A Solomon descent theory for the wreath products G ~ S_n

We propose an analogue of Solomon's descent theory for the case of a wreath product G ~ S_n, where G is a finite abelian group. Our construction mixes a number of ingredients: Mantaci-Reutenauer algebras, Specht's theory for the representations of wreath products, Okada's extension to wreath products of the Robinson-Schensted correspondence, Poirier's quasisymmetric functions. We insist on the functorial aspect of our definitions and explain the relation of our results with previous work concerning the hyperoctaedral group.