An algorithm for computing a supercharacter theory generated from a given partition

Abstract

Let [Formula: see text] be a finite group. The set of all supercharacter theories of [Formula: see text] forms a lattice, where the join operation coincides with the join operation on the lattice of partitions of [Formula: see text], with partial order given by refinement. The meet operation is more complicated however, and seems difficult to describe. In this paper, we outline algorithms for determining the coarsest supercharacter theory whose associated partition is finer than a given partition. One of the primary applications is to compute the supercharacters and superclasses for the meet of two supercharacter theories.