On special pieces, the Springer correspondence, and unipotent characters

Abstract

Let G be a reductive algebraic group over the algebraic closure of a finite field F_q of good characteristic. In this paper, we demonstrate a remarkable compatibility between the Springer correspondence for G and the parametrization of unipotent characters of G(F_q). In particular, we show that in a suitable sense, "large" portions of these two assignments in fact coincide. This extends earlier work of Lusztig on Springer representations within special pieces of the unipotent variety.

23 pages, expanded version with main theorem strengthened, to appear in American Journal of Mathematics