On the commuting probability and supersolvability of finite groups

For a finite group \(G\) , let \(d(G)\) denote the probability that a randomly chosen pair of elements of \(G\) commute. We prove that if \(d(G)>1/s\) for some integer \(s>1\) and \(G\) splits over an abelian normal nontrivial subgroup \(N\) , then \(G\) has a nontrivial conjugacy class inside \(N\) of size at most \(s-1\) . We also extend two results of Barry, MacHale, and Ní Shé on the commuting probability in connection with supersolvability of finite groups. In particular, we prove that if \(d(G)>5/16\) then either \(G\) is supersolvable, or \(G\) isoclinic to \(A_4\) , or \(G/\mathbf{Z}(G)\) is isoclinic to \(A_4\) .     

On matching cover of graphs

A k-matching cover of a graph \(G\) is a union of \(k\) matchings of \(G\) which covers \(V(G)\) . The matching cover number of \(G\) , denoted by \(mc(G)\) , is the minimum number \(k\) such that \(G\) has a \(k\) -matching cover. A matching cover of \(G\) is optimal if it consists of \(mc(G)\) matchings of \(G\) . In this paper, we present an algorithm for finding an optimal matching cover of a graph on \(n\) vertices in \(O(n^3)\) time (if use a faster maximum matching algorithm, the time complexity can be reduced to \(O(nm)\) , where \(m=|E(G)|\) ), and give an upper bound on matching cover number of graphs. In particular, for trees, a linear-time algorithm is given, and as a by-product, the matching cover number of trees is determined.     

Sharp local estimates for the Szegö–Weinberger profile in Riemannian manifolds

We study the local Szegö–Weinberger profile in a geodesic ball \(B_g(y_0,r_0)\) centered at a point \(y_0\) in a Riemannian manifold \(({\mathcal {M}},g)\) . This profile is obtained by maximizing the first nontrivial Neumann eigenvalue \(\mu _2\) of the Laplace–Beltrami Operator \(\Delta _g\) on \({\mathcal {M}}\) among subdomains of \(B_g(y_0,r_0)\) with fixed volume. We derive a sharp asymptotic bounds of this profile in terms of the scalar curvature of \({\mathcal {M}}\) at \(y_0\) . As a corollary, we deduce a local comparison principle depending only on the scalar curvature. Our study is related to previous results on the profile corresponding to the minimization of the first Dirichlet eigenvalue of \(\Delta _g\) , but additional difficulties arise due to the fact that \(\mu _2\) is degenerate in the unit ball in \(\mathbb {R}^N\) and geodesic balls do not yield the optimal lower bound in the asymptotics we obtain.     

A groupoid generalisation of Leavitt path algebras

Let \(G\) be a locally compact, Hausdorff, étale groupoid whose unit space is totally disconnected. We show that the collection \(A(G)\) of locally-constant, compactly supported complex-valued functions on \(G\) is a dense \(*\) -subalgebra of \(C_c(G)\) and that it is universal for algebraic representations of the collection of compact open bisections of \(G\) . We also show that if \(G\) is the groupoid associated to a row-finite graph or \(k\) -graph with no sources, then \(A(G)\) is isomorphic to the associated Leavitt path algebra or Kumjian–Pask algebra. We prove versions of the Cuntz–Krieger and graded uniqueness theorems for \(A(G)\) .     

Fully inert subgroups of free Abelian groups

A subgroup \(H\) of an Abelian group \(G\) is called fully inert if \((\phi H + H)/H\) is finite for every \(\phi \in \mathrm{End}(G)\) . Fully inert subgroups of free Abelian groups are characterized. It is proved that \(H\) is fully inert in the free group \(G\) if and only if it is commensurable with \(n G\) for some \(n \ge 0\) , that is, \((H + nG)/H\) and \((H + nG)/nG\) are both finite. From this fact we derive a more structural characterization of fully inert subgroups \(H\) of free groups \(G\) , in terms of the Ulm–Kaplansky invariants of \(G/H\) and the Hill–Megibben invariants of the exact sequence \(0 \rightarrow H \rightarrow G \rightarrow G/H \rightarrow 0\) .     

