Related papers: Products of two involutions in orthogonal and symp…

We classify bireflectional elements (products of 2 involutions) in symplectic groups Sp$(2n, K)$ over a field $K$. We also classify rev ersible elements (elements conjugate to their inverses) and bireflectional elements in finite projective…

Let $O(p,q)$ be the orthogonal groups of signature $(p,q)$ over the reals. It is shown that an element of the commutator subgroup $O(p,q)'$ of $O(p,q)$ is bireflectional (product of 2 involutions in $O(p,q)'$) if and only if it is…

We classify the bireflections (products of 2 involutions) in the commutator subgroup G an orthogonal group O(V) over a finite field GF(q) of characteristic not 2. We show that every element of G is a bireflection if it is reversible…

It is shown that a transformation in the special orthogonal group SO(V) of a nondefective quadratic space over a field K is bireflectional (product of 2 involutions) if and only if it is reversible (conjugate to its inverse). Furthermore,…

A classical theorem of Wonenburger, Djokovic, Hoffmann and Paige states that an element of the general linear group of a finite-dimensional vector space is the product of two involutions if and only if it is similar to its inverse. We give…

An automorphism $u$ of a vector space is called unipotent of index $2$ whenever $(u-\mathrm{id})^2=0$. Let $b$ be a non-degenerate symmetric or skewsymmetric bilinear form on a vector space $V$ over a field $\mathbb{F}$ of characteristic…

An element of a group is called \emph{reversible} if it is conjugate to its inverse, and \emph{strongly reversible} if it can be expressed as a product of two involutions. We study strongly reversible elements in the Riordan group and in…

Let $s$ be an $n$-dimensional symplectic form over a field $\mathbb{F}$ of characteristic other than $2$, with $n>2$. In a previous article, we have proved that if $\mathbb{F}$ is infinite then every element of the symplectic group…

We classify conjugacy classes of involutions in the isometry groups of nondegenerate, symmetric bilinear forms over the field of two elements. The new component of this work focuses on the case of an orthogonal form on an even dimensional…

An element $g$ of a group is called {\em reversible} if it is conjugate in the group to its inverse. This paper is about reversibles in the group $G$ of formally-invertible pairs of formal power series in two variables, with complex…

We identify those elements of the homeomorphism group of the circle that can be expressed as a composite of two involutions.

A symplectic manifold $(M,\omega)$ is called {\em (symplectically) uniruled} if there is a nonzero genus zero GW invariant involving a point constraint. We prove that symplectic uniruledness is invariant under symplectic blow-up and…

An element of a group is \emph{reversible} if it is conjugate to its own inverse, and it is \emph{strongly reversible} if it is conjugate to its inverse by an involution. A group element is strongly reversible if and only if it can be…

Let $s$ be an $n$-dimensional symplectic form over an arbitrary field with characteristic not $2$, with $n>2$. The simplicity of the group $\mathrm{Sp}(s)/\{\pm \mathrm{id}\}$ and the existence of a non-trivial involution in…

Let $p$ be an odd prime and let $\mathbf{B}$ be a $p$-block of a finite group, such that $\mathbf{B}$ has cyclic defect groups. We describe the self-dual indecomposable $\mathbf{B}$-modules and for each such module determine whether it is…

The finite symplectic group Sp(2g) over the field of two elements has a natural representation on the vector space of Siegel modular forms of given weight for the principal congruence subgroup of level two. In this paper we decompose this…

In groups with involution a nonassociative product of elements is defined, which leads to the definition of a certain type of quasigroups. These quasigroups are represented by square tables of complex numbers, with inverses, which differ…

Let F be the field of two elements and G a finite abelian 2-group with an involutory automorphism. The extension of this automorphism to the group algebra FG is called an involutory involution. This determines the groups of unitary and…

An element of a group is called reversible if it is conjugate to its own inverse. Reversible elements are closely related to strongly reversible elements, which can be expressed as a product of two involutions. In this paper, we classify…

We study the structure of symplectic quandles, quandles which are also R-modules equipped with an antisymmetric bilinear form. We show that every finite dimensional symplectic quandle over a finite field F or arbitrary field F of…