EXPLORING P-SUPERLOCALS IN SYMMETRIC

GROUPS S5 AND ALTERNATING GROUPS A5

OLIVER WEKESA,
BMCS/337J/2020

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS & PHYSICS,

TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF MOMBASA

RESEARCH PROPOSAL DEFENSE

April 2, 2024

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Contents

1 List of Symbols

2 Abstract

3 Introduction

4 Background Information

5 Statement of the problem

6 General objective

7 Specific objectives

8 Significance of study

9 Literature review

10 Methodology

11 References
 List of Symbols

1 Sylp (G) - Set of Sylow p-subgroups of G.

2 np (G) - Number of Sylow p-subgroups of G.
3 Ω - Set.
4 ⩽ - Subgroup.
5 Sn - Symmetric group of degree n.
6 An - Alternating group of degree n.
7 Op (H) - Greatest normal p-local subgroup of H.

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 Abstract

Abstract

This research proposal investigates the properties and existence of p-local sub-
groups and p-superlocals within symmetric groups S5 and alternating groups
A5 utilizing Sylow’s theorem as a primary analytical tool. The methodology
involves computing subgroups of S5 and A5 , applying Sylow’s theorem to
identify Sylow p-subgroups, and determining their normalizers to confirm
their classification as p-local subgroups. The concept of p-superlocals is
explored, and relevant subgroups within the groups are identified. The study
aims to provide insights into the structural characteristics of these groups.
Keywords: p-local subgroups, p-superlocals, Sylow p-subgroups, p-radical,
Alternating group.

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 Introduction

Introduction

❒ Properties and existence of p-local subgroup and p-superlocals within symmetric groups S5 and
alternating groups A5 using Sylow’s theorem.

Definition 1. (p-Superlocal)
[3] A p-local subgroup H in a group G is said to be a p-superlocal if
H = NG (Op (H)).

Definition 2. (p-group)
[2, pg. 139] Let G be a group and let p be a prime.
A group G is called a p-group if every element in G has order pm for some
m ≥ 0.
A group G of order pα for some α ≥ 1 is called a p-group. Subgroups of G
which are p-groups are called p-subgroups.

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 Introduction

Example 1.1
Dihedral group D8 of order |D8 | = 23 is a p-group, i.e., 2-group.
D8 = {e, r, r2 , r3 , s, sr, sr2 , sr3 }

Definition 3. (Sylow p-subgroups)

[2, pg. 139] Let G be a group and p be a prime. If G is of order pα m, where
p ∤ m, then a subgroup of order pα is called a Sylow p-subgroup of G.

Example 1.2
|S3 | = 6 = 21 .31 where p = 2 and m = 3 since 2 ∤ 3. S3 has three Sylow
2-subgroups of order 2: {{1,(12)}, {1,(13)}, {1,(23)}}. It has a unique Sylow
3-subgroup of order 3: {(1,(123)(132)}.

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 Introduction

Definition 4. (p-local subgroup)

[6] A subgroup H of a group G is called a p-local subgroup of G whenever G
includes a nontrivial p-subgroup P such that H = NG (P).

Definition 5. (Symmetric groups Sn )

[2] Let Ω be any non-empty set and let SΩ be the set of all bijections from Ω
to itself (i.e set of all permutations of Ω). This group is called the symmetric
group on the set Ω.

Example 1.3
S5 is the set of all permutations of set {a,b,c,d,e}
|S5 | = 5! = 120; Element cycle types are: {(e), (a,b), (a,b,c), (a,b)(c,d),
(a,b,c,d), (a,b,c)(d,e), (a,b,c,d,e)}

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 Introduction

Definition 6. (Alternating group An )

[2] Is a set of all even permutation in Sn .

Example 1.4
A5 Is a set of all even permutations in S5 . |A5 | = 5!2 = 60
Element cycle types are: {(e),(a,b,c), (a,b)(c,d), (a,b,c,d,e)}

Definition 7. (Maximal Subgroup)

[2] A maximal subgroup of a group G is a proper subgroup M of G such that
there are no subgroups H of G with M < H < G.

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 Introduction

Sylow’s Theorem

Theorem 1. (Sylow’s Theorem)

[2] Let G be a group of order pα m, where p is a prime not dividing m.
1 Sylow p-subgroups of G exist, i.e., Sylp (G) , ∅.
2 If P is a Sylow p-subgroup of G and Q is any p-subgroup of G, then there exists g ∈ G such that
Q ≤ gPg−1 , i.e., Q is contained in some conjugate of P. In particular, any two Sylow p-subgroups
of G are conjugate in G.
3 The number of Sylow p-subgroups of G is of the form 1 + kp, i.e.,
np ≡ 1(modp).

