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Word problems for finite nilpotent groups

Camina, Rachel ; Iniquez, Ainhoa and Thillaisundaram, Anitha LU (2020) In Archiv der Mathematik 115. p.599-609
Abstract
Let w be a word in k variables. For a finite nilpotent group G, a conjecture of Amit states that Nw(1) ≥ | G| k-1, where for g∈ G, the quantity Nw(g) is the number of k-tuples (g1, … , gk) ∈ G(k) such that w(g1, … , gk) = g. Currently, this conjecture is known to be true for groups of nilpotency class 2. Here we consider a generalized version of Amit’s conjecture, which states that Nw(g) ≥ | G| k-1 for g a w-value in G, and prove that Nw(g) ≥ | G| k-2 for finite groups G of odd order and nilpotency class 2. If w is a word in two variables, we further show that the generalized Amit conjecture holds for finite groups G of nilpotency class 2. In addition, we use character theory techniques to confirm the generalized Amit conjecture for finite... (More)
Let w be a word in k variables. For a finite nilpotent group G, a conjecture of Amit states that Nw(1) ≥ | G| k-1, where for g∈ G, the quantity Nw(g) is the number of k-tuples (g1, … , gk) ∈ G(k) such that w(g1, … , gk) = g. Currently, this conjecture is known to be true for groups of nilpotency class 2. Here we consider a generalized version of Amit’s conjecture, which states that Nw(g) ≥ | G| k-1 for g a w-value in G, and prove that Nw(g) ≥ | G| k-2 for finite groups G of odd order and nilpotency class 2. If w is a word in two variables, we further show that the generalized Amit conjecture holds for finite groups G of nilpotency class 2. In addition, we use character theory techniques to confirm the generalized Amit conjecture for finite p-groups (p a prime) with two distinct irreducible character degrees and a particular family of words. Finally, we discuss the related group properties of being rational and chiral, and show that every finite group of nilpotency class 2 is rational. (Less)
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author
; and
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Archiv der Mathematik
volume
115
pages
599 - 609
publisher
Birkhäuser Verlag
external identifiers
  • scopus:85088101701
ISSN
1420-8938
DOI
10.1007/s00013-020-01504-w
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
50e8ef7b-f793-4812-bf39-ca8d5594cb44
date added to LUP
2024-06-07 14:23:26
date last changed
2024-08-07 10:20:16
@article{50e8ef7b-f793-4812-bf39-ca8d5594cb44,
  abstract     = {{Let w be a word in k variables. For a finite nilpotent group G, a conjecture of Amit states that Nw(1) ≥ | G| k-1, where for g∈ G, the quantity Nw(g) is the number of k-tuples (g1, … , gk) ∈ G(k) such that w(g1, … , gk) = g. Currently, this conjecture is known to be true for groups of nilpotency class 2. Here we consider a generalized version of Amit’s conjecture, which states that Nw(g) ≥ | G| k-1 for g a w-value in G, and prove that Nw(g) ≥ | G| k-2 for finite groups G of odd order and nilpotency class 2. If w is a word in two variables, we further show that the generalized Amit conjecture holds for finite groups G of nilpotency class 2. In addition, we use character theory techniques to confirm the generalized Amit conjecture for finite p-groups (p a prime) with two distinct irreducible character degrees and a particular family of words. Finally, we discuss the related group properties of being rational and chiral, and show that every finite group of nilpotency class 2 is rational.}},
  author       = {{Camina, Rachel and Iniquez, Ainhoa and Thillaisundaram, Anitha}},
  issn         = {{1420-8938}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{599--609}},
  publisher    = {{Birkhäuser Verlag}},
  series       = {{Archiv der Mathematik}},
  title        = {{Word problems for finite nilpotent groups}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00013-020-01504-w}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00013-020-01504-w}},
  volume       = {{115}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}