Base Sizes and Regular Orbits for Coprime Affine Permutation Groups

Let G be a permutation group on a finite set . A sequence B=(₁,..., _b) of points in is called a base if its pointwise stabilizerin G is the identity. Bases are of fundamental importance incomputational algorithms for permutation groups. For both practicaland theoretical reasons, one is interested in the minimal basesize for (G, ), For a nonredundant base B, the elementary inequality2^|B||G|||^|B| holds; in particular, |B|log|G|/log||. In the casewhen G is primitive on , Pyber [8, p. 207] has conjectured thatthe minimal base size is less than Clog|G|/log|| for some (large)universal constant C. It appears that the hardest case of Pyber's conjecture is thatof primitive affine groups. Let H=GV be a primitive affine group;here the point stabilizer G acts faithfully and irreduciblyon the elementary abelian regular normal subgroup V of H, andwe may assume that =V. For positive integers m, let mV denotethe direct sum of m copies of V. If (v₁, ..., v_m)mV belongsto a regular G-orbit, then (0, v₁, ..., v_m) is a base for theprimitive affine group H. Conversely, a base (₁, ..., _b) forH which contains 0V= gives rise to a regular G-orbit on (b–1)V. Thus Pyber's conjecture for affine groups can be viewed asa regular orbit problem for G-modules, and it is therefore aspecial case of an important problem in group representationtheory. For a related result on regular orbits for quasisimplegroups, see [4, Theorem 6].     

The recognition of the class of indecomposable digraphs under low hemimorphy

Given a digraph G=(V,A), the subdigraph of G induced by a subset X of V is denoted by G[X]. With each digraph G=(V,A) is associated its dual G^?=(V,A^?) defined as follows: for any x,y∈V, (x,y)∈A^? if (y,x)∈A. Two digraphs G and H are hemimorphic if G is isomorphic to H or to H^?. Given k>0, the digraphs G=(V,A) and H=(V,B) are k-hemimorphic if for every X⊆V, with |X|≤k, G[X] and H[X] are hemimorphic. A class C of digraphs is k-recognizable if every digraph k-hemimorphic to a digraph of C belongs to C. In another vein, given a digraph G=(V,A), a subset X of V is an interval of G provided that for a,b∈X and x∈V−X, (a,x)∈A if and only if (b,x)∈A, and similarly for (x,a) and (x,b). For example, 0?, {x}, where x∈V, and V are intervals called trivial. A digraph is indecomposable if all its intervals are trivial. We characterize the indecomposable digraphs which are 3-hemimorphic to a non-indecomposable digraph. It follows that the class of indecomposable digraphs is 4-recognizable.     

Cycles in bipartite graphs

For k an integer, let G(a, b, k) denote a simple bipartite graph with bipartition (A, B) where |A| = a ≥ 2, |B| = b ≥ k ≥ 2, and each vertex of A has degree at least k. We prove two results concerning the existence of cycles in G(a, b, k).     

The Marica-Schonheim Inequality in Lattices

The Marica-Schönheim Inequality says that if A is a finitefamily of sets, then |A–||A| where A–A=[A₁\A₂:A₁,A₂A]. For a finite lattice L and AL, we define a–b=(J_a\J_b)where J_a=[jL:ja and j is join-irreducible], and if AL then welet A–A=[a₁–a₂: a₁, a₂A]. Then the analogue of theMarica-Schöonheim Inequality is |A–A|A| for all AL.We prove that this is true if L is distributive or complementedand modular or L is a partition lattice.     

Finite depth and Jacobson-Bourbaki correspondence

We introduce a notion of depth three tower C⊆B⊆A with depth two ring extension A|B being the case B=C. If and B|C is a Frobenius extension with A|B|C depth three, then A|C is depth two. If A, B and C correspond to a tower G>H>K via group algebras over a base ring F, the depth three condition is the condition that K has normal closure K^G contained in H. For a depth three tower of rings, a pre-Galois theory for the ring and coring (A⊗_BA)^C involving Morita context bimodules and left coideal subrings is applied to specialize a Jacobson-Bourbaki correspondence theorem for augmented rings to depth two extensions with depth three intermediate division rings.     

The number of meets between two subsets of a lattice

Let L be a lattice of divisors of an integer (isomorphically, a direct product of chains). We prove |A| |B| ? |L| |A ∧ B| for any A, B ? L, where |·| denotes cardinality and A ∧ B = {a ∧ b: a?A, b?B}. |A ∧ B| attains its minimum for fixed |A|, |B| when A and B are ideals. |·| can be replaced by certain other weight functions. When the n chains are of equal size k, the elements may be viewed as n-digit k-ary numbers. Then for fixed |A|, |B|, |A ∧ B| is minimized when A and B are the |A| and |B| smallest n-digit k-ary numbers written backwards and forwards, respectively. |A ∧ B| for these sets is determined and bounded. Related results are given, and conjectures are made.     