On an extension of the Frobenius^{\prime } theorem about p-nilpotency of a finite group

Suppose that \(G\) is a finite group and \(H\) is a subgroup of \(G\) . \(H\) is said to be \(s\) -quasinormally embedded in \(G\) if for each prime \(p\) dividing the order of \(H\) , a Sylow \(p\) -subgroup of \(H\) is also a Sylow \(p\) -subgroup of some \(s\) -quasinormal subgroup of \(G\) . We fix in every non-cyclic Sylow subgroup \(P\) of \(G\) some subgroup \(D\) satisfying \(1<|D|<|P|\) and study the \(p\) -nilpotency of \(G\) under the assumption that every subgroup \(H\) of \(P\) with \(|H|=|D|\) is \(s\) -quasinormally embedded in \(G\) . Some recent results and the Frobenius \(^{\prime }\) theorem are generalized.     

Recognition of \text {PSL}(2,p) by order and some information on its character degrees where p is a prime

Let \(G\) be a finite group and \(\text {cd}(G)\) be the set of irreducible character degrees of \(G\) . In this paper we prove that if \(p\) is a prime number, then the simple group \(\text {PSL}(2,p)\) is uniquely determined by its order and some information about its character degrees. In fact we prove that if \(G\) is a finite group such that (i) \(|G|=|\text {PSL}(2,p)|\) , (ii) \(p\in \text {cd}(G)\) , (iii) \(\text {cd}(G)\) has an even integer, and (iv) there does not exist any element \(a\in \text {cd}(G)\) such that \(2p\mid a\) , then \(G\cong \text {PSL}(2,p)\) . As a consequence of our result we get that \(\text {PSL}(2,p)\) is uniquely determined by its order and the largest and the second largest character degrees.     

Simplicity of normal subgroups and conjugacy class sizes

Given a finite group \(G\) which possesses a non-abelian simple normal subgroup \(N\) having exactly four \(G\) -class sizes, we prove that \(N\) is isomorphic to PSL \((2, 2^a)\) with \(a\ge 2\) . Thus, we obtain an extension for normal subgroups of the classic N. Itô’s theorem which characterizes those finite simple groups with exactly four class sizes.     

On weakly closed subgroups of finite groups

Suppose that \(G\) is a finite group and \(H\) , \(K\) are subgroups of \(G\) . We say that \(H\) is weakly closed in \(K\) with respect to \(G\) if, for any \(g \in G\) such that \(H^{g}\le K\) , we have \(H^{g}=H\) . In particular, when \(H\) is a subgroup of prime-power order and \(K\) is a Sylow subgroup containing it, \(H\) is simply said to be a weakly closed subgroup of \(G\) or weakly closed in \(G\) . In the paper, we investigate the structure of finite groups by means of weakly closed subgroups.     

Neighbour-transitive codes in Johnson graphs

The Johnson graph \(J(v,k)\) has, as vertices, the \(k\) -subsets of a \(v\) -set \(\mathcal {V}\) and as edges the pairs of \(k\) -subsets with intersection of size \(k-1\) . We introduce the notion of a neighbour-transitive code in \(J(v,k)\) . This is a proper vertex subset \(\Gamma \) such that the subgroup \(G\) of graph automorphisms leaving \(\Gamma \) invariant is transitive on both the set \(\Gamma \) of ‘codewords’ and also the set of ‘neighbours’ of \(\Gamma \) , which are the non-codewords joined by an edge to some codeword. We classify all examples where the group \(G\) is a subgroup of the symmetric group \(\mathrm{Sym}\,(\mathcal {V})\) and is intransitive or imprimitive on the underlying \(v\) -set \(\mathcal {V}\) . In the remaining case where \(G\le \mathrm{Sym}\,(\mathcal {V})\) and \(G\) is primitive on \(\mathcal {V}\) , we prove that, provided distinct codewords are at distance at least \(3\) , then \(G\) is \(2\) -transitive on \(\mathcal {V}\) . We examine many of the infinite families of finite \(2\) -transitive permutation groups and construct surprisingly rich families of examples of neighbour-transitive codes. A major unresolved case remains.     

