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Modular Springer correspondence, decomposition matrices and basic sets

The Springer correspondence makes a link between the characters of a Weyl group and the geometry of the nilpotent cone of the corresponding semisimple Lie algebra. In this article, we consider a modular version of the theory, and show that the decomposition numbers of a Weyl group are particular cases of decomposition numbers for equivariant perverse sheaves on the nilpotent cone. We give some decomposition numbers which can be obtained geometrically. In the case of the symmetric group, we show that James' row and column removal rule for the symmetric group can be derived from a smooth equivalence between nilpotent singularities proved by Kraft and Procesi. We give the complete structure of the Springer and Grothendieck sheaves in the case of $SL_2$. Finally, we determine explicitly the modular Springer correspondence for exceptional types.