English

Factors in finite groups and well-covered graphs

Group Theory 2026-02-09 v1 Combinatorics

Abstract

We study a combinatorial property of subsets in finite groups that is analogous to the notion of independence in graphs. Given a group GG and a non-empty subset AGA\subset G, we define a (right) ss-factor as a subset BGB\subset G satisfying the following conditions: (i) Every element of ABAB can be written uniquely as abab with aAa\in A and bBb\in B. (ii) BB is maximal (with respect to inclusion) with this property. For a finite group GG, the upper and lower indices of AA are the sizes of the largest and smallest ss-factors associated with AA. 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 ss-factors in groups and maximal independent sets in graphs. Specifically, we show that ss-factors in GG associated with AA correspond to maximal independent sets in a Cayley graph Cay(GG, SS), where S=A1A{e}S=A^{-1}A\setminus\{e\}. Consequently, the upper and lower indices of AA are equal to the independence number and the independent domination number of the associated Cayley graph. The concepts of ss-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.

Keywords

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

R2 v1 2026-07-01T10:24:35.674Z