Depth and detection for Noetherian unstable algebras

For a connected Noetherian unstable algebra R over the mod p Steenrod algebra, we prove versions of theorems of Duflot and Carlson on the depth of R, originally proved when R is the mod p cohomology ring of a finite group. This recovers the aforementioned results, and also proves versions of them when R is the mod p cohomology ring of a compact Lie group, a profinite group with Noetherian cohomology, a Kac-Moody group, a discrete group of finite virtual cohomological dimension, as well as for certain other discrete groups. More generally, our results apply to certain finitely generated unstable R-modules. Moreover, we explain the results in the case of the p-local compact groups of Broto, Levi, and Oliver, as well as in the modular invariant theory of finite groups