On projective modules for Frobenius kernels and finite Chevalley groups

Abstract

Let $G$ be a simply-connected semisimple algebraic group scheme over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p > 0$. Let $r \geq 1$ and set $q = p^r$. We show that if a rational $G$-module $M$ is projective over the $r$-th Frobenius kernel $G_r$ of $G$, then it is also projective when considered as a module for the finite subgroup $\Gfq$ of $\Fq$-rational points in $G$. This salvages a theorem of Lin and Nakano (\emph{Bull.\ London Math.\ Soc.} 39 (2007) 1019--1028). We also show that the corresponding statement need not hold when the group $G$ is replaced by the unipotent radical $U$ of a Borel subgroup of $G$.