Scattered linear sets generated by collineations between pencils of lines

Let \(A\) and \(B\) be two points of \(\mathrm{{PG}}(2,q^n)\) , and let \(\Phi \) be a collineation between the pencils of lines with vertices \(A\) and \(B\) . In this paper, we prove that the set of points of intersection of corresponding lines under \(\Phi \) is either the union of a scattered \(\mathrm{{GF}}(q)\) -linear set of rank \(n+1\) with the line \(AB\) or the union of \(q-1\) scattered \(\mathrm{{GF}}(q)\) -linear sets of rank \(n\) with \(A\) and \(B\) . We also determine the intersection configurations of two scattered \(\mathrm{{GF}}(q)\) -linear sets of rank \(n+1\) of \(\mathrm{{PG}}(2,q^n)\) both meeting the line \(AB\) in a \(\mathrm{{GF}}(q)\) -linear set of pseudoregulus type with transversal points \(A\) and \(B\) .     

Growth in solvable subgroups of {{\mathrm{GL}}}_r({\mathbb {Z}}/p{\mathbb {Z}})

Let \(K={\mathbb {Z}}/p{\mathbb {Z}}\) and let \(A\) be a subset of \({{\mathrm{GL}}}_r(K)\) such that \(\langle A \rangle \) is solvable. We reduce the study of the growth of \(A\) under the group operation to the nilpotent setting. Fix a positive number \(C\ge 1\) ; we prove that either \(A\) grows (meaning \(|A_3|\ge C|A|\) ), or else there are groups \(U_R\) and \(S\) , with \(U_R\unlhd S \unlhd \langle A\rangle \) , such that \(S/U_R\) is nilpotent, \(A_k\cap S\) is large and \(U_R\subseteq A_k\) , where \(k\) depends only on the rank \(r\) of \({{\mathrm{GL}}}_r(K)\) . Here \(A_k = \{x_1 x_2 \cdots x_k : x_i \in A \cup A^{-1} \cup \{1\}\}\) . When combined with recent work by Pyber and Szabó, the main result of this paper implies that it is possible to draw the same conclusions without supposing that \(\langle A \rangle \) is solvable.     

Algebraic quotient modules and subgroup depth

In Kadison J Pure Appl Alg 218:367–380, (2014) it was shown that subgroup depth may be computed from the permutation module of the left or right cosets: this holds more generally for a Hopf subalgebra, from which we note in this paper that finite depth of a Hopf subalgebra \(R \subseteq H\) is equivalent to the \(H\) -module coalgebra \(Q = H/R^+H\) representing an algebraic element in the Green ring of \(H\) or \(R\) . This approach shows that subgroup depth and the subgroup depth of the corefree quotient lie in the same closed interval of length one. We also establish a previous claim that the problem of determining if \(R\) has finite depth in \(H\) is equivalent to determining if \(H\) has finite depth in its smash product \(Q^* \# H\) . A necessary condition is obtained for finite depth from stabilization of a descending chain of annihilator ideals of tensor powers of \(Q\) . As an application of these topics to a centerless finite group \(G\) , we prove that the minimum depth of its group \(\mathbb {C}\,\) -algebra in the Drinfeld double \(D(G)\) is an odd integer, which determines the least tensor power of the adjoint representation \(Q\) that is a faithful \(\mathbb {C}\,G\) -module.     

