Skip to main content

All Questions

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
8 votes
1 answer
353 views

Structure of a single automorphism of a finite abelian p-group

A finite abelian $p$-group $H$ is homogenous when it is the direct sum of cyclic groups of the same order $p^r$, i.e. $H \cong \big(\mathbb{Z}/p^{r}\mathbb{Z}\big)^{e}$. Every finite abelian $p$-group ...
Nathan Dunfield's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
227 views

Maximal subgroups of finite abelian $2$-groups

Suppose $G$ is a finite abelian $2$-group, and $S$ is a subset of $G$, $\langle S\rangle=G$,$S^{-1}=S$,$e\notin S$. How to determine whether there exists a maximal subgroup $M$ of $G$, such that $S$ ...
lunch zheng's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
173 views

Abelian characters and odd perfect numbers?

This question is about applications of abelian characters to odd perfect numbers: Context and Definitions: Let $n$ be a natural number and $D_n$ be the set of divisors. We can make this set to a ring ...
mathoverflowUser's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
523 views

Trivial group cohomology induces trivial cohomology of subgroups

From the answer to another question I asked (Projective representations of a finite abelian group) and from the structure theorem of finite abelian groups it follows that if $A$ is a finite abelian ...
Andrea Antinucci's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
313 views

Projective representations of a finite abelian group

Projective representations of a group $G$ are classified by the second group cohomology $H^2(G,U(1))$. If $G$ is finite and abelian, it is isomorphic to the direct product of cyclic groups $$ G\cong ...
Andrea Antinucci's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
242 views

Quadratic refinements of a bilinear form on finite abelian groups

$\DeclareMathOperator\Hom{Hom}$Let $A$ be a finite abelian group and $\text{Sym}(A)$ the (abelian) group of symmetric bilinear forms over $A$ valued in $\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{Z}$. A quadratic function on ...
Andrea Antinucci's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
203 views

normalizer quotient is $\operatorname{GL}_2(p)$

Let $p$ be a prime and let $w$ be a primitive $p$-th root of unity in $\mathbb{C}$. There is an element $e$ of order $p$ in $G=\operatorname{PGL}_n(\mathbb{C})$ where $n=pk$ and $$e=\left[\left(\begin{...
user488802's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
193 views

Decomposition of finite abelian groups of even order if there is an involution

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group and $\sigma :G\rightarrow G$ an automorphism of order two ($\sigma\circ \sigma =id_G$). Denote by $F$ and $A$ the subgroups of fixed and anti-fixed points of $\sigma$ ...
Andrea Antinucci's user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
753 views

Finite abelian groups with fewer automorphisms than a subgroup

It is not too hard to find examples of finite groups which have fewer automorphisms than one of their subgroups. For example $\mathcal D_4 \times \mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z$ (where $\mathcal D_4$ is the ...
A. Bailleul's user avatar
  • 1,322
2 votes
0 answers
408 views

Conceptual proof of fundamental theorem of finite abelian groups

I'm looking for a conceptual proof of the following statement: Lemma: Let $G$ be a finite abelian $p$-group. Let $a$ be an element of maximal order. Then $G=\langle a \rangle \times H$ for some ...
Dr. Evil's user avatar
  • 2,751
1 vote
0 answers
125 views

Is the commutator of the holomorph of generalized quaternion group abelian?

Let $Q_{2^{n}} = \langle x, y \mathrel\vert x^{2^{n-1}}=y^4 = 1, x^{2^{n-2}}=y^2, y^{-1}xy = x^{-1} \rangle$ be the generalized quaternion group of order $2^{n}$. Let $\operatorname{Hol}(Q_{2^{n+1}})$ ...
bidermeyer's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
251 views

Commuting real elements in finite groups

Let $p$, $q$, $r$ be three distinct odd primes, and $G$ a finite group with $|G|$ divisible by $p$, $q$, $r$ to the first power only. Let $x,y,z \in G$ be of order $p,q,r$ respectively. Assume (a.) $[...
Nick's user avatar
  • 191
5 votes
1 answer
204 views

Characteristic subgroups of a finite abelian $2$-group

I have recently stumbled across the problem of describing the characteristic subgroups of a finite abelian group. With some discussions with some mathematicians in my lab, I managed to obtain a "...
Nataniel Marquis's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
474 views

