991T-like objects and the cutoff of the age bias, so it is not a surprise that there have been few or no such objects discovered at high redshifts. However, if a cutoff of +7 days is used to simulate the age bias (the left panels in Figure 6), the rate for SN 1991T-like objects should be 27.3%, 18.6%, and 12.0% for the cases when SN 1991T-like objects have no extra extinction, 0.4 mag of extra extinction, and 0.8 mag of extra extinction, which means that there should be about 14$`\pm `$3, 9$`\pm `$3, and 6$`\pm `$2 SN 1991T-like objects among the 50 high-redshift SNe Ia, respectively. The fact that there may be no clear SN 1991T-like objects in the high-redshift sample is thus surprising. A natural explanation is that there may be evolution in the characteristics of SN Ia explosions at different redshifts. The disappearance of SN 1991T-like objects at high redshift may result from the loss of certain progenitor channels at high redshift due to a possibly redshift-dependent variation in the mass, composition, and metallicity of SN Ia progenitors (e.g., Ruiz-Lapuente & Canal 1998; Livio 2000).

On the other hand, there are several other possible explanations for the null discovery of SN 1991T-like objects at high redshift. These include the following.

(1) The SNe Ia at high redshifts are very faint, and spectroscopy of them is challenging even with the world’s largest optical telescopes. Given the fact that it is often not possible even to classify SNe at high redshift, it is far more difficult to detect peculiarities in their spectra. This problem is exacerbated by the inability to view the region around redshifted Si II 6150 Å in most of the objects; it is at wavelengths inaccessible to optical spectrgraphs, and the near-infrared sky is bright. This leaves mainly the Ca II H&K lines as discriminants of peculiarity, and makes it difficult to rule out SN 1999aa-like objects (which, recall, we include here in the SN 1991T subclass). Since most of the spectra of high-redshift SNe Ia have not yet been published, we cannot assess whether the absence of reported peculiarity is significant.

(2) The SN 1991T-like objects may be extinguished by more than the maximum extinction of $`A`$=0.8 mag displayed in Figure 6. This higher extinction can easily make the apparent difference in the peculiarity rate at low and high redshifts statistically insignificant. To investigate this possibility we have repeated the Monte Carlo simulations in Paper I for a wide range of assumed extinctions for the SN 1991T-like objects, and the results are shown in Figure 7. As expected, the observed rate of SN 1991T-like objects drops dramatically with an increasing adopted extinction. However, to make the null discovery of SN 1991T-like objects among the 50 high-redshift SNe Ia (assuming all have good spectra) be within the 3$`\sigma `$, 2$`\sigma `$, and 1$`\sigma `$ confidence levels of the nearby rate, extinctions of $`A`$=0.9, 1.4, and 2.1 mag must be adopted for the SN 1991T-like objects. Although four known SN 1991T-like objects showed a significant amount of reddening $`E(BV)`$ \[SN 1991T has 0.13 mag (Filippenko et al. 1992a), SN 1995ac has 0.17 mag (Riess et al. 1999a), SN 1995bd has 0.5 mag (Riess et al. 1999a), and SN 1997br has 0.35 mag (Li et al. 1999)\], the intrinsic reddening due to the SN environment is only $`E(BV)=0.11`$ mag for SN 1991T, 0.13 for SN 1995ac, 0.00 for SN 1995bd, and 0.24 for SN 1997br, when the Galactic component of the extinction is subtracted according to the map of Schlegel, Finkbeiner, & Davis (1998). Thus, the average intrinsic reddening for the four known SN 1991T-like objects is only $`E(BV)=0.12`$ mag. Assuming a normal extinction curve, the extinction in the $`B`$ band would be about 0.5 mag. The requisite large extinction ($`A`$1.1 mag) to account for the difference between the observed rate of SN 1991T-like objects at different redshifts therefore might not be plausible.

(3) There may be a more serious age bias – that is, a cutoff earlier than +7 days for the age bias. In the discussions of Figure 5 we pointed out that the cutoff for the age bias could be as early as 1 day before peak brightness. The results for such an early cutoff are shown in the right panels of Figure 6. For a baseline of 20 days, the rate of SN 1991T-like objects is only 10%, 6%, and 4% for the case when SN 1991T-like objects have 0, 0.4 mag, and 0.8 mag of extra extinction, which means that there should be about 5$`\pm `$2, 3$`\pm `$2, and 2$`\pm `$1 SN 1991T-like objects among the 50 high-redshift SNe Ia, respectively. The results with an early cutoff for the age bias indicate that the null discovery of SN 1991T-like objects in the high-redshift SN Ia sample is not significantly different from the cases when SN 1991T-like objects have extra extinction ($`A`$=0.4 or 0.8 mag).

The results from the Calán/Tololo SN Survey (CTSS) provide another compelling reason to believe that the difference between the peculiarity rate of SNe Ia at high and low redshifts is caused by the above three reasons rather than by the evolution of SNe Ia at different redshifts. The SNe Ia discovered in CTSS have redshifts of about 0.05, which is intermediate to those found at high redshift ($`z`$ 0.5) and those found by LOSS and BAOSS ($`z<0.03`$). If the difference in the peculiarity rate of SNe Ia at high and low redshifts were caused by the evolution of SNe Ia, we would expect the rate of SN 1991T-like objects in CTSS to be in between these two rates. But the fact is that there are no  apparent SN 1991T-like objects among the 31 SNe Ia discovered in the course of CTSS. CTSS and the high-redshift SN surveys have very similar characteristics: all of them are magnitude limited with a baseline of about 20 days, and all of them are done in the rest-frame $`B`$ band. The null discovery of SN 1991T-like objects in these surveys at different redshifts strongly implicates the survey characteristics rather than the evolution of SNe Ia.

There is also evidence from the CTSS data that indicates serious observational biases and further supports this explanation. Mark Phillips (2000, private communication) reports that only 23% of the SNe Ia discovered in CTSS have spectra at maximum or earlier, indicating the existence of a serious age bias. In contrast, 78% of the SNe in Table 1 were observed spectroscopically at or before maximum. Just on the basis of these numbers, one might expect that 2 of every 3 SN 1991T-like events would be classified as normal in CTSS. Hence, for the 31 SNe discovered, only 1.8$`\pm `$1 SN 1991T-like objects would have been expected if the intrinsic rate of SN 1991T-like events were 20%. This small number is not significantly inconsistent with the fact that none of these events were found.

### 4.4 The Progenitor Systems of SNe Ia

As discussed in Section 1, the exact nature of the progenitor systems of SNe Ia is still unknown. Until this problem is solved, one cannot be fully confident in the use of SNe Ia for cosmological distance determinations. The favored models (for reviews see Branch et al. 1995, and Livio 2000) include the double-degenerate models which involve the coalescence of C-O white dwarf pairs, and the single-degenerate models which involve a single white dwarf accreting material from a subgiant or giant companion (systems like supersoft X-ray sources, and symbiotics).

So far the homogeneity of SNe Ia has provided a very strong restriction to the models. Because it was thought that nearly 90% of all SNe Ia form a homogeneous class in terms of their spectra, light curves, and luminosities (the BFN results), researchers have been working hard to choose a single model over all others. It has been proposed that SNe Ia in late-type and early-type galaxies may have different progenitors (e.g., Della Valle & Livio 1994; Ruiz-Lapuente, Burkert, & Canal 1995), but the homogeneity constraints of SNe Ia have served as an argument against this.

