Characters of Finite Groups#

Assume that \(G\) is a finite group of exponent \(m\) with \(k\) conjugacy classes of elements. The operators discussed here are concerned with the ring of class functions on \(G\), defined to be the ring of complex-valued functions on \(G\) that are constant on conjugacy classes. This ring is made into a \({\mathbb{C}}\)-algebra by identifying \(c\in {\mathbb{C}}\) with the constant function that is \(c\) everywhere. In fact we will restrict ourselves to functions with values that are elements of cyclotomic fields. Elements of the ring, that is, objects of type AlgChtrElt, are represented by the \(k\) values (elements of some cyclotomic field \({\mathbb{Q}}(\zeta_n)\)) on the classes. The numbering of those elements matches the numbering of the classes as returned by Classes applied to the underlying group G: Thus X[i] is the value of the character X on the \(i\)-th class, i.e. Classes(G)[i].