English

Commuting elements in conjugacy classes: An application of Hall's Marriage Theorem

Group Theory 2008-10-25 v2 Combinatorics

Abstract

Let G be a finite group. Define a relation ~ on the conjugacy classes of G by setting C ~ D if there are representatives c \in C and d \in D such that cd = dc. In the case where G has a normal subgroup H such that G/H is cyclic, two theorems are proved concerning the distribution, between cosets of H, of pairs of conjugacy classes of G related by ~. One of the proofs involves an interesting application of the famous Marriage Theorem of Philip Hall. The paper concludes by discussing some aspects of these theorems and of the relation ~ in the particular cases of symmetric and general linear groups, and by mentioning an open question related to Frobenius groups.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0708.3872,
  title  = {Commuting elements in conjugacy classes: An application of Hall's Marriage Theorem},
  author = {John R. Britnell and Mark Wildon},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0708.3872},
  year   = {2008}
}

Comments

11 pages, revised and extended version

R2 v1 2026-06-21T09:11:36.608Z