The high peculiarity rate found in our study suggests that homogeneity is no longer such a strong constraint for the progenitor systems of SNe Ia. The high peculiarity rate actually may favor the existence of different progenitor systems; with more than one class of progenitor system, SNe Ia are more likely to have different types of photometric and spectroscopic properties. For example, perhaps SN 1991bg-like objects come from double-degenerate progenitor systems, while SN 1991T-like objects have single-degenerate progenitors, or vice versa. A full discussion, however, is beyond the scope of this paper.

## 5 Conclusions

We have compiled a set of 45 SNe Ia discovered in the LOSS and BAOSS galaxy samples (up through SN 2000A). We find that the total observed peculiarity rate is 36$`\pm `$9%; the rates are 16$`\pm `$7% and 20$`\pm `$7% for SN 1991bg-like and SN 1991T-like objects, respectively. Only 64$`\pm `$12% of observed SNe Ia are normal. Our peculiarity rate is substantially higher than that reported by Branch, Fisher, & Nugent (1993).

LOSS and BAOSS are distance-limited SN surveys with a limiting distance where normal SNe Ia have a peak apparent magnitude of about 16.0 and 15.3, respectively. The limiting magnitude of the two surveys is about 19.0 and the baseline is $``$ 10 days. Monte Carlo simulations done by Li et al. (2000b) indicate that essentially all SNe Ia should have been found in the LOSS and BAOSS galaxies. This implies that the peculiarity rate in our sample is very close to the intrinsic one, within the uncertainties of small-number statistics. Moreover, the luminosity function of SNe Ia in our sample is also intrinsic.

We have discussed some other selection effects that may affect our results. In particular, we find that our galaxy samples are representative of the general population of bright galaxies, and that the SN 1999aa-like objects (which are similar in some ways to SN 1991T and are included here in the SN 1991T subclass) play an important role in determining the peculiarity rates.

The high rate of peculiar low-redshift SNe Ia is very different from the preliminary result found at high redshift, which is zero. However, it may be adequate to explain the difference in terms of insufficient observation quality at high redshift, extinction, and/or a serious age bias for SN 1991T-like objects. If so, it is not necessary to invoke the evolution of SNe Ia with redshift.

The high peculiarity rate at low redshifts also suggests that homogeneity is no longer such a strong argument against the existence of different progenitor systems for SNe Ia.

We acknowledge the referee, Mark Phillips, for his very useful comments on the manuscript. We also thank M. Hamuy, D. C. Leonard, and T. Matheson for helpful discussions. The work of A. V. F.’s group at U.C. Berkeley is supported by National Science Foundation grants AST-9417213 and AST-9987438, as well as by NASA grant AR-08006 from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by AURA, Inc., under NASA contract NAS5-26555. KAIT was made possible by generous donations from Sun Microsystems Inc., the Hewlett-Packard Company, AutoScope Corporation, Lick Observatory, the National Science Foundation, the University of California, and the Sylvia and Jim Katzman Foundation. We are also grateful to the National Science Foundation of China for their support of the Beijing Astronomical Observatory.


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# The second cohomology of small irreducible modules for simple algebraic groups

## 1. Introduction

Let $`G`$ be a quasisimple, connected, and simply connected algebraic group over the algebraically closed field $`k`$ of characteristic $`p>0`$. By a $`G`$-module $`V`$, we always understand a rational $`G`$-module (one given by a morphism of algebraic groups $`G\mathrm{GL}(V)`$). In this paper, we study the cohomology of a $`G`$-module $`V`$ such that $`dimVp`$. By results of Jantzen \[Jan96\] one knows that $`V`$ is semisimple and that $`H^1(G,V)=0`$.

Recall that the Lie algebra $`𝔤`$ of $`G`$ is a $`G`$-module via the adjoint action. Our main result is:

###### Theorem A.

Let $`V`$ be a $`G`$-module with $`dimVp.`$ Then $`H^2(G,V)0`$ if and only if $`V`$ has a composition factor isomorphic with a *Frobenius twist* $`𝔤^{[d]}`$ of $`𝔤`$ for some $`d1`$.

Differentiating the representation of $`G`$ on $`V`$ gives a representation for the Lie algebra $`𝔤`$ on $`V`$. Assume that $`V^𝔤=0`$. Then the theorem says that $`H^2(G,V)=0`$. For $`V`$ of this sort, the vanishing of $`H^2`$ is a consequence of the linkage principle for $`G`$ together with results in section 2 which give estimates for the dimensions of Weyl modules whose high weights are simultaneously in the low alcove and in the orbit $`W_p0`$. In fact, the same argument shows that $`H^i(G,V)`$ is 0 for all $`i1`$; see Proposition 5.2. It was pointed out to me that an earlier version of this manuscript contained an overly complicated proof of this observation.

The crucial case for Theorem A is when $`V`$ is simple, non-trivial and $`V^𝔤=V`$. There is a unique $`d1`$ such that the “Frobenius untwist” $`V^{[d]}`$ is a $`G`$-module on which $`𝔤`$ acts non-trivially. We have already seen that $`H^i(G,V^{[d]})=0`$ for $`i=1,2`$, so Theorem A follows from the following two results (see 5.4). \[We denote by $`h`$ the Coxeter number of the group $`G`$.\]

###### Theorem B.

Suppose that $`ph`$ and that $`W`$ is a $`G`$-module for which $`H^i(G,W)=0`$ for $`i=1,2`$. Then $`H^2(G,W^{[d]})\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,W)`$ for all $`d1`$.

###### Theorem C.

If $`p>h`$, $`dimH^2(G,𝔤^{[d]})=1`$ for all $`d1`$. For any $`p`$, there is a $`d_01`$ so that $`H^2(G,𝔤^{[d]})0`$ for all $`dd_0`$.

Theorem B is proved in 5.3; it immediately implies the first assertion of Theorem C (see 5.5). We give a proof the second assertion of Theorem C in section 5.6.

We end the paper by applying the results of section 2 to calculations of cohomology groups $`H^i(G_1,L)`$, where $`G_1`$ is the Frobenius kernel, and $`L`$ is a simple $`G_1`$ module with $`dimLp`$; see Proposition 6.

We conclude this introduction by remarking that the result of Jantzen \[Jan96\] cited above is one of several recent results studying the semisimplicity of low dimensional representations of groups in characteristic $`p`$. See \[Ser94\], \[McN98\], \[McN99\],\[Gur99\], and \[McN00\] for related work.

The author would like to acknowledge the hospitality of Bob Guralnick and the University of Southern California during a visit in June 1999; in particular, questions of Guralnick encouraged the author to consider the problems addressed in this paper, and several conversations inspired some useful ideas.

## 2. Root systems

### 2.1.

We denote by $`R`$ an indecomposable root system in its weight lattice $`X`$ with simple roots $`SR^+`$. For each $`\alpha S`$, there is a fundamental dominant weight $`\varpi _\alpha X`$; the $`\varpi _\alpha `$ form a $``$ basis of $`X`$.

We write $`\alpha _0`$ for the dominant short root, and $`\stackrel{~}{\alpha }`$ for the dominant long root in $`R`$ (these coincide in case there is only one root length).

The Coxeter number of $`R`$ is given by

$$h1=\underset{\alpha R^+}{sup}\{\rho ,\alpha ^{}\}=\rho ,\alpha _0^{}.$$

For $`m`$ and $`\alpha R`$, let $`s_{\alpha ,m}`$ denote the affine reflection of $`X_{}=X_{}`$ in the hyperplane $`H_{\alpha ,m}=\{xX_{}:x,\alpha ^{}=m\}`$.

