On separating a fixed point from zero by invariants

Assume a fixed point v in V^G can be separated from zero by a homogeneous invariant f ∈ k[V]^G of degree p^r d where p > 0 is the characteristic of the ground field k and p, d are coprime. We show that then v can also be separated from zero by an invariant of degree p^r , which we obtain explicitly from f . It follows that the minimal degree of a homogeneous invariant separating v from zero is a p-power.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Communications in Algebra on 11/10/2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00927872.2016.1175465