Questions tagged [gr.group-theory]
Questions about the branch of algebra that deals with groups.
1,090 questions
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Doubly-transitive groups
I want to know what all doubly-transitive groups look like. Do you know some good reference where I can read about it?
- 2,179
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CAT(0) groups that does not act on CAT(0) cubical complex
CAT(0) groups are groups that act on a CAT(0) space properly and cocompactly. If a group acts on a CAT(0) cubical complex properly and cocompactly, then of course it is a CAT(0) Group. I am wondering ...
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Finite-index iff positive density?
Let $G$ be a finitely generated group and $S$ a symmetric generating set. Define density (lower density, say) with respect to the sequence of balls $S^n$.
Is it true that a subgroup of $G$ has ...
- 9,720
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The line graphs of complete graphs and Cayley graphs
Let $n>3$ be an odd integer and let $K_n$ denote the complete graph on $n$ vertices.
For which integers $n$ the line graph $L(K_n)$ is a Cayley graph?
For even $n$, it follows from a result of ...
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Strongly real elements of odd order in sporadic finite simple groups
Recall that an element of a finite group is said to be real if it is conjugate to its inverse, and strongly real if the conjugating element can be chosen to be an involution.
Question: Is it true ...
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Product of conjugacy classes - is there an analog of Tanaka-Krein reconstruction ?
Consider a finite group G. The product of conjugacy classes can be defined in natural way just by multiplying the representatives and counting multiplicities (see e.g. MO 62088). So we get ring with ...
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The Odds 3 (or More) Group Elements Commute
Some time ago I asked about the odds 2 group elements commute. I wonder about the odds that 3 group elements commute. Is there a "closed" formula for the sum
$$ \frac{1}{|G|^3} \sum_{g,h,k} \delta([...
- 22.8k
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A method to generate solvable equations of degrees $p = 7, 13, 19, 31, 37,\dots$ using only cubics
I've always wondered if the DeMoivre method to generate an algebraic number $x_p$,
$$x_p = u_1^{1/p}+u_2^{1/p}$$
of degree $p$ using only quadratic roots $u_i$ could be generalized using cubic roots $...
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Dixmier's lemma as a generalisation of Schur's first lemma
I thought that this question is simple, and asked it at Stackexchange. To my surprise, no one was able to answer it there. Now have to elevate it to Overflow.
What mathematicians call Schur's lemma ...
- 603
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Positivity of the alternating sum of indices for boolean interval of finite groups
Let $G$ be a finite group and $H$ a subgroup such that the interval $[H,G]$ is a boolean lattice.
Let $L_1, \dots , L_n$ be the maximal subgroups of $G$ containing $H$.
Let the alternative sum ...
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From topological actions on $\mathbb{R}^3$ to isometric actions
It is known that if a finite group $G$ admits a faithful topological action on the 3-sphere $S^3$, then $G$ admits a faithful action on $S^3$ by isometries. (Pardon proved that a topological action ...
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Existence of a multiplication bifunctor for the category of groups
For $\mathsf{Grp}$ the category of groups, a bifunctor $M: \mathsf{Grp} \times \mathsf{Grp}\to \mathsf{Grp}$ is a multiplication bifunctor if:
$M(C_n,C_m) \simeq C_{nm}$,
$M(C_1,G) \simeq M(G,C_1) \...
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Are the homogeneous single chain subfactors, Dedekind?
Background: See here and there.
Recall that a subfactor is Dedekind if all its intermediate subfactors are normal.
A subfactor $(N \subset M)$ is Homogeneous Single Chain (HSC) if its lattice ...
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Factor subsets of a finite group
Let $G$ be a group of order $n$ and $d$ a positive divisor of $n$. Is it true that there exists a subset $A$ of $G$ with $d$ elements and a subset $B$ such that $G=AB$ and $|AB|=|A||B|$ (equivalently,...
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Normal intermediate subgroup and normal core
Let $G$ be a finite group and $H$ a subgroup.
The normal core of $H$ in $G$ is $core_G(H) := \bigcap_{g \in G}g^{-1}Hg$
Definition: $K$ is a normal intermediate subgroup of the inclusion $(H \subset ...
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Variations to Cayley's Embedding Theorem for Groups
Early in a course in Algebra the result that every group can be embedded as a subgroup
of a symmetric group is introduced. One can further work on it to embed it as a subgroup of a suitable (higher ...
