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S. P. Glasby

Publications and source records attributed to S. P. Glasby.

51 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
arXiv2015

Decomposing modular tensor products, and periodicity of `Jordan partitions'

Let $J_r$ denote an $r\times r$ matrix over a finite field $F$ with minimal and characteristic polynomials $(t-1)^r$. Suppose $r\leq s$. It is not hard to show that the Jordan canonical form of $J_r\otimes J_s$ is similar to $J_{λ_1}\oplus\cdots\oplus J_{λ_r}$ where $λ_1\geq\cdots\geqλ_r>0$ and $\sum_{i=1}^rλ_i=rs$. The partition $λ(r,s,p):=(λ_1,\dots,λ_r)$ of $rs$, which depends only on $r,s$ and the characteristic $p$ of $F$, has many applications including to the study of algebraic groups. We prove new periodicity and duality results for $λ(r,s,p)$ that depend on the smallest $p$-power exceeding $r$. This generalizes results of J. A. Green, B. Srinivasan, and others which depend on the smallest $p$-power exceeding the (potentially large) integer $s$. We show that for fixed $r$ we can construct a finite table allowing the computation of $λ(r,s,p)$ for all $s$ with $s\geq r$, and all primes $p$. This generalizes work of K-i. Iima and R. Iwamatsu.

math.AC↗
arXiv2014

Point-primitive generalised hexagons and octagons

In 2008, Schneider and Van Maldeghem proved that if a group acts flag-transitively, point-primitively, and line-primitively on a generalised hexagon or generalised octagon, then it is an almost simple group of Lie type. We show that point-primitivity is sufficient for the same conclusion, regardless of the action on lines or flags. This result narrows the search for generalised hexagons or octagons with point- or line-primitive collineation groups beyond the classical examples, namely the two generalised hexagons and one generalised octagon admitting the Lie type groups $\mathsf{G}_2(q)$, $\,^3\mathsf{D}_4(q)$, and $\,^2\mathsf{F}_4(q)$, respectively.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

AS-configurations and skew-translation generalised quadrangles

The only known skew-translation generalised quadrangles (STGQ) having order $(q,q)$, with $q$ even, are translation generalised quadrangles. Equivalently, the only known groups $G$ of order $q^3$, $q$ even, admitting an Ahrens-Szekeres (AS-)configuration are elementary abelian. In this paper we prove results in the theory of STGQ giving (i) new structural information for a group $G$ admitting an AS-configuration, (ii) a classification of the STGQ of order $(8,8)$, and (iii) a classification of the STGQ of order $(q,q)$ for odd $q$ (using work of Ghinelli and Yoshiara).

math.GR↗
arXiv2014

Extraspecial towers and Weil representations

This paper was motivated by a remarkable group, the maximal subgroup $M=S_3\ltimes 2^{2+1}_{-}\ltimes3^{2+1}\ltimes2^{6+1}_{-}$ of the sporadic simple group ${\rm Fi}_{23}$, where $S_3$ is the symmetric group of degree 3, and $2^{2+1}_{-}$, $3^{2+1}$ and $2^{6+1}_{-}$ denote extraspecial groups. The representation $3^{2+1}\to{\rm GL}(3,\mathbb{F}_4)\to{\rm GL}(6,\mathbb{F}_2)$ extends (remarkably) to $S_3\ltimes 2^{2+1}_{-}\ltimes3^{2+1}$ and preserves a quadratic form (of minus type) which allows the construction of $M$. The paper describes certain (Weil) representations of extraspecial groups which extend, and preserve various forms. Incidentally, $M$ is a remarkable solvable group with derived length 10, and composition length 24.

math.RT↗
arXiv2014

Writing representations over minimal fields

The chief aim of this paper is to describe a procedure which, given a $d$-dimensional absolutely irreducible matrix representation of a finite group over a finite field $\mathbb{E}$, produces an equivalent representation such that all matrix entries lie in a subfield $\mathbb{F}$ of $\mathbb{E}$ which is as small as possible. The algorithm relies on a matrix version of Hilbert's Theorem 90, and is probabilistic with expected running time ${\rm O}(|\mathbb{E}:\mathbb{F}|d^3)$ when $|\mathbb{F}|$ is bounded. Using similar methods we then describe an algorithm which takes as input a prime number and a power-conjugate presentation for a finite soluble group, and as output produces a full set of absolutely irreducible representations of the group over fields whose characteristic is the specified prime, each representation being written over its minimal field.

math.RT↗
arXiv2014

Using recurrence relations to count in symmetric groups

We use the fact that certain cosets of the stabilizer of points are pairwise conjugate in a symmetric group $S_n$ in order to construct recurrence relations for enumerating certain subsets of $S_n$. Occasionally one can find `closed form' solutions to such recurrence relations. For example, the probability that a random element of $S_n$ has no cycle of length divisible by $q$ is $\prod_{d=1}^{\lfloor n/q\rfloor} (1-\frac{1}{dq})$.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

Distant parents in complete binary trees

There is a unique path from the root of a tree to any other vertex. Every vertex, except the root, has a parent: the adjoining vertex on this unique path. This is the conventional definition of the parent vertex. For complete binary trees, however, we show that it is useful to define another parent vertex, called a \emph{distant parent}. The study of distant parents leads to novel connections with dyadic rational numbers. Moreover, we apply the concepts of close and distant parent vertices to deduce an apparently new sense in which continued fractions are `best' rational approximations.

