On the modality of parabolic subgroups of linear algebraic groups

For a linear algebraic group G over an algebraically closed field k and a parabolic subgroup P of G the modality of P is defined to be the maximal number of parameters upon which a family of G-orbits on Lie Pu depends and it is denoted by mod P, where Pu is the unipotent radical of P. The principal aim of this note is a generalization of two basic “monotonicity” results from [19] to positive characteristic: (1) If Θ is a semisimple automorphism of G and P is Θ-stable, then mod P\Θ≤ mod P. (2) If G is reductive, char k is a good prime for G, and H is a closed reductive subgroup of G normalized by a maximal torus T⊂P of G, then mod (P∩H)≤ mod P.