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Irreducible representations of the unitriangular group
Hi,
I wonder how much is known about the irreducible representations of the nxn unitriangular group over a finite field with q elements.
I know that all characterdegrees are a power of q and all ...
- 891
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Can every cancellative invertible-free monoid be embedded in a group?
A monoid is invertible-free if $xy=1$ implies $x=y=1$ for all $x,y$.
Question: Can every cancellative invertible-free monoid be embedded in a group?
I'm fairly sure that a quotient of the free product ...
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Abelian subfactors, a relevant concept?
Through the questions below, this post asks whether the concept of abelian subfactor is relevant.
Remark : here abelian qualifies an inclusion of II$_1$ factors $(N \subset M)$, $N$ is not an abelian ...
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$SO(3)$ 2-cocycle trivialized to a 2-coboundary in $SU(2)$?
I was trying to understand this interesting question by example.
Let me follow their previous discussion and ask: Let a generic nontrivial 2-cocycle $\omega_2^G(g_1,g_2) \in H^2(G,\mathbb{R}/\mathbb{...
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About the conjugation of semi-simple subgroups
Let $G$ be a semi-simple algebraic group over $\mathbb{Q}$, I would like to find an integer $d>0$ only depending on $G$ with the following property. For any two semi-simple $\mathbb{Q}$-subgroups $...
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Existence of an addition bifunctor for the category of groups
Let $\mathsf{Grp}$ be the category of groups. A bifunctor $A: \mathsf{Grp} \times \mathsf{Grp}\to \mathsf{Grp}$ is an addition bifunctor if:
$A(C_n,C_m) \simeq C_{n+m}$,
$A(C_0,G) \simeq A(G,C_0) \...
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Minimal number of defining relators of a finite $p$-group on a minimal generating set
What is the state-of-art of the following question?
Let $p$ be any prime number. For any finite $p$-group $G$, let $r_G$ denote the minimum number of defining relators in all presentations of $G$ ...
- 3,738
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A second isomorphism theorem for the inclusions of groups
The usual second isomorphism theorem for groups is: let $G$ be a group, $S$ and $N$ subgroups with $N$ normal, then $SN$ is a subgroup of $G$, $S\cap N$ is a normal subgroup of $S$ and $SN/N \simeq ...
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Roots of permutations
Consider the equation $x^2=x_0$ in the symmetric group $S_n$, where $x_0\in S_n$ is fixed. Is it true that for each integer $n\geq 0$, the maximal number of solutions (the number of square roots of $...
- 109k
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Group cohomology and condensed matter
I am mystified by formulas that I find in the condensed matter literature
(see Symmetry protected topological orders and the group cohomology of their symmetry group arXiv:1106.4772v6 (pdf) by Chen, ...
- 1,369
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Why can't a nonabelian group be 75% abelian?
This question asks for intuition, not a proof.
An earlier question,
Measures of non-abelian-ness
was thoroughly answered by Arturo Magidin.
A paper by Gustafson1
proves that, for a nonabelian group,
...
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Introductory text on geometric group theory?
Can someone indicate me a good introductory text on geometric group theory?
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Transitivity on $\mathbb{N}_0$ -- a 42 problem
Let $r(m)$ denote the residue class $r+m\mathbb{Z}$, where $0 \leq r < m$.
Given disjoint residue classes $r_1(m_1)$ and $r_2(m_2)$, let the class
transposition $\tau_{r_1(m_1),r_2(m_2)}$ be the ...
- 19.6k
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Has gnu(2048) been found?
The gnu (or Group NUmber) function describes how many groups there are of a given order. The number of groups of each order are known up to 2047, see https://www.math.auckland.ac.nz/~obrien/research/...
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Can we ascertain that there exist an epimorphism $G\rightarrow H?$
Let $G,H$ be finite groups. Suppose we have a epimorphism $G\times G\rightarrow H\times H$. Can we find an epimorphism $G\rightarrow H$?
A fellow graduate student asked me this question during TA ...
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Square roots of elements in a finite group and representation theory
Let $G$ be a finite group. In an an earlier question, Fedor asked whether the square root counting function $r_2:G\rightarrow \mathbb{N}$, which assigns to $g\in G$ the number of elements of $G$ that ...
- 13k
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The finite subgroups of SL(2,C)
Books can be written about the finite subgroups of $\mathrm{SL}(2,\mathbb C)$ (and their immediate family, like the polyhedral groups...) I am about to start writing notes for a short course about ...
