On the coinvariants of modular representations of cyclic groups of prime order

We consider the ring of coinvariants for modular representations of cyclic groups of prime order. For all cases for which explicit generators for the ring of invariants are known, we give a reduced Grobner basis for the Hilbert ideal and the corresponding monomial basis for the coinvariants. We also describe the decomposition of the coinvariants as a module over the group ring. For one family of representations, we are able to describe the coinvariants despite the fact that an explicit generating set for the invariants is not known. In all cases our results confirm the conjecture of Harm Derksen and Gregor Kemper on degree bounds for generators of the Hilbert ideal. As an incidental result, we identify the coefficients of the monomials appearing in the orbit product of a terminal variable for the three-dimensional indecomposable representation. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.