Descent of equivalences and character bijections

Categorical equivalences between block algebras of finite groups - such as Morita and derived equivalences - are well-known to induce character bijections which commute with the Galois groups of field extensions. This is the motivation for attempting to realise known Morita and derived equivalences over non splitting fields. This article presents various result on the theme of descent. We start with the observation that perfect isometries induced by a virtual Morita equivalence induce isomorphisms of centers in non-split situations, and explain connections with Navarro’s generalisation of the Alperin-McKay conjecture. We show that Rouquier’s splendid Rickard complex for blocks with cyclic defect groups descends to the non-split case. We also prove a descent theorem for Morita equivalences with endopermutation source.