We prove that the DeligneLusztig variety associated to minimal length elements in any <i></i>-conjugacy class of the Weyl group is affine, which was conjectured by Orlik and Rapoport in [S. Orlik, M. Rapoport, DeligneLusztig varieties and period domains over finite fields, arXiv: 0705.1646].

We reduce some key calculations of compositions of morphisms between Soergel bimodules (" Soergel calculus") to calculations in the nil Hecke ring (" Schubert calculus"). This formula has several applications in modular representation theory.

Soit G un groupe réductif défini sur un corps algébriquement clos de caractéristique positive. Nous montrons que le foncteur contraction par Frobenius de la catégorie des G-modules est adjoint à droite de celui de tensorisation deux fois par le module de Steinberg du tordu de Frobenius du G-module de départ. Il s’ensuit en particulier que le foncteur de contraction par Frobenius préserve le caractère injectif et l’existence de bonne filtration mais pas la semi-simplicité. (For a reductive group G defined over an algebraically closed field of positive characteristic, we show that the Frobenius contraction functor of $Gs-modules is right adjoint to the Frobenius twist of the modules tensored with the Steinberg module twice. It follows that the Frobenius contraction functor preserves injectivity, good filtrations, but not semi-simplicity.)

There are two changes in comparison to the original version: Part (1). The union must be split up according to Jb/(Jb Ker (G)). This is also important for the description of the closure relations between strata: An analogous correction needs to be made in Prop. 7.2. 2. See Section 3 below.

Let <i>H</i> denote a spherical subgroup within a semisimple algebraic group <i>G</i>. In this paper we study the closures of the finitely many <i>H</i>-orbits in the flag variety of <i>G</i>. Using the language of Frobenius splitting we provide a criterion for these closures to have nice geometric and cohomological properties. We then show how the criterion applies to the spherical subgroups of minimal rank studied by N. Ressayre. Finally, we also provide applications of the criterion to orbit closures which are not multiplicity-free in the sense defined by M. Brion.