Let $`l>h`$ be an integer. The affine Weyl group $`W_l`$ is the group of affine transformations of $`X_{}`$ generated by all $`s_{\alpha ,ln}`$ for $`n`$. According to \[Bou72, ch. VI, §2.1, Prop. 1\] $`W_l`$ is isomorphic to the semidirect product of $`W`$ (the finite Weyl group) with $`lR`$. The normalizer of $`W_l`$ in the full affine transformation group of $`X_{}`$ contains all translations by $`lX`$, hence $`W_l`$ is a normal subgroup of $`\widehat{W}_l`$, the semidirect product of $`W`$ and $`lX`$. Moreover, $`\widehat{W}_l/W_llX/lRX/R`$ is the fundamental group of $`R`$, which we will denote by $`\pi `$.

Let $`\rho ={\displaystyle \frac{1}{2}}_{\alpha S}\alpha `$. We always consider the dot action of $`\widehat{W}_l`$ (also of $`W`$ and $`W_l`$) on $`X`$: for $`w\widehat{W}_l`$ and $`\lambda X`$, this is given by $`w\lambda =w(\lambda +\rho )\rho `$.

The subset $`C_l`$ of $`X_{}`$ given by

$$C_l=\{\lambda X_{}0<\lambda +\rho ,\alpha ^{}<l\text{for each }\alpha R^+\}.$$

is a fundamental domain for the dot action of $`W_l`$ on $`X`$; its conjugates under $`W_l`$ are known as alcoves, and $`C_l`$ is the lowest alcove. Since $`\widehat{W}_l`$ normalizes $`W_l`$, \[Bou72, ch. VI, §2.1\] shows that $`\widehat{W}_l`$ permutes the alcoves.

Let $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ be the stabilizer in $`\widehat{W}_l`$ of $`C`$. Since $`W_l`$ permutes the alcoves simply transitively, one deduces that $`\widehat{W}_l`$ is the semidirect product of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ and $`W_l`$. Thus $`\mathrm{\Omega }\widehat{W}_l/W_l\pi `$.

Since $`l>h`$, the intersection $`C_lX^+`$ is non-empty. \[Note that if $`lh`$ had been allowed, we would have $`C_lX^+=\{0\}`$ in case $`l=h`$, and $`C_lX^+=\mathrm{}`$ if $`l<h`$.\] It is then clear that $`\widehat{W}_l0C_l=\{\omega 0\omega \mathrm{\Omega }\}.`$

### 2.2.

Let $`I`$ index the simple roots $`S=\{\alpha _i\}`$, write $`\alpha _0^{}=_{iI}n_i\alpha _i^{}`$, and put $`J=\{iIn_i=1\}`$. A dominant weight $`0\varpi X`$ is *minuscule* if whenever $`\lambda \varpi `$ and $`\lambda `$ is a dominant weight, then $`\varpi =\lambda `$. According to \[Bou72, Ch. VI, exerc. 23,24\], $`\varpi `$ is minuscule just in case $`\varpi =\varpi _i`$ for some $`iJ`$.

For $`iI\{0\}`$, let $`S_i=S\{\alpha _i\}`$ (so $`S_0=S`$). Write $`R_iR`$ for the root subsystem determined by $`S_i`$, and $`W_i`$ for the parabolic subgroup of $`W`$ associated with $`R_i`$. Let $`w_iW_i`$ be the unique element which makes all positive roots in $`R_i`$ negative.

For $`xX`$, let $`t(x)`$ denote the affine translation by $`x`$; for $`iJ`$, let $`\gamma _i=t(l\varpi _i)w_0w_i\widehat{W_l}`$. Note that $`\gamma _i`$ represents $`\varpi _iX/RlX/lR\widehat{W_l}/W_l.`$

Applying \[Bou72, ch. VI, §2.2 Prop. 6 and Cor.\] one obtains:

###### Proposition.

1. Each non-0 coset of $`R`$ in $`X`$ is uniquely represented by a minuscule weight. In particular, $`|\pi |=|J|+1`$.
2. The non-identity elements of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$ are precisely the $`\gamma _i`$ for $`iJ`$. We have

$$\widehat{W}_l0C_l=\{0\}\{\gamma _i0=(lh)\varpi _iiJ\}$$

### 2.3.

For a dominant weight $`\lambda `$, let

(1)
$$d(\lambda )=\underset{\alpha >0}{}\frac{\lambda +\rho ,\alpha ^{}}{\rho ,\alpha ^{}}$$

be the value of Weyl’s degree formula at $`\lambda `$.

###### Proposition.

Let $`\lambda =(lh)\varpi _i`$ for some $`iJ`$.

* $`d(\lambda )\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{l1}{lh}\right)`$, with equality if and only if $`h1=\mathrm{}(w_0w_i)`$.
* If $`lh2`$ and $`h3`$, then $`d(\lambda )>l`$.

###### Proof.

For $`1kh1`$, let $`e(k)`$ be the number of $`\alpha R^+R_i^+`$ with $`\rho ,\alpha ^{}=k`$. The argument in the remark on p. 520-521 of \[Ser94\] (following Prop. 6) shows that $`e(k)1`$ for each $`1kh1`$. Thus, we have

$$d(\lambda )=\underset{k=1}{\overset{h1}{}}\left(\frac{lh+k}{k}\right)^{e(k)}\underset{k=1}{\overset{h1}{}}\frac{lh+k}{k}=\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{l1}{lh}\right).$$

If $`\mathrm{}(w_0w_i)=|R^+||R_i^+|=h1`$, then $`e(k)=1`$ for each $`1kh1`$ and equality holds. This proves (a).

For (b), note that under the given hypothesis we have $`l5`$. Since $`\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{l1}{lh}\right)\left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{l1}{2}\right)>l`$ for all such $`l`$, (b) follows immediately. ∎

###### Remark.

Using the table in the proof of Proposition 2.4 below, it is straightforward to verify that equality holds in (a) if and only if either $`R=A_r`$ and $`i\{1,r\}`$ or $`R=C_r`$ and $`i=1`$. (Since $`B_2=C_2`$, the latter case includes $`B_2`$ and $`i=2`$.)

### 2.4.

In the following, let me emphasize the standing assumption $`l>h`$.

###### Proposition.

If $`0\lambda \widehat{W}_l0C`$ and $`d(\lambda )<l`$ then $`d(\lambda )=\mathrm{}1`$ and $`(R,\lambda )`$ is listed in the following table. If the rank of $`R`$ is $`2`$, then $`l=h+1`$.

$$\begin{array}{ccc}R\hfill & l\hfill & \lambda \hfill \\ & & \\ & & \\ A_1\hfill & \text{any}\hfill & (l2)\varpi _1\hfill \\ A_{l2}\hfill & & \varpi _1,\varpi _{l2}\hfill \\ B_2\hfill & l=5\hfill & \varpi _2\hfill \\ C_{(l1)/2}\hfill & l\text{ odd}\hfill & \varpi _1\hfill \end{array}$$

###### Proof.

The rank 1 situation leads to the item listed in the table. When the rank is at least 2, one applies Proposition Proposition to obtain $`l=h+1`$, whence $`\lambda =\varpi _i`$ for some $`iJ`$; i.e. $`\lambda `$ is minuscule.

We handle the minuscule cases by classification. For each indecomposable root system $`R`$ for which $`J\mathrm{}`$, we list in the following table the Coxeter number, the set $`J`$, and the value $`d(\varpi _i)`$ for each $`iJ`$. The simple roots are indexed as in the tables in \[Bou72, Planche I-X\]; the data recorded here, with the exception of the values $`d(\varpi _i)`$, may be verified by inspecting those tables as well. The values $`d(\varpi _i)`$ are well known (and can anyway be computed from the formula, or by representation theoretic arguments).

