MATH 479: Linear Algebraic Groups

Orbits of unipotent groups

Let G be a unipotent group, X an affine variety, x ∈ X, and Gx the orbit

of x under G. The goal of this exercise is to show that Gx ⊂ X is closed.

1. Let Gx ⊂ be the closure of Gx. Show that Y = Gx \ Gx is closed.

2. Assume that Y is not empty. Consider the ideal I(Y ) ⊂ O(Gx). Show that
I(Y ) is stable under the action of G induced by the regular representation.
3. Let f ∈ I(Y ) and consider the vector space spanned by Gf . Now, use the
structure theorem about unipotent subgroups of GLn that we have seen
some weeks ago.