Structures of subgroups of a finite abelian p-group

$\newcommand\la{\langle}\newcommand\ra{\rangle}$Let $G=\mathbb{Z}/p^{i_1}\times\cdots\times\mathbb{Z}/p^{i_r}$ with $i_1\leq\ldots\leq i_r$ be a finite abelian $p$-group. Then there can be many ...
YJ Kim's user avatar
  • 321
8 votes
2 answers
501 views

On $p$-groups with abelian automorphism group

Let $G$ be a $p$-group of order $p^{n}\geq p^{7}$ and its automorphism group is elementary abelian $p$-group. Then, it is clear that $G$ is nilpotent of class $2$. However, the converse is not true in ...
Nourddine Snanou's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
344 views

Bound for order of a group depending on number of elements of maximal order

This question has been partly answered in MSE, see here. In a paper On the Number of Elements of maximal order in a Group, it is proven that an arbitrary group $G$ with a finite number of elements of ...
waveman's user avatar
  • 181
10 votes
2 answers
865 views

Is there a non-degenerate quadratic form on every finite abelian group?

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group. A quadratic form on $G$ is a map $q: G \to \mathbb{C}^*$ such that $q(g) = q(g^{-1})$ and the symmetric function $b(g,h):= \frac{q(gh)}{q(g)q(h)}$ is a bicharacter, ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
557 views

Abelian groups and their subgroups

It is well known that every finite abelian group is a direct product of cyclic groups. So for every $n$ every finite abelian group of exponent $n$ is a direct product of cyclic groups of order at most ...
user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
153 views

On decomposition of finite Abelian groups

It is easy to see that for any finite Abelian group $G$ and any numbers $a,b$ with $|G|=ab$ there exist a subgroup $A\subset G$ and a subset $B\subset G$ such that $|A|=a$, $|B|=b$ and $G=A+B$, where $...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
276 views

Reference request: an elementary result on characters of finite abelian groups

The referee of a paper I submitted to a journal asked me to include a reference of the following elementary result on characters of finite abelian groups: Let $A$ be a finite abelian group of order $...
efs's user avatar
  • 3,107
13 votes
1 answer
791 views

How nearly abelian are nilpotent groups?

It is not uncommon to read that "nilpotent groups are 'close to abelian'."1,2 Can this sentiment be made precise in the sense of the Turán and Erdős definition of "the probability that two elements of ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
200 views

Sums of quadratic forms over finite abelian groups

Let $A$ be a finite abelian group. Let $q:A\times A\to \mathbb{C}^{\times}$ be a non-degenerate bicharacter (that is: for every $a\in A$ $q(a,-)$ and $q(-,a)$ are characters of $A$, which are trivial ...
Ehud Meir's user avatar
  • 5,039
1 vote
0 answers
109 views

Symmetric analogue of "alternating bihomomorphism is skew of 2-cocycle" theorem

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group. It is well-known that every alternating bihomomorphism $\Omega:G\times G \to \mathbb{C}^\times$ arises as the skew $\kappa/\kappa^T$ of a 2-cocycle $\kappa \in Z^2(G,...
Bipolar Minds's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
444 views

Subgroups and quotients of an abelian pro-finite group

It is well known that every subgroup $H$ of a finite abelian group $G$ is isomorphic to a quotient of $G$. I'm wondering whether there is a counterpart for profinite groups. For example is it true ...
user106317's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
501 views

Exact sequence of $n$th powers of abelian groups

Let $A,B,C$ be finitely generated abelian groups. Assume that there is an exact sequence $$0 \to C \to A^n \to B^n \to 0,$$where $A^n = A \oplus \dotsc \oplus A$ as usual. It is not assumed that $A^n \...
Martin Brandenburg's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
100 views

Alternating bihomomorphism is skew of 2-cocycle - relative situation

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group. It is well-known that every alternating bihomomorphism $\Omega:G\times G \to \mathbb{C}^\times$ (i.e. $\Omega(g,g)=1$) arises as the skew $\kappa/\kappa^T$ of a 2-...
Bipolar Minds's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
145 views

Non-degeneracy of product of group pairings

For $G$ finite abelian group, let $\eta,\omega:G \times G \to \mathbb{C}^\times$ be group pairings. What can I say about the (non-)degeneneracy of the product pairing $\eta \cdot \omega$ in terms of ...
Bipolar Minds's user avatar
32 votes
3 answers
3k views

Is there a nice explanation for this curious fact about cyclic subgroups?