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}\text{Type of }R\hfill & h\hfill & J\hfill & d(\varpi _i),iJ\hfill & \\ & & & & \\ & & & & \\ A_r\hfill & r+1\hfill & \{1,2,\mathrm{},r\}\hfill & \left(\genfrac{}{}{0pt}{}{r+1}{i}\right)\hfill & \\ B_r,r2\hfill & 2r\hfill & \{r\}\hfill & 2^r\hfill & \\ C_r,r2\hfill & 2r\hfill & \{1\}\hfill & 2r\hfill & \\ D_r,r4\hfill & 2r2\hfill & \{1,r1,r\}\hfill & 2r,2^{r1},2^{r1}\text{respectively}\hfill & \\ E_6\hfill & 12\hfill & \{1,6\}\hfill & 27,27\hfill & \\ E_7\hfill & 18\hfill & \{7\}\hfill & 56\hfill & \end{array}$$

From this table, one can list all pairs $`(R,\lambda )`$ for which $`R`$ has Coxeter number $`l1`$ and $`\lambda `$ is minuscule. It is a simple matter to see that $`d(\lambda )<l`$ only when $`(R,\lambda )`$ is as claimed. ∎

## 3. The algebraic groups

### 3.1.

Let $`k`$ be an algebraically closed field of characteristic $`p>0`$, and let $`G`$ be a connected, simply connected semisimple algebraic $`k`$-group. The non-0 weights of a maximal torus $`TG`$ on $`𝔤=\mathrm{Lie}(G)`$ form an indecomposable root system $`R`$ of rank $`r=dimT`$ in the character group $`X=X^{}(T)`$. Since $`G`$ is simply connected, $`X`$ identifies with the full weight lattice of $`R`$ as in section 2. We fix a choice of simple roots $`S`$ and positive roots $`R^+`$. The dominant weights are denoted $`X^+`$. The group $`G`$ is assumed to be *quasisimple*; i.e. the root system $`R`$ is indecomposable.

### 3.2.

For each dominant weight $`\lambda X^+`$, the space of global sections of the corresponding line bundle on the flag variety affords an indecomposable rational $`G`$-module $`H^0(\lambda )`$ with simple socle. The modules $`L(\lambda )=\mathrm{soc}H^0(\lambda )`$ comprise all of the simple rational modules for $`G`$ (and are pairwise non-isomorphic).

The character of each $`H^0(\lambda )`$ is the same as in characteristic 0; hence in particular $`dim_kH^0(\lambda )`$ is given by the Weyl degree formula, whose value at $`\lambda `$ we denote $`d(\lambda )`$ as in 2.3.

### 3.3.

Any dominant $`\lambda `$ may be written as a finite sum $`_{i0}p^i\lambda _i`$ with each $`\lambda _i`$ a *restricted* weight. Recall that a dominant weight $`\mu `$ if $`\mu ,\alpha ^{}<p`$ for all simple roots $`\alpha `$. Steinberg’s tensor product theorem says:

$$L(\lambda )L(\lambda _0)L(\lambda _1)^{[1]}L(\lambda _2)^{[2]}\mathrm{}$$

where for a $`G`$-module $`V`$, $`V^{[m]}`$ standards for the $`m`$-th Frobenius twist of $`V`$.

For $`d1`$, let $`G_d`$ be the $`d`$-th Frobenius kernel of $`G`$. Let $`V`$ be a rational $`G`$-module and $`m1`$. If there is a rational $`G`$ module $`W`$ with $`W^{[m]}V`$, we regard $`W`$ as the Frobenius *untwist* $`W=V^{[m]}`$ of $`V`$. Now regard $`V`$ as a module for $`G_d`$. Since $`G_d`$ is a normal subgroup scheme, $`G`$ acts on $`V^{G_d}`$; since $`G_d`$ acts trivially on this $`G`$-module, there is an untwisted rational $`G`$-module $`(V^{G_d})^{[d]}`$. It follows that there is an untwist $`H^i(G_d,V)^{[d]}`$ for all $`i0`$.

Consider now two $`G`$-modules $`V_1`$ and $`V_2`$, and form $`W=V_1V_2^{[d]}`$. The Frobenius kernel $`G_d`$ acts trivially on $`V_2^{[d]}`$, so that

(1)
$$H^i(G_d,W)^{[d]}H^i(G_d,V_1)^{[d]}V_2$$

as $`G`$-modules for every $`i0`$.

### 3.4.

Let $`W_p\widehat{W}_p`$ be as in section 2 (for $`l=p`$), let $`C=C_pX^+`$ denote the dominant weights in the lowest alcove, and let $`\overline{C}=\overline{C}_pX^+`$ ($`\overline{C}_p`$ is the closure in $`X_{}`$).

###### Proposition.

Let $`\lambda X^+`$.

1. If $`H^i(G,L(\lambda ))0`$ for some $`i0`$. then $`\lambda W_p0`$.
2. If $`H^i(G_1,L(\lambda ))0`$ for some $`i0`$, then $`\lambda \widehat{W_p}0`$.
3. $`H^i(G,H^0(\lambda ))=0`$ for all $`i>0`$.
4. If $`\lambda \overline{C}`$, then $`L(\lambda )=H^0(\lambda )`$; in particular, $`dimL(\lambda )=d(\lambda )`$.

###### Proof.

(a) follows from the *linkage principle* for $`G`$ \[Jan87, Cor. II.6.17\], and (b) from the linkage principle for $`G_1`$ \[Jan87, Lemma II.9.16\]. (c) follows from \[Jan87, II.4.12\]. (d) follows from \[Jan87, II.6.13,II.5.10\]. ∎

## 4. The Lie algebra and the cohomology of $`G_1`$

We want to describe explicitly the cohomology $`H^{}(G_1,k)`$ in degree $`2`$. For this, we need some information on the Lie algebra $`𝔤`$.

### 4.1.

Recall that the prime $`p`$ is *bad*\[=not good\] for the indecomposable root system $`R`$ if one of the following holds: $`p=2`$ and $`R`$ is not of type $`A_r`$; $`p=3`$ and $`R`$ is of type $`G_2`$,$`F_4`$, or $`E_r`$; $`p=5`$ and $`R`$ is of type $`E_8`$.

The prime $`p`$ is *very good* if it is not bad, and in case $`R=A_r`$, if also $`p`$ does not divide $`r+1`$.

Application of the summary in \[Hum95, 0.13\] yields:

###### Lemma A.

Assume that $`p`$ is *very good.* Then $`𝔤`$ is a simple Lie algebra. The adjoint $`G`$-module is simple, self-dual, and isomorphic with $`L(\stackrel{~}{\alpha })`$ where $`\stackrel{~}{\alpha }`$ is the dominant long root.

Notice that if $`p>h`$, then $`p`$ is very good.

###### Lemma B.

Assume that $`ph`$. If $`W`$ is any $`G`$-module, then $`\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,W^{[d]})=0`$ for $`d1`$.

