Half of finite abelian groups are unit groups

Abstract

A group is called realizable if it is the group of units in a ring with identity. The classification of realizable groups is a difficult open problem -- originally posed by L\'aszl\'o Fuchs -- and is an active area of research. Realizable groups seem rare, but their proportion within a fixed class of groups (cyclic, dihedral, finite abelian, etc.) varies. To quantify this proportion, we introduce the realizable density of a class of finite groups as an analog of natural density for subsets of the natural numbers. The realizable finite cyclic groups and the realizable finite abelian $p$-groups for $p$ odd have been classified; we prove that their realizable densities are 1/4 and 0, respectively. The realizable finite abelian 2-groups -- and more generally the realizable finite abelian groups -- have not been fully classified, and these special cases appear quite difficult. Nonetheless, we prove that the realizable density of finite abelian 2-groups is 1 and the realizable density of finite abelian groups is 1/2. Our work combines existing classification theorems for realizable groups with tools from analytic number theory.