On the Small Squaring and Commutativity

Let G be a group and let k > 2 be an integer, such that (k²– 3)(k – 1) < |G|/15 if G is finite. Supposethat the condition |A²| k(k + 1)/2 + (k – 3)/2 is satisfiedby every it-element subset A G. Then G is abelian. The proofuses the structure of quasi-invariant sets.     

Generalizations of Bohr inequality for Hilbert space operators

Let B(H) be the space of all bounded linear operators on a complex separable Hilbert space H. Bohr inequality for Hilbert space operators asserts that for A,B∈B(H) and p,q>1 real numbers such that 1/p+1/q=1,

²|A+B|?p²|A|+q²|B|     

Long cycles in bipartite graphs

Let G be a 2-connected bipartite graph with bipartition (A, B), where |A| ≥ |B|. It is shown that if each vertex of A has degree at least k, and each vertex of B has degree at least l, then G contains a cycle of length at least 2min(|B|, k + l ? 1, 2k ? 2). Then this result is used to determine the minimum number of edges required in a bipartite graph to ensure a cycle of length at least 2m, for any integer m ≥ 2.     

On sets with small doubling property

Suppose that G is an arbitrary Abelian group and A is any finite subset G. A set A is called a set with small sumset if, for some number K, we have |A + A| ≤ K|A|. The structural properties of such sets were studied in the papers of Freiman, Bilu, Ruzsa, Chang, Green, and Tao. In the present paper, we prove that, under certain constraints on K, for any set with small sumset, there exists a set Λ, Λ ? _? K log |A|, such that |A ν Λ| ? |A|/K ^1/2+? , where ? > 0. In contrast to the results of the previous authors, our theorem is nontrivial even for a sufficiently large K. For example, for K we can take |A| ^η , where η > 0. The method of proof used by us is quite elementary.     

Some Notes on Meet-Irreducible Subgroups of Finite Groups

A proper subgroup A of a finite group G is said to be primitive or meet-irreducible if there is a unique subgroup A₀ ≤ G such that A is a maximal subgroup of A₀. In this case we say that |A₀: A| is the small index of A and denote it by |G: A|₀. In this article, we study the influence of meet-irreducible subgroups and their small indexes on the structure of G. In particular, we prove that a finite group G is supersoluble if and only if |G: A|₀ = |G: B|₀ for any two meet-irreducible subgroups A and B of G with A_G = B_G.     

Shadows of ordered graphs

Isoperimetric inequalities have been studied since antiquity, and in recent decades they have been studied extensively on discrete objects, such as the hypercube. An important special case of this problem involves bounding the size of the shadow of a set system, and the basic question was solved by Kruskal (in 1963) and Katona (in 1968). In this paper we introduce the concept of the shadow ∂G of a collection G of ordered graphs, and prove the following, simple-sounding statement: if n∈N is sufficiently large, |V(G)|=n for each G∈G, and |G|<n, then |∂G|?|G|. As a consequence, we substantially strengthen a result of Balogh, Bollobás and Morris on hereditary properties of ordered graphs: we show that if P is such a property, and |Pk|<k for some sufficiently large k∈N, then |Pn| is decreasing for k?n<∞.     

On B(5, 18) Groups

A group G is said to be a B(n, k) group if for any n-element subset A of G, |A²| ≤k. In this paper, a characterization of B(5, 18) groups is given. It is shown that G is a B(5, 18) group if and only if one of the following statements holds: (1) G is abelian; (2) |G| ≤18; (3) G ? ? a, b | a⁵ = b⁴ = 1, a^b = a^?1 ?.     

Sets with Small Sumset and Rectification

We study the extent to which sets A Z/NZ, N prime, resemblesets of integers from the additive point of view (‘upto Freiman isomorphism’). We give a direct proof of aresult of Freiman, namely that if |A + A| K|A| and |A| <c(K)N, then A is Freiman isomorphic to a set of integers. Becausewe avoid appealing to Freiman's structure theorem, we obtaina reasonable bound: we can take . As a byproduct of our argument we obtain a sharpening of thesecond author's result on sets with small sumset in torsiongroups. For example, if , and if |A + A| K|A|, then A is contained in a coset of a subspaceof size no more than . 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 11B75.     