###### Proof.

When $`p>h`$ this follows since $`𝔤`$ is a simple $`𝔤`$-module with restricted highest weight. When $`p=h`$, we have $`R=A_{p1}`$. Since $`G`$ is simply connected, we have $`𝔤=𝔰𝔩_p`$. Thus $`𝔤`$ is an indecomposable $`G`$-module with unique simple quotient $`L(\stackrel{~}{\alpha })`$, and the lemma follows. ∎

### 4.2.

Let $`B`$ be a Borel subgroup of $`G`$, and let $`𝔲`$ be the nilradical of $`\mathrm{Lie}(B)`$. Regarding $`𝔲^{}`$ as a $`B`$-module, we get a vector bundle on $`G/B`$ which we also write as $`𝔲^{}`$. According to \[AJ84, 3.8\], the formal character of the $`G`$-module $`H^0(G/B,𝔲^{})`$ is $`\chi (\stackrel{~}{\alpha })=\text{ch}(𝔤^{})`$.

Let $`𝒩𝔤`$ be the nilpotent cone. There is by \[AJ84, 3.9\] an injective homomorphism of graded algebras $`k[𝒩]H^0(G/B,S𝔲^{})`$

###### Lemma.

For simply connected, quasisimple algebraic groups $`G`$, $`𝔤^{}k[𝒩]_1H^0(G/B,𝔲^{})`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`I(𝒩)k[𝔤]=S𝔤^{}`$ be the (homogeneous) defining ideal of the variety $`𝒩`$. We need to show that $`I(𝒩)_1=0`$. If not, then $`𝒩V𝔤`$ for some proper $`G`$-submodule $`V`$. A look at the summary in \[Hum95, 0.13\] shows that, since $`G`$ is simply connected, the only $`G`$-submodules of $`𝔤`$ have dimension 0 or 1. On the other hand, by \[Hum95, Theorem 6.19\], the variety $`𝒩`$ has codimension $`\text{rank}(G)`$ in $`𝔤`$ and so clearly can’t be contained in a 1 dimensional linear subspace! ∎

###### Remarks.

1. Here is a fancier result which implies the lemma if we assume that the prime $`p`$ is good for $`G`$. Since $`G`$ is simply connected and $`p`$ is good, the Springer resolution

$$\phi :\stackrel{~}{𝒩}=G\times ^B𝔲𝒩$$

given by $`(g,X)\mathrm{Ad}(g)(X)`$ is a *desingularization*, hence in particular a birational map; see \[Hum95, Theorem 6.3 and Theorem 6.20\]. Again since $`G`$ is simply connected and $`p`$ is good, the variety $`𝒩`$ is normal (\[Hum95, Theorem 4.24\]). Standard arguments then yield an isomorphism of graded algebras $`k[𝒩]\underset{}{\overset{\phi ^{}}{}}\mathrm{\Gamma }(\stackrel{~}{𝒩},𝒪_{\stackrel{~}{𝒩}})`$. Finally, the projection $`\stackrel{~}{𝒩}G/B`$ is an affine morphism, so that $`\mathrm{\Gamma }(\stackrel{~}{𝒩},𝒪_{\stackrel{~}{𝒩}})=H^0(G/B,S𝔲^{})`$ as a graded algebra.
2. On the other hand, if $`G=PGL_r`$, and $`p|r`$, one can find a linear form on $`𝔤`$ that vanishes on $`𝒩`$, hence there can be no isomorphism $`k[𝒩]_1H^0(G/B,𝔲^{})`$ (compare formal characters). So the lemma can fail when $`G`$ is not simply connected. \[Note that $`\phi `$ is not birational in this example. One can show that there is a $`G_{sc}`$-isomorphism $`\psi :\stackrel{~}{𝒩}_{sc}\stackrel{~}{𝒩}`$ (using some obvious notations). We get therefore a commuting diagram:

The map $`\phi _{sc}\psi ^1`$ is birational. Since $`\gamma ^{}k(𝒩)k(𝒩_{sc})`$ is a proper purely inseparable extension, so too is $`\phi ^{}k(𝒩)k(\stackrel{~}{𝒩})`$.\]

###### Proposition.

1. If $`p2`$ or if $`R`$ is not of type $`C_r`$, then $`H^1(G_1,k)=0`$.
2. Assume that $`ph`$. Then $`H^2(G_1,k)^{[1]}𝔤^{}`$ as $`G`$-modules.

###### Proof.

For (1) see \[Jan87, Lemma II.12.1\]. For (2), first suppose that $`p>h`$. By \[AJ84, 3.7,3.9\], there is a $`G`$-equivariant isomorphism of graded rings $`k[𝒩]^{}H^{}(G_1,k)^{[1]}`$ where $`k[𝒩]^{}`$ is again the graded coordinate ring of $`𝒩`$, but with the linear functions on $`𝔤`$ given degree 2. The claim now follows from the lemma.

When $`p=h`$, apply \[AJ84, Cor. 6.3\] to see that $`H^2(G_1,k)^{[1]}H^0(G/B,𝔲^{})`$; the claim follows again from the lemma in this case. ∎

## 5. Low dimensional modules for $`G`$

### 5.1.

We recall first some facts about low dimensional modules established in \[Jan96\] and \[Ser94\].

###### Proposition.

Let $`L`$ be a simple non-trivial restricted $`G`$ module with highest weight $`\lambda `$. Suppose that $`dimLp`$.

1. $`\lambda \overline{C}`$.
2. $`\lambda C`$ if and only if $`dim_kL<p`$.
3. $`hp`$. If moreover $`dimL<p`$, then $`h<p`$.
4. If $`R`$ is not of type $`A`$ and $`dimL=p`$, then $`h<p`$. If $`p=h`$ and $`dimL=p`$, then $`R=A_{p1}`$ and $`\lambda =\varpi _i`$ with $`i\{1,p1\}`$.

###### Proof.

(a) follows from \[Jan96, Lemma 1.4\], and (b) from \[Jan96, 1.6\], see also \[Ser94\]. For (c), note first that (a) implies $`dimL=d(\lambda )`$ by Proposition 3.4(d). If $`\lambda \overline{C}C`$, then (a) and (b) imply that $`dimL=p`$, whence $`p=h`$ follows from Weyl’s degree formula. (c) now follows since $`C`$ is empty if $`p<h`$ and $`C=\{0\}`$ if $`p=h`$.

In \[Jan96, 1.6\], Jantzen made a list of all simple restricted modules for $`G`$ with dimension $`p`$. Inspecting that list yields (d). ∎

### 5.2. Vanishing results when $`𝔤`$ acts non-trivially

Let $`L`$ be a simple module for $`G`$.

###### Proposition.

If $`G_1`$ (equivalently: $`𝔤`$) acts non-trivially on $`L`$ and $`dimLp`$, then $`H^i(G,L)=0`$ for all $`i0`$.

###### Proof.

Write the highest weight of $`L`$ as $`\lambda =\mu _1+p\mu _2`$ with $`\mu _1`$ restricted. Since $`L^𝔤=0`$, we have $`\mu _10`$. Since $`pdimLdimL(\mu _1)`$, Proposition 5.1 implies that $`\mu _1\overline{C}`$ and that $`hp`$. We have in particular that $`L(\mu _1)=H^0(\mu _1)`$, hence the proposition will follow from Proposition 3.4 if we show that $`\mu _2`$ is 0.

If $`dimL=p`$, Steinberg’s tensor product theorem gives $`\mu _2=0`$. If $`dimL<p`$ then 5.1 shows that $`p<h`$ and $`\mu _1C`$. If $`H^i(G,L)0`$ for some $`i`$, then $`\lambda W_p0`$ by the linkage principle, whence $`\mu _1W0+pX=\widehat{W_p}0`$. Now Proposition 2.4 applies; it shows that $`dimL(\mu _1)=p1`$ whence we have $`\mu _2=0`$ by another application of Steinberg’s theorem. ∎

### 5.3. Second cohomology

Here we prove our main tool for describing second cohomology; first we require the following:

###### Lemma.

Let $`E_2^{p,q}H^{p+q}`$ be a convergent, first quadrant spectral sequence.