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Feit-Thompson theorem: the Odd order paper
For reference, the Feit-Thompson Theorem states that every finite group of odd order is necessarily solvable. Equivalently, the theorem states that there exist no non-abelian finite simple groups of ...
- 1,993
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Are the inner automorphisms the only ones that extend to every overgroup?
Let $H$ be a group. Can we find an automorphism $\phi :H\rightarrow H$ which is not an inner automorphism, so that given any inclusion of groups $i:H\rightarrow G$ there is an automorphism $\Phi: G\...
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A “mother of all groups”? What kind of structures have "mother of all"s?
For ordered fields, we have a “mother of all ordered fields”, the surreal numbers $\mathbf{No}$, a proper-class “field” which includes (an isomorphic copy of) every other ordered field as a subfield. ...
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When is Aut(G) abelian?
Let $G$ be a group such that $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$ is abelian. Is then $G$ abelian?
This is a sort of generalization of the well-known exercise, that $G$ is abelian when $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$ is ...
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What is the difference between PSL_2 and PGL_2?
Let $K$ be a field and $G:=SL_2(K)$, then $G$ is a $K-$split reductive group (to use some big words). These groups are classified by a based root datum $(X,D,X',D')$. Let $G'$ be group associated to $(...
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Is it decidable to check if an element has finite order or not?
Suppose we have a finitely presented group $G$ with decidable word problem. Is it decidable to check whether a given element $x\in G$ has finite order or infinite?
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Does the hypergraph structure of the set of subgroups of a finite group characterize isomorphism type?
Question
Suppose there is a bijection between the underlying sets of two finite groups $G, H$, such that every subgroup of $G$ corresponds to a subgroup of $H$, and that every subgroup of $H$ ...
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Action of PGL(2) on Projective Space
Let $k$ be a field, let $G = PGL_2(k)$ be the projective general linear group of $k$, and let
$X = k \cup \{ \infty \}$ be one-dimensional projective space over $k$. Then $G$ acts on $X$ (via ...
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A profinite group which is not its own profinite completion?
Is there a profinite group $G$ which is not its own profinite completion?
Surely not, I thought. But upon looking into it, I found that there is a special name given to a $G$ which is its own ...
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Applications of infinite graph theory
Finite graph theory abounds with applications inside mathematics itself, in computer science, and engineering. Therefore, I find it naturally to do research in graph theory and I also clearly see the ...
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Conjugacy classes of $\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})$
I was wondering if there is some description known for the conjugacy classes of $$\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z})=\{A\in \mathrm{GL}_2(\mathbb{Z})|\;\;|\det(A)|=1\}.$$ I was not able to find anything about ...
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What is the defining property of reductive groups and why are they important?
Having read (skimmed more like) many surveys of the Langlands Program and similar, it seems the related ideas apply exclusively to groups that are "reductive".
But nowhere, either in these surveys or ...
- 1,545
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Do the Baumslag-Solitar groups occur in nature?
The
Baumslag-Solitar groups
$BS(m,n) = \langle b,s\mid s^{-1}b^ms = b^n\rangle$, with $mn\neq 0$,
are important examples (more often, counter-examples) in group theory.
They are residually finite if, ...
- 1,889
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How strong is this conjecture? $(Z/nZ)^*$ is generated by "small" elements
Conjecture: There are constants $c,k$ such that every $(Z/nZ)^*$ is generated by its elements smaller than $k (\log n)^c$.
Where $(Z/nZ)^*$ is the multiplicative group of integers mod $n$. My main ...
- 4,529
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The field of fractions of the rational group algebra of a torsion free abelian group
Let $G$ be a torsion free abelian group (infinitely generated to get anything interesting). The group algebra $\mathbb{Q}[G]$ is an integral domain. Let $\mathbb{Q}(G)$ be its field of fractions.
...
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Triality of Spin(8)
Among simple Lie groups, $Spin(8)$ is the most symmetrical one in the sense that $Out(Spin(8))$ is the largest possible group. A description of this outer automorphism groups is as follows. $Spin(8)$ ...
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Classifying Space of a Group Extension
Consider a short exact sequence of Abelian groups -- I'm happy to assume they're finite as a toy example:
$$
0 \to H \to G \to G/H \to 0\ .
$$
I want to understand the classifying space of $G$. Since ...
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