Projective (or spin) representations of finite groups. I

Abstract

Schur multiplier $M(G)$ of a finite group $G$ has been studied heavily. To proceed further to the study of projective (or spin) representations of $G$ and their characters (called spin characters), it is necessary to construct explicitly a representation group $R(G)$ of $G$, a certain central extension of $G$ by $M(G)$, since projective representations of $G$ correspond bijectively to linear representations of $R(G)$. We propose here a practical method to construct $R(G)$ by repetition of one-step efficient central extensions according to a certain choice of a series of elements of $M(G)$. This method is also helpful for constructing linear representations of $R(G)$ and accordingly for calculating spin characters. Actually, we will apply this method to several examples of $G$ with prime number 3 in $M(G)$.

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