On the Brunnian conjecture

Abstract

Let $p$ be a primer number, $n \geq 3$ and integer. Let $f(X) = X^n + a_{n-1}X^{n-1} + \cdots +a_1 X + a_0 \in \mathbb{F}_p[X]$ be a primitive polynomial of degree $n$. Let $C_f$ be the companion matrix of $f(X)$, and $G$ the companion matrix of the polynomial $X^n-1$. Define $G_1 := C_f$ and $G_{k+1} = G G_k G^{-1}$ for $0 \leq k \leq n-1$. The so called ``Brunnian Conjecture'' states that: the general linear group $GL(n,p)$ is generated by $G_1, G_2, \ldots, G_n$. In this paper, we prove it for $p \geq 5$ and $n$ not divisible by $p-1$.