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We prove that the group algebra of the quaternion group $Q_8$ over any field of characteristic two has ghost number three.

We introduce the concept of an infinite cochain sequence and initiate a theory of homological algebra for them. We show how these sequences simplify and improve the construction of infinite coclass families (as introduced by Eick and Leedham-Green) and how they apply in proving that almost all groups in such a family have equivalent Quillen categories. We also include some examples of infinite families of p-groups from different coclass families that have equivalent Quillen categories.

Christensen and Wang give conjectural upper and lower bounds for the ghost number of the group algebra of a p-group. We apply results of Koshitani and Motose on the nilpotency index of the Jacobson radical to prove the upper bound and most cases of the lower bound.

The Sylow p-subgroups of the symmetric group S_p^n satisfy the appropriate generalization of Maschke's Theorem to the case of a p'-group acting on a (not necessarily abelian) p-group. Moreover, some known results about the Sylow p-subgroups of S_p^n are stated in a form that is true for all primes p.

We complete the calculation of the Ext algebra of the principal 2-block of the Mathieu group M_11, extending work of Benson-Carlson and of Pawloski - and duplicating work of Generalov.

Coclass theory can be used to define infinite families of finite p-groups of a fixed coclass. It is conjectured that the groups in one of these infinite families all have isomorphic mod-p cohomology rings. Here we prove that almost all groups in one of these infinite families have equivalent Quillen categories. We also show how the Quillen categories of the groups in an infinite family are connected to the Quillen category of their associated infinite pro-p-group of finite coclass.

For certain subrings of the mod-p cohomology ring of a compact Lie group, we give a description of the prime ideal spectrum, analogous to Quillen's description of the spectrum of the whole ring. Examples of such subrings include the Chern subring (the subring generated by Chern classes of all unitary representations), and for finite groups the subring generated by Chern classes of representations realizable over any specified field. As a corollary, we deduce that the inclusion of the Chern subring in the cohomology ring is an F-isomorphism for a compact Lie group G if and only if the following condition holds: For any homomorphism f between elementary abelian p-subgroups of G such that f(v) is always conjugate to v, there is an element g of G such that f is equal to conjugation by g., Comment: Preprint version, not the published version. Available previously on Dave Benson's archive

To date almost all verifications of Oliver's p-group conjecture have proceeded by verifying a stronger conjecture about weakly closed quadratic subgroups. We construct a group of order 3^n for n = 49 which refutes the weakly closed conjecture but satisfies Oliver's conjecture., Comment: 9 pages

By explicit machine computation we obtain the mod-2 cohomology ring of the third Conway group Co_3. It is Cohen-Macaulay, has dimension 4, and is detected on the maximal elementary abelian 2-subgroups., Comment: 12 pages; writing style now more concise

We introduce a strong form of Oliver's p-group conjecture and derive a reformulation in terms of the modular representation theory of a quotient group. The Sylow p-subgroups of the symmetric group S_n and of the general linear group GL_n(F_q) satisfy both the strong conjecture and its reformulation., Comment: 18 pages. Corrected grant acknowledgement.

We describe the computation of the mod-2 cohomology rings of all 2328 groups of order 128. One consequence is that all groups of order less than 256 satisfy the strong form of Benson's Regularity Conjecture., Comment: 15 pages; revised version

Experiment shows that the reverse length-lexicographical word ordering consistently yields far smaller Gr\"obner bases for modular p-group algebras than the length-lexicographical ordering. For the so-called Jennings word ordering, based on a special power-conjugate group presentation, the associated monomial algebra is a group invariant., Comment: Not intended for publication. Dates from 1999

For an odd prime p the cohomology ring of an elementary abelian p-group is polynomial tensor exterior. We show that the ideal of essential classes is the Steenrod closure of the class generating the top exterior power. As a module over the polynomial algebra, the essential ideal is free on the set of Mui invariants., Comment: 10 pages

In the cohomology ring of an extraspecial p-group, the subring generated by Chern classes and transfers is studied. This subring is strictly larger than the Chern subring, but still not the whole cohomology ring, even modulo nilradical. A formula is obtained relating Chern classes to transfers., Comment: Pham Anh Minh passed away on 23 October 2004

Let S be a p-group for an odd prime p. Bob Oliver conjectures that a certain characteristic subgroup X(S) always contains the Thompson subgroup J(S). We obtain a reformulation of the conjecture as a statement about modular representations of p-groups. Using this we verify Oliver's conjecture for groups where S/X(S) has nilpotence class at most two., Comment: 9 pages; terminology altered to conform to current usage

The mod-p cohomology ring of the extraspecial p-group of exponent p is studied for odd p. We investigate the subquotient ch(G) generated by Chern classes modulo the nilradical. The subring of ch(G) generated by Chern classes of one-dimensional representations was studied by Tezuka and Yagita. The subring generated by the Chern classes of the faithful irreducible representations is a polynomial algebra. We study the interplay between these two families of generators, and obtain some relations between them.

D. J. Benson conjectures that the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of a group cohomology ring is always zero. More generally he conjectures that the cohomology ring always has a system of parameters satisfying a property he calls very strong quasi-regular. Using computer calculations we find that the more general conjecture holds for all groups of order less than 256., Comment: 12 pages; now includes a-invariants; terminology changed to CM-defect

Let G be a finite p-group which does not contain a rank two elementary abelian p-group as a direct factor. Then the ideal of essential classes in the mod-p cohomology ring of G is a Cohen-Macaulay module whose Krull dimension is the p-rank of the centre of G. This basically answers in the affirmative a question posed by J. F. Carlson., Comment: 6 pages

Let G be the Sylow 2-subgroup of the unitary group $SU_3(4)$. We find two essential classes in the mod-2 cohomology ring of G whose product is nonzero. In fact, the product is the ``last survivor'' of Benson-Carlson duality. Recent work of Pakianathan and Yalcin then implies a result about connected graphs with an action of G. Also, there exist essential classes which cannot be written as sums of transfers from proper subgroups. This phenomenon was first observed on the computer. The argument given here uses the elegant calculation by J. Clark, with minor corrections., Comment: 9 pages; three typos corrected, one was particularly confusing

We establish a weak form of Carlson's conjecture on the depth of the mod-p cohomology ring of a p-group. In particular, Duflot's lower bound for the depth is tight if and only if the cohomology ring is not detected on a certain family of subgroups. The proofs use the structure of the cohomology ring as a comodule over the cohomology of the centre via the multiplication map. We demonstrate the existence of systems of parameters (so-called polarised systems) which are particularly well adapted to this comodule structure., Comment: 10 pages

We study a family of subrings, indexed by the natural numbers, of the mod-p cohomology of a finite group G. These subrings are based on a family of v_n-periodic complex oriented cohomology theories and are constructed as rings of generalised characteristic classes. We identify the varieties associated to these subrings in terms of colimits over categories of elementary abelian subgroups of G, naturally interpolating between the work of Quillen on var(H^*(BG)), the variety of the whole cohomology ring, and that of Green and Leary on the variety of the Chern subring, var(Ch(G)). Our subrings give rise to a "chromatic" (co)filtration, which has both topological and algebraic definitions, of var(H^*(BG)) whose final quotient is the variety var(Ch(G)).

Let P be an extraspecial p-group which is neither dihedral of order 8, nor of odd order p^3 and exponent p. Let G be a finite group having P as a Sylow p-subgroup. Then the mod-p cohomology ring of G coincides with that of the normalizer N_G(P)., Comment: 5 pages