Twisted conjugacy classes in twisted Chevalley groups

Abstract

Let [Formula: see text] be a group and [Formula: see text] be an automorphism of [Formula: see text]. Two elements [Formula: see text] are said to be [Formula: see text]-twisted conjugate if [Formula: see text] for some [Formula: see text]. We say that a group [Formula: see text] has the [Formula: see text]-property if the number of [Formula: see text]-twisted conjugacy classes is infinite for every automorphism [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text]. In this paper, we prove that twisted Chevalley groups over a field [Formula: see text] of characteristic zero have the [Formula: see text]-property as well as the [Formula: see text]-property if [Formula: see text] has finite transcendence degree over [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text] is periodic.