1. If $`E_2^{0,1}=E_2^{1,1}=E_2^{0,2}=0`$, then $`H^2E_2^{2,0}`$
2. If $`E_2^{1,0}=E_2^{1,1}=E_2^{2,0}=0`$, then $`H^2E_2^{0,2}`$.

###### Proof.

We verify (1), the argument for (2) is the same. We must show that $`E_{\mathrm{}}^{2,0}E_2^{2,0}`$; first note that $`E_3^{2,0}`$ is the cohomology of the sequence

$$E_2^{0,1}E_2^{2,0}E_2^{4,1}$$

from which we get $`E_3^{2,0}E_2^{2,0}`$. For any first quadrant spectral sequence one has (by similar reasoning) that $`E_a^{2,0}E_{a+1}^{2,0}`$ for $`a>2`$, so we get the desired isomorphism. ∎

###### Theorem.

Suppose that $`ph`$. Let $`V`$ be a $`G`$-module for which $`H^i(G,V)=0`$ for $`i=1,2`$, and let $`d1`$.

1. $`H^1(G,V^{[d]})=0`$, and
2. $`H^2(G,V^{[d]})\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,V)`$.

###### Proof.

The Frobenius kernel $`G_1`$ is a normal subgroup of $`G`$; thus there is a Lyndon-Hochschild-Serre spectral sequence computing $`H^i(G,V^{[d]})`$ which in view of 3.3 (1) has the form

$$E_2^{s,t}=H^s(G,H^t(G_1,V^{[d]})^{[1]})=H^s(G,H^t(G_1,k)^{[1]}V^{[d1]})$$

If $`t=1`$, $`E_2^{s,t}=0`$ by Lemma 4.2(1).

There is an exact sequence of the form \[Jan87, I.4.1(4)\]

$$0E_2^{1,0}H^1(G,V^{[d]})E_2^{0,1}=0.$$

Thus $`H^1(G,V^{[d]})E_2^{1,0}H^1(G,V^{[d1]})`$. We get now (1) by induction on $`d`$.

Lemma 4.2(2) shows now that $`H^2(G_1,k)𝔤^{}`$. Thus, the only possible non-0 $`E_2`$ terms of total degree 2 are

$`E_2^{0,2}=`$ $`H^0(G,𝔤^{}V^{[d1]})=\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,V^{[d1]})`$
$`E_2^{2,0}=`$ $`H^2(G,V^{[d1]}).`$
For $`d>1`$, we apply 4.1 Lemma B to see that $`E_2^{0,2}=0`$ whence $`H^2(G,V^{[d]})E_2^{2,0}=H^2(G,V^{[d1]})`$ by part (1) of the lemma; thus (2) will follow provided it holds for $`d=1`$. In that case, we have $`E_2^{2,0}=0`$ by assumption, and the result just proved in part (1) shows that $`E_2^{1,0}=0`$. Thus part (2) of the lemma applies; it shows that $`H^2(G,V^{[1]})E_2^{0,2}=\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,V)`$ as desired. ∎

### 5.4. The second cohomology of small modules.

Let $`L=L(\lambda )`$ be a simple $`G`$-module, and suppose that $`dimLp`$. Proposition 5.2 showed that the vanishing of cohomology for $`L`$ is a consequence of the linkage principle when $`\lambda pX`$. However, if $`\lambda pR`$, $`\lambda `$ is linked to 0, so the linkage principle does not yield vanishing. The following result shows that, despite the linkage of $`\lambda `$ and $`0`$ in this case, the second cohomology is usually 0.

###### Theorem.

Let $`L`$ be a simple $`G`$-module with $`dimLp`$. If $`H^2(G,L)0`$, then $`L𝔤^{[d]}`$ for some $`d1`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`L^{}`$ be such that $`L(L^{})^{[d]}`$ for $`d0`$, and such that $`𝔤`$ acts non-trivially on $`L^{}`$. We have by 5.1 that $`ph`$. Also, we have by Proposition 5.2 that $`H^i(G,L^{})=0`$ for $`i1`$. If $`d=0`$, we are done. If $`d>1`$, then Theorem 5.3 applies, and we get that

$$H^2(G,L)\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,L^{}).$$

We get by Proposition 5.1 that $`p>h`$ unless $`R=A_{p1}`$ and $`L^{}=L(\varpi _i)`$ with $`i\{1,p1\}`$. If $`p>h`$, then $`𝔤`$ is a simple $`G`$-module by Lemma 4.1. So if $`\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,L^{})0`$ then $`L^{}𝔤`$ whence $`L𝔤^{[d]}`$ as claimed.

In the remaining case, one must just note that weight considerations yield $`\mathrm{Hom}_G(𝔤,L(\varpi _i))=0`$ for $`i=1,p1`$, whence $`H^2(G,L)=0`$. ∎

### 5.5. The second cohomology of twists of the adjoint module

The first assertion of Theorem C of the introduction follows from the following:

###### Proposition.

Assume that $`p>h`$. Then $`H^1(G,𝔤^{[d]})=0`$ and $`H^2(G,𝔤^{[d]})\mathrm{End}_G(𝔤)`$ has dimension 1 for $`d1`$.

###### Proof.

Since $`p>h`$, Lemma 4.1 shows that $`𝔤`$ is the simple module with highest weight $`\stackrel{~}{\alpha }`$. It follows that $`𝔤=H^0(\stackrel{~}{\alpha })`$, and thus that $`H^i(G,𝔤)=0`$ for $`i1`$ by Proposition 3.4. The proposition now follows from Theorem 5.3. ∎

###### Remark.

Note that $`dim𝔤>h`$ (in fact, $`dim𝔤=(h+1)r`$ where $`r`$ is the rank of $`G`$). So we get also: if $`dim𝔤p`$, then $`dimH^2(G,𝔤^{[d]})=1`$ for $`d1`$.

### 5.6. A second proof

Here we give a second proof of the non-vanishing of $`H^2`$ for twists of the adjoint module; the result proved here verifies the remaining assertion of Theorem C of the introduction. We have included the argument since it offers some “explanation” for the non-vanishing.

The group $`G`$ arises by base change from a split reductive group scheme $`𝐆`$ over $``$. Let $`_p`$ be the complete ring of $`p`$-adic integers, and let $`_p`$ be its field of quotients. For any finite field extension $`F`$ of $`_p`$, let $`𝔬`$ denote the integers in $`F`$. The residue field $`𝔬/𝔪`$ may be identified with the extension $`𝔽_q`$ of $`𝔽_p`$.

Let $`K`$ denote the group of points $`𝐆(𝔬)`$ regarded as a subgroup of $`𝐆(F)`$. Since $`𝐆`$ is smooth, the reduction homomorphism $`K𝐆(𝔽_q)`$ is surjective (see \[Tit79, 3.4.4\]).

For $`n1`$, let $`K_nK`$ be the kernel of the map $`K𝐆(𝔬/𝔪^n)`$. Note that $`K/K_1=𝐆(𝔽_q)`$ acts by conjugation on each quotient $`K_n/K_{n+1}`$.

