Unipotent elements of finite groups of Lie type and realization fields their complex representations

Let p be a prime. This paper classifies finite connected reductive groups G in characteristic p with the property that all complex character values of G belong to an unramified above p extension of the field of rational numbers. The main application of these results is to the problem of describing the irreducible complex (or p-adic) representations of G that remain absolutely irreducible under the Brauer reduction modulo p. An efficient approach to solve this problem for p > 3 has been developed in our paper [Proc. London Math. Soc. (3) 84 (2002) 439]. Together with [Proc. London Math. Soc. (3) 84 (2002) 439], Theorem 1.9 of the paper solves this problem for many finite connected reductive groups in characteristic p > 3. Additionally, we show that all complex representations of any finite connected reductive group with no composition factor of type E₇ (2^f), E₈ (2^f), and E₈ (5^f) can be realized over a quadratic extension of an unramified (above p) extension of ℚ.