Centres of Centralizers of Unipotent Elements in Simple Algebraic Groups

Centres of Centralizers of Unipotent Elements in Simple Algebraic Groups Synopsis

Let G be a simple algebraic group defined over an algebraically closed field k whose characteristic is either 0 or a good prime for G, and let uEG be unipotent. The authors study the centralizer CG(u), especially its centre Z(CG(u)). They calculate the Lie algebra of Z(CG(u)), in particular determining its dimension; they prove a succession of theorems of increasing generality, the last of which provides a formula for dim Z(CG(u)) in terms of the labelled diagram associated to the conjugacy class containing u.