Characterization of ellipses as uniformly dense sets with respect to a family of convex bodies

Let \(K\subset \mathbb R ^N\) be a convex body containing the origin. A measurable set \(G\subset \mathbb R ^N\) with positive Lebesgue measure is said to be uniformly \(K\) -dense if, for any fixed \(r>0\) , the measure of \(G\cap (x+r K)\) is constant when \(x\) varies on the boundary of \(G\) (here, \(x+r K\) denotes a translation of a dilation of \(K\) ). We first prove that \(G\) must always be strictly convex and at least \(C^{1,1}\) -regular; also, if \(K\) is centrally symmetric, \(K\) must be strictly convex, \(C^{1,1}\) -regular and such that \(K=G-G\) up to homotheties; this implies in turn that \(G\) must be \(C^{2,1}\) -regular. Then for \(N=2\) , we prove that \(G\) is uniformly \(K\) -dense if and only if \(K\) and \(G\) are homothetic to the same ellipse. This result was already proven by Amar et al. in 2008 . However, our proof removes their regularity assumptions on \(K\) and \(G\) , and more importantly, it is susceptible to be generalized to higher dimension since, by the use of Minkowski’s inequality and an affine inequality, avoids the delicate computations of the higher-order terms in the Taylor expansion near \(r=0\) for the measure of \(G\cap (x+r\,K)\) (needed in 2008).     

The M-principal graph of a commutative ring

Let \(R\) be a commutative ring and \(M\) be an \(R\) -module. In this paper, we introduce the \(M\) -principal graph of \(R\) , denoted by \(M-PG(R)\) . It is the graph whose vertex set is \(R\backslash \{0\}\) , and two distinct vertices \(x\) and \(y\) are adjacent if and only if \(xM=yM\) . In the special case that \(M=R, M-PG(R)\) is denoted by \(PG(R)\) . The basic properties and possible structures of these two graphs are studied. Also, some relations between \(PG(R)\) and \(M-PG(R)\) are established.     

Approximation faible et principe de Hasse pour des espaces homogènes à stabilisateur fini résoluble

Let \(K\) be a global field and \(G\) a finite solvable \(K\) -group. Under certain hypotheses concerning the extension splitting \(G\) , we show that the homogeneous space \(V=G'/G\) with \(G'\) a semi-simple simply connected \(K\) -group has the weak approximation property. We use a more precise version of this result to prove the Hasse principle for homogeneous spaces \(X\) under a semi-simple simply connected \(K\) -group \(G'\) with finite solvable geometric stabilizer \({\bar{G}}\) , under certain hypotheses concerning the \(K\) -kernel (or \(K\) -lien) \(({\bar{G}},\kappa )\) defined by \(X\) .     

Counting and Sampling Minimum Cuts in Genus g Graphs

Let \(G\) be a directed graph with \(n\) vertices embedded on an orientable surface of genus \(g\) with two designated vertices \(s\) and \(t\) . We show that computing the number of minimum \((s,t)\) -cuts in \(G\) is fixed-parameter tractable in \(g\) . Specifically, we give a \(2^{O(g)} n^2\) time algorithm for this problem. Our algorithm requires counting sets of cycles in a particular integer homology class. That we can count these cycles is an interesting result in itself as there are no prior results that are fixed-parameter tractable and deal directly with integer homology. We also describe an algorithm which, after running our algorithm to count minimum cuts once, can sample an \((s,t)\) -minimum cut uniformly at random in \(O(n \log n)\) time per sample.     

Higher derivations and commutativity in lattice-ordered rings

In 1978 I. N. Herstein proved that a prime ring \(R\) of characteristic not two with nonzero derivation \(d\) satisfying \(d(x)d(y)=d(y)d(x)\) for all \(x,y\in R\) is commutative, and in 1995 Bell and Daif showed that \(d(xy)=d(yx)\) implies commutativity. We extend the Bell–Daif theorem to lattice-ordered prime rings with a positive derivation satisfying the property on a one-sided \(L\) -ideal and interpret these conditions for higher derivations in prime \(d\) -rings and in semiprime \(f\) -rings. Our key tool is that every positive derivation nilpotent on a one-sided \(L\) -ideal of a semiprime \(\ell \) -ring is zero on that ideal.