Factors in finite groups and well-covered graphs
Abstract
We study a combinatorial property of subsets in finite groups that is analogous to the notion of independence in graphs. Given a group and a non-empty subset , we define a (right) -factor as a subset satisfying the following conditions: (i) Every element of can be written uniquely as with and . (ii) is maximal (with respect to inclusion) with this property. For a finite group , the upper and lower indices of are the sizes of the largest and smallest -factors associated with . A subset is called stable if its upper and lower indices coincide. A group is called stable if all its subsets are stable. We then explore the connection between -factors in groups and maximal independent sets in graphs. Specifically, we show that -factors in associated with correspond to maximal independent sets in a Cayley graph Cay(, ), where . Consequently, the upper and lower indices of are equal to the independence number and the independent domination number of the associated Cayley graph. The concepts of -factors, subset indices in groups, stable subsets, and stable groups (under different names) were introduced by Hooshmand in 2020. Later, Hooshmand and Yousefian-Arani classified stable groups using computer calculations. Using the connection with graphs, we compute the upper and lower indices for various groups and their subsets. Furthermore, we prove a classification theorem describing all stable groups without relying on computer calculations.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.06770,
title = {Factors in finite groups and well-covered graphs},
author = {Mikhail Kabenyuk},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.06770},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
20 pages, 6 figures