AN EXAMPLE FROM THE CHARACTER THEORY

We, here, add an amusing example.

Let Z3 = {0, 1, 2}. Let us make the following correspondences:
0 (1, 0, 0)
1 (0, 1, 0)
2 (0, 0, 1)
These define C[Z3] as C3 with the following multiplication:
(a1, a2, a3)(b1, b2, b3) = (a1b1+a3b2+a2b3, a1b2+a2b1+a3b3, a1b3+a2b2+a3b1)
We can write this multiplication also as
(a1, a2, a3)(b1, b2, b3) = (a1, a2, a3) b1 b2 b3 = (a1, a2, a3)B
b3 b1 b2
b2 b3 b1
Since Z3 has three elements, C[Z3] three dimensional. Remembering that sum of squares of
character degrees should be 3, we conclude that C3, as a module with this multiplication must
be direct sum of three one-dimensional submodules. Let us calculate these submodules as
follows: Base vectors which generate these submodules will be the eigenvectors of the matrix
B above..To find the eigenvalues of B, we have to solve the following equation for λ in terms
of b1, b2, b3:
B - λI = (b1 - λ)3 + b23 + b33 - 3(b1 - λ)b2b3 = 0 (*)
On the other hand; ei being the components 1 in Mi(C[G]) and Ki being irreducible characters,
the fact ei = (1/ G )ΣKi(1)Ki(g-1)g, summation taken over elements of G; gives us the
eigenvectors directly. To use it, we need the characters of Z3 which are given in the following
table:
0 1 2
K1 1 1 1
K2 1 w w2
K3 1 w2 w
where w is complex and w3 = 1.
As a result, we find the base vectors of the submodules as follows:
e1 = (1/3)(1, 1, 1)
e2 = (1/3)(1, w, w2)
e3 = (1/3)(1, w2, w)
and eigenvectors are calculated by using the matrix B as follows:
λ1 = b1 + b2 + b3
λ2 = b1 + w2b2 +w b3 (**)
λ3 = b1 + wb2 + w2b3

We can transform any equation of the form

x3 + px + q = 0
into the form of the equation (*) by using the following equations:
b1 = 0
x=-λ
-3b2b3 = p
b23 + b33 = q
From these we obtain:
b2 = (q/2 + (q2/4 + p3/27)1/2)1/3
b3 = (q/2 - (q2/4 + p3/27)1/2)1/3
Now, from the equations (**), we can write the roots of the general third degree equation.

1995