On torsion in the intersection cohomology of Schubert varieties

Abstract

We prove that the prime torsion in the local integral intersection cohomology of Schubert varieties in the flag variety of the general linear group grows exponentially in the rank. The idea of the proof is to find a highly singular point in a Schubert variety and calculate the Euler class of the normal bundle to the (miraculously smooth) fibre in a particular Bott-Samelson resolution. The result is a geometric version of an earlier result established using Soergel bimodule techniques.