Ramification in modular invariant rings

Abstract

Let $p$ be a prime number, $\Bbbk$ a field of characteristic $p$ and $G$ a finite $p$-group acting on a standard graded polynomial ring $S = \Bbbk[x_1, \ldots, x_n]$ as degree-preserving $\Bbbk$-algebra automorphisms. Assume that $G$ is generated by pseudo-reflections. In our earlier work (\emph{J. Pure Appl. Algebra}, vol. 228, no. 12, 2024) we introduced a composition series of $G$. In this note, we study the height-one ramification for the invariant rings at the consecutive stages of this composition series. We prove a condition for the extension $S^{G}\subseteq S^{G'}$ to split in terms of the Dedekind different $\mathscr{D}_D(S^{G'}/S^G)$. We construct an example illustrating that $\mathscr{D}_D(S^{G'}/S^G)$ need not have `expected' generators.