###### Proposition.

1. There is for each $`m1`$ a canonical isomorphism $`K_m/K_{m+1}𝔤_{𝔽_q}`$ as representations for $`𝐆(𝔽_q)`$, where $`𝔤_{𝔽_q}`$ is the Lie algebra of $`𝐆_{𝔽_q}`$.
2. If $`H^2(𝐆(𝔽_q),𝔤_{𝔽_q})=0`$, the exact sequence of groups

$$1K_1K𝐆(𝔽_q)1$$

splits.
3. There is a $`p`$-power $`q_0`$, depending only on the root system $`R`$ of $`G`$, such that $`H^2(𝐆(𝔽_q),𝔤_{𝔽_q})0`$ whenever $`qq_0`$.
4. There is an integer $`a_01`$ such that $`H^2(G,𝔤^{[a]})0`$ whenever $`aa_0`$.

###### Proof.

(a) Follows from \[DG70, II.§4.3\]. (b) Since $`K_1`$ is a pro-$`p`$ group \[PR94, Lemma 3.8\], this follows from \[Ser67, Lemma 3\].

(c) Choose a $`_p`$ vectorspace $`V`$ and a non-trivial faithful $`_p`$-rational representation $`𝐆__p\mathrm{GL}(V)`$. For each extension $`F`$ of $`_p`$ with integers $`𝔬`$, the group $`K=𝐆(𝔬)`$ is a subgroup of (the group of $`F`$-points of) $`\mathrm{GL}(V_F)`$. If $`H^2(𝐆(𝔽_q),𝔤_{𝔽_q})=0`$, the sequence in (b) is split and $`V_F`$ is a non-trivial $`F[𝐆(𝔽_q)]`$-module.

Since $`F`$ has characteristic 0, it is well known that the minimal dimension of a non-trivial $`F[𝐆(𝔽_q)]`$ module is bounded below by the value $`f(q)`$ of a polynomial $`f[x]`$, depending only on $`G`$, for which $`f(q)\mathrm{}`$ as $`q\mathrm{}`$. We may choose $`q_0`$ such that $`f(q)>dim__pV`$ for each $`q>q_0`$, and (c) follows at once.

(d) now follows from (c) and \[CPSvdK77, Cor. 6.9\]. ∎

## 6. Small simple modules for $`G_1`$

Combining results of \[KLT99\] with the results recorded in 2.4, we obtain some explicit results on $`G_1`$ cohomology of low dimensional simple modules:

###### Proposition.

Let $`L`$ be a non-trivial simple $`G_1`$ module with $`dimp`$. Assume for some $`i0`$ that $`H^i(G_1,L)0`$. Then $`dimL=p1`$. Moreover, there is a quadruple $`(R,\lambda ,i(0),V)`$ in the following table for which $`R`$ is the root system of $`G`$, $`\lambda `$ the high weight of $`L`$, $`ii(0)`$ and $`H^{i(0)}(G_1,L)^{[1]}V`$ as $`G`$-modules.

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}R\hfill & \lambda \hfill & i(0)\hfill & H^{i(0)}(G_1,L)^{[1]}\hfill & \\ & & & & \\ & & & & \\ A_1\hfill & (p2)\varpi _1\hfill & 1\hfill & L(\varpi _1)\hfill & \\ A_{p2}\hfill & \varpi _1,\varpi _{p2}\hfill & p2\hfill & L(\lambda )\hfill & \\ C_{(p1)/2}p\text{ odd}\hfill & \varpi _1\hfill & p2\hfill & L(\lambda )\hfill & \end{array}$$

###### Proof.

By \[Jan87, Prop. II.3.14\], $`L=\mathrm{res}_{G_1}^GL(\lambda )`$ for some restricted dominant weight $`0\lambda `$. Thus $`L(\lambda )`$ is a restricted, simple $`G`$ module with dimension $`p`$. It follows from Proposition 5.1 that $`hp`$, that $`\lambda \overline{C}`$, and that $`L=H^0(\lambda )`$ as modules for $`G`$.

Suppose that $`H^i(G_1,L)0`$ for some $`i`$. By the linkage principle for $`G_1`$ (Proposition 3.4(b)), we must have $`\lambda \widehat{W_p}0`$, hence $`\lambda C`$. This implies that $`h<p`$. Proposition 2.2 shows that $`\lambda =(ph)\varpi _i=w_0w_i0+p\varpi _i`$ for some $`iJ`$, and Proposition Proposition yields $`dimL=p1`$ and lists the possible pairs $`(R,\lambda )`$.

For $`h<p`$, Kumar, Lauritzen and Thomsen \[KLT99, Theorem 8\] have extended a result of Andersen and Jantzen \[AJ84, 3.7\]; this result implies in particular that the minimal degree for which $`H^{}(G_1,L)`$ is non-0 is $`\mathrm{}(w_0w_i)`$, and that

$$H^{\mathrm{}(w_0w_i)}(G_1,L)^{[1]}H^0(\varpi _i).$$

It is straightforward to compute for each pair $`(R,\lambda )`$ the length $`\mathrm{}(w_0w_i)`$; one gets in this way the result. ∎

###### Remark.

The Theorem implies the fact (used by Jantzen in the proof of \[Jan96, Lemma 1.7\]) that $`H^1(G_1,L)=0`$ for all simple $`G_1`$ modules $`L`$ with $`dimLp`$. The argument used by Jantzen there relied on the calculations of $`H^1`$ carried out in \[Jan91\].


text:
# Chiral ordered phases in a frustrated 𝑆=1 chain with uniaxial single-ion-type anisotropy

## Abstract

The ground-state phase transitions of a frustrated $`S=1`$ Heisenberg chain with the uniaxial single-ion-type anisotropy and the frustrating next-nearest-neighbor coupling are studied. For the system, it has been shown that there are gapless and gapped chiral phases in which the chirality $`\kappa _l=S_l^xS_{l+1}^yS_l^yS_{l+1}^x`$ exhibits a finite long-range order (LRO) and the spin correlation decays either algebraically or exponentially. In this study, the transitions between the Haldane and chiral phase and between the large-D (LD) and chiral phase are investigated using the infinite-system density-matrix renormalization group method. It is found that there exist two types of gapped chiral phases, “chiral Haldane” and “chiral LD” phases, in which the string LRO coexists with the chiral LRO and the string correlation decays exponentially, respectively.

Frustrated quantum spin chains and their low-energy properties have been one of the most attractive subjects over the decades. In the systems, a rich variety of magnetic phases is realized by the interplay between frustration and quantum fluctuation. More recently, both analytic  and numerical  studies have been performed to investigate the possibility of a new phase defined by the nonzero value of the $`z`$-component of the total vector chirality  and the absence of the helical long-range order (LRO)

$`\kappa `$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{L}}{\displaystyle \underset{l}{}}\kappa _l0,`$ (2)
$`\kappa _l=S_l^xS_{l+1}^yS_l^yS_{l+1}^x=\left[\stackrel{}{S}_l\times \stackrel{}{S}_{l+1}\right]_z,`$
$`\stackrel{}{m}(q)`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{L}}{\displaystyle \underset{l}{}}\stackrel{}{S}_l\mathrm{e}^{iql}=0(\mathrm{for}q),`$ (3)
where $`\stackrel{}{S}_l`$ is spin-S operator at the $`l`$-th site and $`L`$ is the total number of spins. This chiral ordered phase is characterized by the spontaneous breaking of the parity symmetry with preserving the time-reversal symmetry. From the studies, it has been revealed that the frustrated $`XXZ`$ spin chains with the competing nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor couplings exhibit the chiral LRO for the cases of $`S=1/2`$, $`1`$, $`3/2`$, and $`2`$ The ground-state phase diagrams and the critical properties of the chains has also been investigated.

