Related papers: The probability that two elements with large $1$-e…

We study `good elements' in finite $2n$-dimensional classical groups $G$: namely $t$ is a `good element' if $o(t)$ is divisible by a primitive prime divisor of $q^n-1$ for the relevant field order $q$, and $t$ fixes pointwise an $n$-space.…

A subset of a group invariably generates the group if it generates even when we replace the elements by any of their conjugates. In a 2016 paper, Pemantle, Peres and Rivin show that the probability that four randomly selected elements…

We estimate the proportion of several classes of elements in finite classical groups which are readily recognised algorithmically, and for which some power has a large fixed point subspace and acts irreducibly on a complement of it. The…

We show that for any $n\geq 2$, two elements selected uniformly at random from a \emph{symmetrized} Euclidean ball of radius $X$ in $\textrm{SL}_n(\mathbb Z)$ will generate a thin free group with probability tending to $1$ as $X\rightarrow…

We first obtain explicit upper bounds for the proportion of elements in a finite classical group G with a given characteristic polynomial. We use this to complete the proof that the proportion of elements of a finite classical group G which…

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…

Famously, every finite simple group $G$ can be generated by a pair of elements. Moreover, Liebeck and Shalev (1995) proved that the probability that a pair of elements generate $G$ tends to $1$ as $|G| \to \infty$. More generally, work of…

We prove that if G is a sufficiently large finite almost simple group of Lie type, then given a fixed nontrivial element x in G and a coset of G modulo its socle, the probability that x and a random element of the coset generate a subgroup…

It is well known that every finite simple group can be generated by two elements and this leads to a wide range of problems that have been the focus of intensive research in recent years. In this survey article we discuss some of the…

An n-dimensional Bieberbach group is the fundamental group of a closed flat $n$-dimensional manifold. K. Dekimpe and P. Penninckx conjectured that an n-dimensional Bieberbach group can be generated by n elements. In this paper, we show that…

This work establishes a new probabilistic bound on the number of elements to generate finite nilpotent groups. Let $\varphi_k(G)$ denote the probability that $k$ random elements generate a finite nilpotent group $G$. For any $0 < \epsilon <…

Suppose $\pi$ and $\pi'$ are two random elements of $S_n$ with constrained cycle types such that $\pi$ has $x n^{1/2}$ fixed points and $yn/2$ two-cycles, and likewise $\pi'$ has $x' n^{1/2}$ fixed points and $y'n/2$ two-cycles. We show…

It is well known that the proportion of pairs of elements of $\operatorname{SL}(n,q)$ which generate the group tends to $1$ as $q^n\to \infty$. This was proved by Kantor and Lubotzky using the classification of finite simple groups. We give…

Let $G = \mathrm{SCl}_n(q)$ be a quasisimple classical group with $n$ large, and let $x_1, \dots, x_k \in G$ random, where $k \geq q^C$. We show that the diameter of the resulting Cayley graph is bounded by $q^2 n^{O(1)}$ with probability…

We give an easily checkable algebraic condition which implies that two elements of a finitely generated free group are members of distinct doubly-twisted conjugacy classes with respect to a pair of homomorphisms. We further show that this…

Let $G$ be a finite simple group. In this paper we consider the existence of small subsets $A$ of $G$ with the property that, if $y \in G$ is chosen uniformly at random, then with high probability $y$ invariably generates $G$ together with…

We improve on recent estimates for the probability of generating the alternating and symmetric groups $\mathrm{Alt}(n)$ and $\mathrm{Sym}(n)$. In particular we find the sharp lower bound, if the probability is given by a quadratic in…

We study random generation in the symmetric group when cycle type restrictions are imposed. Given $\pi, \pi' \in S_n$, we prove that $\pi$ and a random conjugate of $\pi'$ are likely to generate at least $A_n$ provided only that $\pi$ and…

Given positive integers $e_1,e_2$, let $X_i$ denote the set of $e_i$-dimensional subspaces of a fixed finite vector space $V=(\mathbb{F}_q)^{e_1+e_2}$. Let $Y_i$ be a non-empty subset of $X_i$ and let $\alpha_i=|Y_i|/|X_i|$. We give a…

The ensemble inter-relations to be considered are special features of classical cases, where the joint eigenvalue probability density can be computed explicitly. Attention will be focussed too on the consequences of these inter-relations,…