Progression-free sets in finite abelian groups

Let G be a finite abelian group. Write and denote by rk(2G) the rank of the group 2G.Extending a result of Meshulam, we prove the following. Suppose that A⊆G is free of “true” arithmetic progressions; that is, a₁+a₃=2a₂ with a₁,a₂,a₃∈A implies that a₁=a₃. Then |A|<2|G|/rk(2G). When G is of odd order this reduces to the original result of Meshulam.As a corollary, we generalize a result of Alon and show that if an integer k?2 and a real ε>0 are fixed, |2G| is large enough, and a subset A⊆G satisfies |A|?(1/k+ε)|G|, then there exists A₀⊆A such that 1?|A₀|?k and the elements of A₀ add up to zero. When G is of odd order or cyclic this reduces to the original result of Alon.     

On Perfect Isometries for Tame Blocks

Any 2-block of a finite group G with a quaternion defect groupQ₈ is Morita equivalent to the corresponding block of the centraliserH of the unique involution of Q₈ in G; this answers positivelyan earlier question raised by M. Broué. 2000 MathematicsSubject Classification 20C20.     

Rigidity theorems for hypersurfaces with constant mean curvature

Let M ⁿ be a compact oriented hypersurface of a unit sphere \(\mathbb{S}^{n + 1} \) (1) with constant mean curvature H. Given an integer k between 2 and n ? 1, we introduce a tensor ? related to H and to the second fundamental form A of M, and show that if |?|² ≤ B _H,k and tr(? ³) ≤ C _n,k |?|³, where B _H,k and C _n,k are numbers depending only on H, n and k, then either |?|² ≡ 0 or |?|² ≡ B _H,k . We characterize all M ⁿ with |?|² ≡ B _H,k . We also prove that if \(\left| A \right|^2 \leqslant 2\sqrt {k(n - k)}\) and tr(? ³) ≤ C _n,k |?|³ then |A|² is constant and characterize all M ⁿ with |A|² in the interval \(\left[ {0,2\sqrt {k\left( {n - k} \right)} } \right] \) . We also study the behavior of |?|², with the condition additional tr(? ³) ≤ C _n,k |?|³, for complete hypersurfaces with constant mean curvature immersed in space forms and show that if sup _M |?|² = B _H,k and this supremum is attained in M ⁿ then M ⁿ is an isoparametric hypersurface with two distinct principal curvatures of multiplicities k y n ? k. Finally, we use rotation hypersurfaces to show that the condition on the trace of ? ³ is necessary in our results; more precisely, for each integer k with 2 ≤ k ≤ n ? 1 and \(H \geqslant 1/\sqrt {2n - 1} \) there is a complete hypersurface M ⁿ in \(\mathbb{S}^{n + 1} \) (1) with constant mean curvature H such that sup _M |?|² = B _H,k , and this supremum is attained in M ⁿ , and which is not a product of spheres.     

Restricted set addition: The exceptional case of the Erd?s-Heilbronn conjecture

Let A≠B be nonempty subsets of the group of integers modulo a prime p. If p?|A|+|B|−2, then at least |A|+|B|−2 different residue classes can be represented as a+b, where a∈A, b∈B and a≠b. This result complements the solution of a problem of Erd?s and Heilbronn obtained by Alon, Nathanson, and Ruzsa.     

Actions of Commutative Hopf Algebras

We show that actions of finite-dimensional semisimple commutativeHopf algebras H on H-module algebras A are essentially group-gradings.Moreover we show that the centralizer of H in the smash productA # H equals A^H H. Using these we invoke results about groupgraded algebras and results about centralizers of separablesubalgebras to give connections between the ideal structureof A, A^H and A # H. Examples of the above occur naturally when one considers: (1) finite abelian groups G of automorphisms of an algebra Awith | G |^–1 A; (2) G-graded algebras, for finite groups G; (3) finite-dimensional restricted Lie algebras L, with semisimplerestricted enveloping algebra u(L), acting as derivations onan algebra A.     

Inversion of analytically perturbed linear operators that are singular at the origin

Let H and K be Hilbert spaces and for each z∈C let A(z)∈L(H,K) be a bounded but not necessarily compact linear map with A(z) analytic on a region |z|<a. If A(0) is singular we find conditions under which A⁻¹(z) is well defined on some region 0<|z|<b by a convergent Laurent series with a finite order pole at the origin. We show that by changing to a standard Sobolev topology the method extends to closed unbounded linear operators and also that it can be used in Banach spaces where complementation of certain closed subspaces is possible. Our method is illustrated with several key examples.²