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On the density of Sylow numbers

Group Theory 2025-12-30 v1

Abstract

Let pp be a prime number. We say that a positive integer nn is a Sylow pp-number if there exists a finite group having exactly nn Sylow pp-subgroups. When p=2p=2, every odd integer is a Sylow 22-number. In contrast, when pp is odd, there exist two positive constants cpc_p and cpc_p^\prime such that, denoting by β(p,x)\beta(p,x) the number of Sylow pp-numbers less than or equal to xx, cpx(logx)1p11β(p,x)cpx(logx)1p11.c_p\,x(\log x)^{\frac{1}{p-1}-1} \leq \beta(p,x)\leq c_p^\prime\,x(\log x)^{\frac{1}{p-1}-1}. Moreover if βs(p,x)\beta_s(p,x) is the number of positive integers nxn\le x such that nn is the Sylow pp-number of some finite solvable group then βs(p,x)cpx(logx)1p11as x.\beta_s(p,x)\sim c_p\,x(\log x)^{\,\frac{1}{p-1}-1} \qquad\text{as } x\to\infty. In particular, when pp is odd, the natural density of Sylow pp-numbers is 00.

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Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.23390,
  title  = {On the density of Sylow numbers},
  author = {Andrea Lucchini and Pablo Spiga},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.23390},
  year   = {2025}
}

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12 pages