English

On the intersection spectrum of $\operatorname{PSL}_2(q)$

Combinatorics 2023-06-14 v1

Abstract

Given a group GG and a subgroup HGH \leq G, a set FG\mathcal{F}\subset G is called HH\emph{-intersecting} if for any g,gFg,g' \in \mathcal{F}, there exists xHG/HxH \in G/H such that gxH=gxHgxH=g'xH. The \emph{intersection density} of the action of GG on G/HG/H by (left) multiplication is the rational number ρ(G,H)\rho(G,H), equal to the maximum ratio FH\frac{|\mathcal{F}|}{|H|}, where FG\mathcal{F} \subset G runs through all HH-intersecting sets of GG. The \emph{intersection spectrum} of the group GG is then defined to be the set σ(G):={ρ(G,H):HG}. \sigma(G) := \left\{ \rho(G,H) : H\leq G \right\}. It was shown by Bardestani and Mallahi-Karai [{\it J. Algebraic Combin.}, 42(1):111-128, 2015] that if σ(G)={1}\sigma(G) = \{1\}, then GG is necessarily solvable. The natural question that arises is, therefore, which rational numbers larger than 11 belong to σ(G)\sigma(G), whenever GG is non-solvable. In this paper, we study the intersection spectrum of the linear group PSL2(q)\operatorname{PSL}_2(q). It is shown that 2σ(PSL2(q))2 \in \sigma\left(\operatorname{PSL}_2(q)\right), for any prime power q3(mod4)q\equiv 3 \pmod 4. Moreover, when q1(mod4)q\equiv 1 \pmod 4, it is proved that ρ(PSL2(q),H)=1\rho(\operatorname{PSL}_2(q),H)=1, for any odd index subgroup HH (containing Fq\mathbb{F}_q) of the Borel subgroup (isomorphic to FqZq12\mathbb{F}_q\rtimes \mathbb{Z}_{\frac{q-1}{2}}) consisting of all upper triangular matrices.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2306.07851,
  title  = {On the intersection spectrum of $\operatorname{PSL}_2(q)$},
  author = {Angelot Behajaina and Roghayeh Maleki and Andriaherimanana Sarobidy Razafimahatratra},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.07851},
  year   = {2023}
}