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 Background Information

Background Information

❒ Mathematicians including Sylow, Holder, Burnside, Frobenius, and Cole utilized Sylow’s
theorems to investigate potential orders of finite simple groups.
❒ This exploration led to the discovery of general findings such as the normal p-complement
theorems of Burnside and Frobenius.
❒ Introduction of p-local subgroups.
❒ Origin traced back to Aschbacher’s publication ”Subgroup structure of finite groups” in 1985.

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 Background Information

❒ Various research efforts in describing p-superlocals in Symmetric groups by listing and

proving useful properties.
❒ Aschbacher observed that every p-local subgroup H of a finite group G is contained in
the p-superlocals H such that Op (H) ≤ Op (G).
❒ Revin equated the concept of p-superlocal with that of a p-maximal subgroup of G and
introduced the concept of p-radical, dual to that of a p-superlocal.
❒ Vedernikov confirmed in 2020 that the concept of p-superlocal in a group G is
equivalent to the concept of p-maximal subgroup of G.

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 Statement of the problem

Statement of the problem

❒ Ronald Solomon’s Observation: Local subgroups represent the largest subgroups of G

predictable from |G|.
❒ If |G| = pα m where p ∤ m, Sylow’s theorem guarantees subgroups of order pb for
1 ≤ b ≤ α.
❒ Normalizers of these subgroups are the p-local subgroups.
❒ Proposed project aims to identify all p-superlocals in S5 and A5 using Sylow’s theorem.
❒ A Sylow p-subgroup P of a group G is a maximal p-subgroup of G, that is, a
p-subgroup contained in no larger p-subgroup.

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 General objective

General objective

The objective of the study is to identify p-local subgroups and p-superlocals

within the groups S5 and A5 using Sylow’s theorem.

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 Specific objectives

Specific objectives

1 To compute subgroups of S5 and A5 .

2 To compute all Sylow p-subgroups of S5 and A5 .

3 To find all normalizers of Sylow p-subgroups.

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 Significance of study

Significance of study

Sylow p-subgroups are the maximal p-subgroups of a finite group. Under-

standing p-local subgroups helps in understanding Sylow p-subgroups, which
in turn gives information about the structure of the entire group. p-local sub-
groups have deep connection to cohomology, especially through the theory
of fusion systems, which describe the local behaviour of group actions.

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 Literature review

Literature review

❒ Aschbacher observed in his publication [1] that each p-local subgroup H of a finite
group G is contained in the p-superlocal H such that Op (H) ≤ Op (G).
❒ Revin provided a comprehensive account of p-superlocals in [5] which he described
their structure and properties, i.e., A basis for studying p-local subgroups of every
Lie-type group G over a finite field of characteristic p is the known Borel-Tits theorem.
This says that, for any subgroup H of G, there exists a parabolic subgroup R such that
H ≤ R and Op (H) ≤ Op (R).
❒ Ulrich, Christopher and Peter, In their work published in the Journal of Algebra [4],
delved into subgroups that generalize these parabolic subgroups.
❒ Revin introduced a concept of a p-radical [5], dual to the concept of a p-superlocal. He
established a one-to-one correspondance between p-radicals and p-superlocals in G. If
H is a p-superlocal then Op (H) is its corresponding p-radical and if P is a p-radical then
NG (P) is its corresponding p-superlocal.
❒ In [4], Suppose that G is finite group and p is a prime number. Let S ∈ Sylp (G), and let
P be a subgroup of G containing S. If S is not normal in P and S is contained in a unique
maximal subgroup of P, then we say that P is a p-minimal subgroup (with respect to S)
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 Methodology

Methodology

1 Identify subgroups of S5 and A5 using GAP.

2 Apply Sylow’s theorem to determine Sylow p-subgroups for each prime factor of the
group order.
3 Determine normalizers of Sylow p-subgroups to establish p-local subgroup status.

4 Explore the concept of p-superlocals.

5 Identify p-superlocals within S5 and A5 based on previous research and criteria.

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 References

References

[1] M Aschbacher. Subgroup structure of finite groups. In Proceedings of

the Rutgers group theory year, 1983–1984, pages 35–44, 1985.
[2] David Steven Dummit and Richard M Foote. Abstract algebra, volume 3.
Wiley Hoboken, 2004.
[3] EI Khukhro and VD Mazurov. Unsolved problems in group theory. the
kourovka notebook. arXiv preprint arXiv:1401.0300, 2014.
[4] Ulrich Meierfrankenfeld, Christopher Parker, and Peter Rowley. Rank
one isolated p-minimal subgroups in finite groups. Journal of Algebra,
566:1–93, 2021.
[5] Danila Olegovich Revin. Superlocals in symmetric and alternating
groups. Algebra and Logic, 42(3):192–206, 2003.
[6] Victor Alexandrovich Vedernikov. Nonsolvable finite groups whose
all nonsolvable superlocals are hall subgroups. Siberian Mathematical
Journal, 61(5):778–794, 2020.
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