One of the most surprising observations among the studies is that there exist two different types of chiral phases in the frustrated $`S=1`$ $`XXZ`$ chain.  It has been shown numerically that, in the one of them, the “chiral Haldane” phase, the chiral and string LRO’s coexist and the spin correlation decays exponentially with a finite energy gap, whereas in the other, the “gapless chiral” phase, the chiral LRO exists and the string and spin correlations decay algebraically with gapless excitations. The appearance of the chiral phase with gapfull excitations has been also predicted for arbitrary integer $`S`$ by the field theoretical approach.

The aim of this paper is to study the ground-state phase transitions of the frustrated $`S=1`$ Heisenberg chain with an single-ion-type anisotropy,

$$=\underset{\rho =1,2}{}J_\rho \underset{l}{}\stackrel{}{S}_l\stackrel{}{S}_{l+\rho }+D\underset{l}{}\left(S_l^z\right)^2,$$
(4)
in which the appearance of the chiral LRO has been predicted  as well as the frustrated $`XXZ`$ chains. Hereafter I consider the case of $`jJ_2/J_1>0`$ and $`dD/J_1>0`$. In the system of the case, it has been shown that there exist three phases besides the chiral phases; the Haldane phase characterized by the string LRO, the large-D (LD) phase, and the double-Haldane phase in which the system can be regarded as two Haldane subchains coupled weakly.  It is therefore natural to expect that there are phase transitions between the chiral phases and the other phases. In this work, I study the ground-state phase transitions between the Haldane and chiral phases and between the LD and chiral phases. In both regions, I have found that the system undergoes two successive transitions, first from the Haldane or LD phase to a chiral phase with a finite gap, and then, from the gapped chiral phase to the gapless chiral phase. It has been also found that the gapped chiral phases are distinct from each other; the one is the chiral Haldane phase with a finite string LRO, while the other is the “chiral LD” phase with no string LRO.

In order to investigate the nature of the transitions in detail, I compute the two-point chiral, string, and spin correlation functions defined by

$`C_\kappa (r)`$ $`=`$ $`\kappa _{l_0r/2}\kappa _{l_0+r/2},`$ (5)
$`C_{\mathrm{str}}(r)`$ $`=`$ $`S_{l_0r/2}^z\mathrm{exp}\left(i\pi {\displaystyle \underset{j=l_0r/2}{\overset{l_0+r/21}{}}}S_j^z\right)S_{l_0+r/2}^z,`$ (6)
$`C_s^x(r)`$ $`=`$ $`S_{l_0r/2}^xS_{l_0+r/2}^x,`$ (7)
which are associated with the chiral, string, and helical order parameters, respectively. Here $`l_0`$ represents the center position of the open chain, i.e., $`l_0=L/2`$ for even $`r`$ and $`l_0=(L+1)/2`$ for odd $`r`$. For the transitions between the Haldane and chiral phases (the LD and chiral phases), I calculate these correlations for $`d=0.6`$ ($`j=0.7`$) and various values of $`j`$ ($`d`$). And then, I determine the phase diagram on each line by examining the behavior of the correlations at long distance. The calculation has been performed using the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) method proposed by White.  I employed the infinite-system algorithm of the accelerated version proposed by Nishino and Okunishi.  The number of kept states $`m`$ is up to $`350`$ and the $`m`$-convergence of the data has been checked by increasing $`m`$ consecutively.

Let us see first the results for the Haldane-chiral transition. Figure 1 shows the $`r`$-dependence of the calculated chiral, string, and spin correlation functions for $`d=0.6`$ and several typical values of $`j`$ on the $`\mathrm{log}`$-$`\mathrm{log}`$ plots. It can be clearly seen in Fig. 1 (a) that the chiral correlation $`C_\kappa (r)`$ is bent upward for larger $`r`$ for $`j>j_{c1}=0.595\pm 0.005`$ indicating a finite chiral LRO, whereas it is bent downward for $`j<j_{c1}`$ indicating an exponential decay. In Fig. 1 (b), on the other hand, the data of $`C_{\mathrm{str}}(r)`$ for $`j<j_{c2}=0.630\pm 0.010`$ curve upward for larger $`r`$ indicating a finite string LRO, while they exhibit a linear behavior for $`j>j_{c2}`$ indicating a power-law decay.  It should be noticed that the estimate of $`j_{c2}`$ is distinctly larger than that of $`j_{c1}`$, and accordingly, there is an intermediate phase where both the chiral and string LRO’s coexist between the Haldane phase and the chiral phase without the string LRO. This observation that there are different types of chiral phases is also confirmed by the behavior of the spin correlation $`C_s^x(r)`$ in Fig. 1 (c); It decays exponentially for $`j<j_{c2}`$ with a finite gap whereas it decays algebraically with gapless excitations. Thus, it can be concluded that, as $`j`$ increases, the system undergoes two successive transitions, first at $`j=j_{c1}`$ from the Haldane phase to the “chiral Haldane” phase characterized by the coexistence of the chiral and string LRO’s and a finite gap, and then, at $`j=j_{c2}`$ from the chiral Haldane phase to the gapless chiral phase. Here I note that this results on the appearance of the two successive transitions and the nature of the intermediate phase are the same as those found on the frustrated $`S=1`$ $`XXZ`$ chain.

Next, we consider the phase transitions between the LD and chiral phases. In Fig. 2, I show the correlation functions for $`j=0.7`$ and several typical values of $`d`$ on the $`\mathrm{log}`$-$`\mathrm{log}`$ plots. As shown in the figure, the chiral correlation $`C_\kappa (r)`$ exhibits a finite LRO for $`d<d_{c1}=0.97\pm 0.01`$, while it shows an exponential decay for $`d>d_{c1}`$. In the meantime, the spin and string correlations decay exponentially for $`d>d_{c2}=0.70\pm 0.08`$, whereas they decay algebraically for $`d<d_{c2}`$. Here it should be pointed out that the estimate of $`d_{c2}`$ has a quite large error bar due to the truncation error of the DMRG calculation, which tends to underestimate the correlation length. From the behavior of the correlations for $`0.86d<d_{c1}`$ in the figure, however, it can be clearly seen that the gapped

region with a finite chiral LRO does exist, and consequently, the value of $`d_{c2}`$ is distinctly smaller than that of $`d_{c1}`$. It is therefore concluded that, as well as the Haldane-chiral transitions, the system undergoes two successive transitions as $`d`$ decreases, first from the LD to the gapped chiral phase at $`d=d_{c1}`$ and then from the gapped to the gapless chiral phase at $`d=d_{c2}`$. This gapped chiral phase between the LD and gapless chiral phases, the “chiral LD” phase, is different from the chiral Haldane phase in the respect that it has no string LRO, and accordingly, it can be regarded as a new type of the gapped chiral phases.

In summary, I have investigated numerically the ground-state phase transitions between the Haldane and chiral phases and between the LD and chiral phases in the frustrated $`S=1`$ Heisenberg spin chain with a single-ion-type anisotropy. For the Haldane-chiral transition, I have found that the system undergoes two successive transitions which behavior is similar to the ones found in the frustrated $`S=1`$ $`XXZ`$ chain : First, the system moves from the Haldane phase to the chiral Haldane phase, and then, moves to the gapless chiral phase. For the LD-chiral transition, it has been found again that, as $`d`$ decreases, there occur two successive transitions, the one from the LD phase to a chiral phase with a finite gap and the other from the gapped chiral to the gapless chiral phase. The gapped chiral phases between the LD and gapless chiral phases has no string order and is distinct from the chiral Haldane phase. The full phase diagram on the $`j`$-$`d`$ plane will be reported elsewhere.

The author thanks M. Kaburagi and H. Kawamura for fruitful discussions. This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientists.