Related papers: The exact spread of M12 is 9
Let G be a group. We say that G has spread r if for any set of distinct elements {x1,..., xr}\subset G there exists an element y\in G with the property that <xi, y>=G for every 0<i<r+1. Few bounds on the spread of finite simple groups are…
We show that if {x1,...,x8064} is a set of distinct non-trivial elements of the sporadic simple Mathieu group M23 then there exists an element y such that {y,x_i} generates the whole group for every 0<i<8065 and that no larger set of…
A group $G$ is said to be $\frac{3}{2}$-generated if every nontrivial element belongs to a generating pair. It is easy to see that if $G$ has this property then every proper quotient of $G$ is cyclic. In this paper we prove that the…
A set of proper subgroups is a covering for a group if its union is the whole group. The minimal number of subgroups needed to cover $G$ is called the covering number of $G$, denoted by $\sigma(G)$. Determining $\sigma(G)$ is an open…
Let $G$ be a finite $2$-generated non-cyclic group. The spread of $G$ is the largest integer $k$ such that for any nontrivial elements $x_1, \ldots, x_k$, there exists $y \in G$ such that $G = \langle x_i, y\rangle$ for all $i$. The more…
A group is $\frac{3}{2}$-generated if every non-identity element is contained in a generating pair. A conjecture of Breuer, Guralnick and Kantor from 2008 asserts that a finite group is $\frac{3}{2}$-generated if and only if every proper…
We calculate the precise number of r-regular elements in the finite exceptional groups. As a corollary we find that the proportion of r-regular elements is at least 3577/18432 and for all \epsilon>0, there are infinitely finite simple…
The spread of a group $G$, written $s(G)$, is the largest $k$ such that for any nontrivial elements $x_1, \dots, x_k \in G$ there exists $y \in G$ such that $G = \langle x_i, y \rangle$ for all $i$. Burness, Guralnick and Harper recently…
Every finite simple group can be generated by two elements, and in 2000, Guralnick and Kantor resolved a 1962 question of Steinberg by proving that in a finite simple group every nontrivial element belongs to a generating pair. Groups with…
The minimal faithful permutation degree $\mu(G)$ of a finite group $G$ is the least integer $n$ such that $G$ is isomorphic to a subgroup of the symmetric group $S_n$. If $G$ has a normal subgroup $N$ such that $\mu(G/N) > \mu(G)$, then $G$…
Let $G$ be a finite group and $K$ a field containing an element of multiplicative order $|G|$. It is shown that if $G$ has a cyclic subgroup of index at most $2$, then the separating Noether number over $K$ of $G$ coincides with the Noether…
For a finite group $G$, let $\sigma(G)$ be the number of subgroups of $G$ and $\sigma_\iota(G)$ the number of isomorphism types of subgroups of $G$. Let $L=L_r(p^e)$ denote a simple group of Lie type, rank $r$, over a field of order $p^e$…
It is well known that every finite simple group has a generating pair. Moreover, Guralnick and Kantor proved that every finite simple group has the stronger property, known as $\frac{3}{2}$-generation, that every nontrivial element is…
The commuting graph of a group $G$ is the simple undirected graph whose vertices are the non-central elements of $G$ and two distinct vertices are adjacent if and only if they commute. It is conjectured by Jafarzadeh and Iranmanesh that…
The function $\mathrm{P}_{\mathbf{v}}(G)$, measuring the proportion of the elements of a finite group $G$ that are zeros of irreducible characters of $G$, takes (as proved in [12]) only values $\frac{m-1}{m}$, for $1 \leq m \leq 6$, in the…
We find the nonabelian finite simple groups with order prime divisors not exceeding 1000. More generally, we determine the sets of nonabelian finite simple groups whose maximal order prime divisor is a fixed prime less than 1000. Our…
We fit the Brauer group of a $\mu_r$-gerbe over a (possibly arbitrarily singular) stacky curve into an exact sequence and give characterizations for when it is short exact and conditions for when it splits. We also give a precise formula…
A $k$-tuple $(H_1, \ldots, H_k)$ of core-free subgroups of a finite group $G$ is said to be regular if $G$ has a regular orbit on the Cartesian product $G/H_1 \times \cdots \times G/H_k$. The regularity number of $G$, denoted $R(G)$, is the…
We prove that, if $G$ is a finite almost simple group and $H$ is a maximal subgroup of $G$, then the $10$th term of the derived series of $H$ is perfect. The same is true if $G$ is perfect and $H$ is core-free. The constant $10$ is best…
A finite group G is exceptional if it has a quotient Q whose minimal faithful permutation degree is greater than that of G. We say that Q is a distinguished quotient. The smallest examples of exceptional p-groups have order p^5. For an odd…