Let X denote an equivariant embedding of a connected reductive group X over an algebraically closed field X . Let X denote a Borel subgroup of X and let X denote a X -orbit closure in X . When the characteristic of X is positive and X is projective we prove that X is globally X -regular. As a consequence, X is normal and Cohen-Macaulay for arbitrary X and arbitrary characteristics. Moreover, in characteristic zero it follows that X has rational singularities. This extends earlier results by the second author and M. Brion.

In this paper, we study the relation between the cocenter \overline {{ilde {\mathcal H}}} and the representations of an affine pro-\overline {{ilde {\mathcal H}}} Hecke algebra \overline {{ilde {\mathcal H}}} . As a consequence, we obtain a new criterion on supersingular representations: a (virtual) representation of \overline {{ilde {\mathcal H}}} is supersingular if and only if its character vanishes on the non-supersingular part of the cocenter \overline {{ilde {\mathcal H}}} .

We study the intermediate extension of the character sheaves on an adjoint group to the semi-stable locus of its wonderful compactification. We show that the intermediate extension can be described by a direct image construction. As a consequence, we show that the ordinary restriction of a character sheaf on the compactification to a semi-stable stratum is a shift of semisimple perverse sheaf and is closely related to Lusztig's restriction functor (from a character sheaf on a reductive group to a direct sum of character sheaves on a Levi subgroup). We also provide a (conjectural) formula for the boundary values inside the semi-stable locus of an irreducible character of a finite group of Lie type, which gives a partial answer to a question of Springer (2006) [21]. This formula holds for Steinberg character and characters coming from generic character sheaves. In the end, we verify Lusztig's conjecture Lusztig (2004) [16

In this paper, we give explicit descriptions of the centers and cocenters of 0-Hecke algebras associated to finite Coxeter groups.

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.