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.

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.

Let G ⊆ \tilde{G} be two quasisplit connected reductive groups over a local field of characteristic zero and having the same derived group. Although the existence of L-packets is still conjectural in general, it is believed that the L-packets of G should be the restriction of those of \tilde{G}. Motivated by this, we hope to construct the L-packets of \tilde{G} from those of G. The primary example in our mind is when G = Sp(2n), whose L-packets have been determined by Arthur [The endoscopic classification of representations: orthogonal and symplectic groups, Colloquium Publications, vol. 61 (American Mathematical Society, Providence, RI, 2013)], and \tilde{G} = GSp(2n). As a first step, we need to consider some well-known conjectural properties of L-packets. In this paper, we show how they can be deduced from the conjectural endoscopy theory. As an application, we obtain some structural information about L-packets of \tilde{G} from those of G.

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.

We study the nonnegative part \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} of the De Concini-Procesi compactification of a semisimple algebraic group \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} , as defined by Lusztig. Using positivity properties of the canonical basis and parametrization of flag varieties, we will give an explicit description of \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} . This answers the question of Lusztig in Total positivity and canonical bases, Algebraic groups and Lie groups (ed. GI Lehrer), Cambridge Univ. Press, 1997, pp. 281-295. We will also prove that \overline {G_ {&gt; 0}} has a cell decomposition which was conjectured by Lusztig.