math.CO↗
arXiv2014

The density of uncyclic matrices

An element $X$ in the algebra ${\rm M}(n,\mathbb{F})$ of all $n\times n$ matrices over a field $\mathbb{F}$ is said to be $f$-cyclic if the underlying vector space considered as an $\mathbb{F}[X]$-module has at least one cyclic primary component. These are the matrices considered to be `good' in the Holt-Rees version of Norton's irreducibility test in the MeatAxe algorithm. We prove that, for any finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$, the proportion of matrices in ${\rm M}(n,\mathbb{F}_q)$ that are `not good' decays exponentially to zero as the dimension $n$ approaches infinity. Turning this around, we prove that the density of `good' matrices in ${\rm M}(n,\mathbb{F}_q)$ for the MeatAxe depends on the degree, showing that it is at least $1-\frac2q(\frac{1}{q}+\frac{1}{q^2}+\frac{2}{q^3})^n$ for $q\geq4$. We conjecture that the density is at least $1-\frac1q(\frac{1}{q}+\frac{1}{2q^2})^n$ for all $q$ and $n$, and confirm this conjecture for dimensions $n\leq 37$. Finally we give a one-sided Monte Carlo algorithm called IsfCyclic to test whether a matrix is `good', at a cost of ${\rm O}({\rm Mat}(n)\log n)$ field operations, where ${\rm Mat}(n)$ is an upper bound for the number of field operations required to multiply two matrices in ${\rm M}(n,\mathbb{F}_q)$.

math.RA↗
arXiv2014

Proportion of cyclic matrices in maximal reducible matrix algebras

Let ${\rm M}(V)={\rm M}(n,\mathbb{F}_q)$ denote the algebra of $n\times n$ matrices over $\mathbb{F}_q$, and let ${\rm M}(V)_U$ denote the (maximal reducible) subalgebra that normalizes a given $r$-dimensional subspace $U$ of $V=\mathbb{F}_q^n$ where $0<r<n$. We prove that the density of non-cyclic matrices in ${\rm M}(V)_U$ is at least $q^{-2}\left(1+c_1q^{-1}\right)$, and at most $q^{-2}\left(1+c_2q^{-1}\right)$, where $c_1$ and $c_2$ are constants independent of $n,r$, and $q$. The constants $c_1=-\frac43$ and $c_2=\frac{35}3$ suffice.

math.RA↗
arXiv2014

Decomposing modular tensor products: `Jordan partitions', their parts and p-parts

Determining the Jordan canonical form of the tensor product of Jordan blocks has many applications including to the representation theory of algebraic groups, and to tilting modules. Although there are several algorithms for computing this decomposition in literature, it is difficult to predict the output of these algorithms. We call a decomposition of the form $J_r\otimes J_s=J_{λ_1}\oplus\cdots\oplus J_{λ_b}$ a `Jordan partition'. We prove several deep results concerning the $p$-parts of the $λ_i$ where $p$ is the characteristic of the underlying field. Our main results include the proof of two conjectures made by McFall in 1980, and the proof that ${\rm lcm}(r,s)$ and $\gcd(λ_1,\dots,λ_b)$ have equal $p$-parts. Finally, we establish some explicit formulas for Jordan partitions when $p=2$.

math.RT↗
arXiv2010

Enumerating the rationals from left to right

Farey sequences, Stern-Brocot sequences, the Calkin-Wilf sequences are shown to be generated via almost identical second order recurrence relations. These sequences have combinatorial, computational, and geometric applications, and are useful for enumerating the rational numbers.

math.NT↗
arXiv2010

p-groups having a unique proper non-trivial characteristic subgroup

We consider the structure of finite $p$-groups $G$ having precisely three characteristic subgroups, namely $1$, $Φ(G)$ and $G$. The structure of $G$ varies markedly depending on whether $G$ has exponent $p$ or $p^2$, and, in both cases, the study of such groups raises deep problems in representation theory. We present classification theorems for 3- and 4-generator groups, and we also study the existence of such $r$-generator groups with exponent $p^2$ for various values of $r$. The automorphism group induced on the Frattini quotient is, in various cases, related to a maximal linear group in Aschbacher's classification scheme.

math.GR↗
arXiv2003

Writing representations over proper sub-division rings

Let E be a division ring and G a finite group of automorphisms of E whose elements are distinct modulo inner automorphisms of E. Given a representation ρ: B-> GL(d,E) of an F-algebra B, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for ρto be {\it writable} over F=E^G, i.e. whether or not there exists a matrix A in GL(d,E) that conjugates ρ(B) into GL(d,F). We give an algorithm for constructing an A, or proving that no A exists. The case of particular interest to us is when E is a field, and ρis absolutely irreducible. The algorithm relies on an explicit formula for A, and a generalization of Hilbert's Theorem 90 (Theorem~3) that arises in Galois cohomology. The algorithm has applications to the construction of absolutely irreducible group representations (especially for solvable groups), and to the recognition of one of the classes in Aschbacher's matrix group classification scheme.

math.RT↗