Let $G$ be a finite group, and let $k$ be a field whose characteristic $p$ divides the order of $G$. Freyd's generating hypothesis for the stable module category of $G$ is the statement that a map between finite-dimensional $kG$-modules in the thick subcategory generated by $k$ factors through a projective if the induced map on Tate cohomology is trivial. We show that if $G$ has periodic cohomology, then the generating hypothesis holds if and only if the Sylow $p$-subgroup of $G$ is $C_2$ or $C_3$. We also give some other conditions that are equivalent to the GH for groups with periodic cohomology.

The positive cohomology groups of a finite group acting on a ring vanish when the ring has a norm one element. In this note we give explicit homotopies on the level of cochains when the group is cyclic, which allows us to express any cocycle of a cyclic group as the coboundary of an explicit cochain. The formulas in this note are closely related to the effective problems considered in previous joint work with Eli Aljadeff.

The main purpose of this paper is to study groups $G_1$, $G_2$ such that $H^\ast(BG_1,{\bf Z}/p)$ is isomorphic to $H^\ast(BG_2,{\bf Z}/p)$ in ${\cal U}$, the category of unstable modules over the Steenrod algebra ${\cal A}$, but not isomorphic as graded algebras over ${\bf Z}/p$.