English

On core quandles of groups

Group Theory 2021-05-11 v3 Rings and Algebras

Abstract

We review the definition of a quandle, and in particular of the core quandle Core(G)\mathrm{Core}(G) of a group GG, which consists of the underlying set of GG, with the binary operation xy=xy1xx\lhd y = x y^{-1} x. This is an involutory quandle, i.e., satisfies the identity x(xy)=yx\lhd (x\lhd y) = y in addition to the other identities defining a quandle. Trajectories (xi)iZ(x_i)_{i\in\mathbb{Z}} in groups and in involutory quandles (in the former context, sequences of the form xi=xzix_i = x z^i where x,zG,x,z\in G, among other characterizations; in the latter, sequences satisfying xi+1=xixi1)x_{i+1}= x_i\lhd\,x_{i-1}) are examined. A family of necessary conditions for an involutory quandle to be embeddable in the core quandle of a group is noted. Some implications are established between identities holding in groups and in their core quandles. Upper and lower bounds are obtained on the number of elements needed to generate the quandle Core(G)\mathrm{Core}(G) for GG a finitely generated group. Several questions are posed.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2006.00641,
  title  = {On core quandles of groups},
  author = {George M. Bergman},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.00641},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

18 pages. Fixed a few typos and unclear points on my part that I discovered while doing galleys. After publication, any updates, errata, related references etc. found will be recorded at http://math.berkeley.edu/~gbergman/papers

R2 v1 2026-06-23T15:56:53.766Z