On Projective representations of direct product of groups

Abstract

Let $G=G_1 \times G_2$ be a finite group. We know that the second cohomology group $H^2(G,\mathbb C^\times)$ is isomorphic to $H^2(G_1,\mathbb C^\times) \times H^2(G_2,\mathbb C^\times) \times Hom(G_1/G_1' \otimes_\mathbb Z G_2/G_2', \mathbb C^\times ).$ A $2$-cocycle $α$ of $G$ is called a bilinear cocycle if the corresponding cohomology class $[α]$ of $H^2(G,\mathbb C^\times)$ lies in $Hom(G_1/G_1' \otimes_\mathbb Z G_2/G_2', \mathbb C^\times)$. In this article, our aim is to construct an irreducible complex projective representation $ρ$ of $G$ for bilinear cocycles $α$. If $G_1$ is any abelian $p$-group and $G_2$ is an elementary abelian $p$-group, then we give a construction of $ρ$ for bilinear cocycles $α$ of $G$. For a subgroup $H$ of $G$ of index $\leq p^2$, we also count the number of cohomology classes $[α]$ for which the irreducible projective representations behave the same while restricting on $H$. Finally, we consider any $p$-group $G=G_1\times G_2$, and we discuss how the above construction helps us to describe an irreducible $α$-representation of $G$ when $[α]$ is of order $p$ or $G_2/G_2'$ is elementary abelian. We also discuss several examples as an application of the above results.