Complete reducibility and separable field extensions

Abstract

Let G be a connected reductive linear algebraic group. The aim of this note is to settle a question of J-P. Serre concerning the behaviour of his notion of G-complete reducibility under separable field extensions. Part of our proof relies on the recently established Tits Centre Conjecture for the spherical building of the reductive group G.

5 pages; to appear in Comptes rendus Mathematique