Here's something that I noticed that quite surprised me. Let $G$ be a finite abelian group. Consider the following expression. $$ \nu(G) = \sum_{\substack{H \leq G \\ H \text{ is cyclic}}} |H| $$ It ...
Simon Rose's user avatar
  • 6,290
6 votes
2 answers
232 views

Finding an "optimal" quotient in a free group

Consider the abelian free group $G = \mathbf{Z}^n$ of rank $n$ and a finite subset $A \subset G \setminus \{0\}$. Since $G$ is residually finite, there is a subgroup $H \subset G$ such that $A \cap H =...
vizietto's user avatar
  • 373
3 votes
2 answers
318 views

Character kernels in the lattice of subgroups of a finite abelian group

I am looking for any efforts that have been made to characterize the character kernels (equivalently, the subgroups yielding cyclic quotients) inside the lattice of subgroups of a finite abelian group....
benblumsmith's user avatar
  • 2,851
6 votes
1 answer
332 views

Zero-sum sets in union-closed families

The Davenport constant $D(G)$ of a finite abelian group $G$ is the minimum integer $n$ such that whenever $a_1, \ldots, a_n \in G$ (not necessarily distinct), there is a non-empty $I \subseteq [n]$ ...
monkeymaths's user avatar
  • 1,169
9 votes
0 answers
298 views

An abstract zero-sum problem

I would like to know whether the problem described below has appeared in the literature and/or whether similar questions have been studied. I would be very happy to find some references or, if none ...
monkeymaths's user avatar
  • 1,169
2 votes
1 answer
159 views

Counting elements with certain word length in abelian groups

Given a (finite) abelian group $G = \langle S \mid R \rangle$, has the problem of counting the number of elements which can be expressed as a word (in $S$) of length $\leq k$ been studied? If so, ...
Calle's user avatar
  • 121
2 votes
1 answer
198 views

The special subgroups of a finite abelian group of rank two

Let $G=\langle a_{1}\rangle\times\langle a_{2}\rangle$ such that $|a_{i}|=2^{k_{i}}$ and $k_{1}>k_{2}$ and $H$ be a subgroup of $G$ that there exists an automorphism of $G$ such that fix only ...
elham's user avatar
  • 121
9 votes
1 answer
3k views

Automorphism group of a finite group

I would like to ask if there exists an explicit description of $\mathrm{Aut}(G)$, the group of automorphisms of a finite group $G$, in particular, when $G$ is abelian. E.g., if $G = \mathbb{Z}/m\...
Hair80's user avatar
  • 675
1 vote
0 answers
242 views

How many subgroups of order $\prod_{1}^{n} p_{i}^{n_{i}}$ are there in the finite product of cyclic groups?

All of the following ${p_{i},q_{i}}$are prime numbers, ${n,m,k}$ are pre-assigned integers. Consider the product of cyclic groups $\prod_{1}^{n} \mathbb Z_{p_{i}^{n_{i}}}$ then we asked the question: ...
Henry.L's user avatar
  • 8,071
2 votes
3 answers
1k views

Finite / uniquely divisible abelian groups

Is there any counter example for the following statement? STATEMENT: Let $0 \to F \to A \to Q \to 0$ be a short exact sequence of abelian groups. Assume that $F$ is a finite group, and $Q$ is a ...
Hiro's user avatar
  • 945
3 votes
1 answer
767 views

Linear algebra of finite abelian groups

If $f: V \to W$ is a surjective homomorphism of vector spaces, and we have fixed a basis for $V$, it is always possible to find a basis for $W$ such that the matrix associated to $\phi$ in the two ...
calc's user avatar
  • 133
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

On the existence of a direct summand containing a fixed subgroup

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group, and $g_1, \ldots, g_n \in G$ such that the cyclic groups that they generate are in direct sum $\langle g_1 \rangle \oplus \cdots \oplus \langle g_n \rangle$. Is it ...
calc's user avatar
  • 133
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Maximal subgroups of a finite p-group

I want to prove the following: Let $G$ be a finite abelian $p$-group that is not cyclic. Let $L \ne {1}$ be a subgroup of $G$ and $U$ be a maximal subgroup of L then there exists a maximal subgroup $...
user23954's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
1k views

Cyclic subgroups of finite abelian groups

I learned from MO Subgroups of a finite abelian group that the problem of enumerating subgroups (not up to isomorphism) of finite abelian groups is a difficult one. Are there simple formulas if one ...
user22518's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Minimal generation for finite abelian groups

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group. I know of two ways of writing it as a direct sum of cyclic groups: 1) With orders $d_1, d_2, \ldots, d_k$ in such a way that $d_i|d_{i+1}$, 2) With orders that are ...
Calc's user avatar
  • 125