English

Correction of a theorem on the symmetric group generated by transvections

Group Theory 2012-08-15 v2 Combinatorics

Abstract

Let VV denote a vector space over two-element field F2\mathbb F_2 with finite positive dimension and endowed with a symplectic form B.B. Let SL(V){\rm SL}(V) denote the special linear group of V.V. Let SS denote a subset of V.V. Define Tv(S)Tv(S) as the subgroup of SL(V){\rm SL}(V) generated by the transvections with direction α\alpha for all αS.\alpha\in S. Define G(S)G(S) as the graph whose vertex set is SS and where α,βS\alpha,\beta\in S are connected whenever B(α,β)=1.B(\alpha,\beta)=1. A well-known theorem states that under the assumption that SS spans V,V, the following (i), (ii) are equivalent: (i) Tv(S)Tv(S) is isomorphic to a symmetric group. (ii) G(S)G(S) is a claw-free block graph. We give an example which shows that this theorem is not true. We give a modification of this theorem as follows. Assume that SS is a linearly independent set of VV and no element of SS is in the radical of V.V. Then the above (i), (ii) are equivalent.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1108.2409,
  title  = {Correction of a theorem on the symmetric group generated by transvections},
  author = {Hau-wen Huang},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1108.2409},
  year   = {2012}
}

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7 pages