26 Special Ag Groups

Special ag groups are a subcategory of ag groups (see Finite Polycyclic Groups).

Let G be an ag group with PAG system (g1, ..., gn). Then (g1, ..., gn) is a special ag system if it is an ag system with some additional properties, which are described below.

In general a finite polycyclic group has several different ag systems and at least one of this is a special ag system, but in GAP3 an ag group is defined by a fixed ag system and according to this an ag group is called a special ag group if its ag system is a special ag system.

Special ag systems give more information about their corresponding group than arbitrary ag systems do (see More about Special Ag Groups) and furthermore there are many algorithms, which are much more efficient for a special ag group than for an arbitrary one. (See Ag Group Functions for Special Ag Groups)

The following sections describe the special ag system (see More about Special Ag Groups), their construction in GAP3 (see Construction of Special Ag Groups and Restricted Special Ag Groups) and their additional record entries (see Special Ag Group Records). Then follow two sections with functions which do only work for special ag groups (see MatGroupSagGroup and DualMatGroupSagGroup).

Subsections

  1. More about Special Ag Groups
  2. Construction of Special Ag Groups
  3. Restricted Special Ag Groups
  4. Special Ag Group Records
  5. MatGroupSagGroup
  6. DualMatGroupSagGroup
  7. Ag Group Functions for Special Ag Groups

26.1 More about Special Ag Groups

Now the properties of a special ag system are described. First of all the Leedham-Green series will be introduced.

Let G = G1 > G2 > ... > Gm > Gm+1 = { 1 } be the lower nilpotent series of G, i.e., Gi is the smallest normal subgroup of Gi-1 such that Gi-1 / Gi is nilpotent.

To refine this series the lower elementary abelian series of a nilpotent group N will be constructed. Let N = P1 . ... . Pl be the direct product of its Sylow-subgroups such that Ph is a ph-group and p1 < p2 < ... < pl holds. Let λj(Ph) be the j-th term of the ph-central series of Ph and let kh be the length of this series (see PCentralSeries). Define Nj, ph as the subgroup of N with

Nj, ph = λj+1(P1) ... λj+1(Ph-1) . λj(Ph) ... λj(Pl).
With k = max{k1, ..., kl} the series
N = N1, p1 ≥ N1, p2 ≥ ... ≥ N1,pl ≥ N2, p1 ≥ ... ≥ Nk, pl = { 1 }
is obtained. Since the p-central series may have different lengths for different primes, some subgroups might be equal. The lower elementary abelian series is obtained, if for all pairs of equal subgroups the one with the lexicographically greater index is removed. This series is a characteristic central series with maximal elementary abelian factors.

To get the Leedham-Green series of G, each factor of the lower nilpotent series of G is refined by its lower elementary abelian series. The subgroups of the Leedham-Green series are denoted by Gi, j, pi, h such that Gi, j, pi, h / Gi+1 = (Gi / Gi+1)j, pi,h for each prime pi,h dividing the order of Gi / Gi+1. The Leedham-Green series is a characteristic series with elementary abelian factors.

A PAG system corresponds naturally to a composition series of its group. The first additional property of a special ag system is that the corresponding composition series refines the Leedham-Green series.

Secondly, all the elements of a special ag system are of prime-power order, and furthermore, if a set of primes π = {q1, ..., qr} is given, all elements of a special ag system which are of qh-power order for some qh in π generate a Hall-π-subgroup of G. In fact they form a canonical generating sequence of the Hall-π-subgroup. These Hall subgroups are called public subgroups, since a subset of the PAG system is an induced generating set for the subgroup. Note that the set of all public Sylow subgroups forms a Sylow system of G.

The last property of the special ag systems is the existence of public local head complements. For a nilpotent group N, the group

λ2(N) = λ2(P1) ... λ2(Pl)
is the Frattini subgroup of N. The local heads of the group G are the factors
(Gi / Gi+1) / λ2(Gi / Gi+1) = Gi / Gi, 2,pi,1
for each i. A local head complement is a subgroup Ki of G such that Ki / Gi,2,pi,1 is a complement of Gi / Gi, 2, pi 1. Now a special ag system has a public local head complement for each local head. This complement is generated by the elements of the special ag system which do not lie in Gi \ Gi,2,pi,1. Note that all complements of a local head are conjugate. The factors
λ2(Gi / Gi+1) = Gi, 2,pi,1 / Gi+1
are called the tails of the group G.

To handle the special ag system the weights are introduced. Let (g1, ..., gn) be a special ag system. The triple (w1, w2, w3) is called the weight of the generator gi if gi lies in Gw1, w2, w3 but not lower down in the Leedham-Green series. That means w1 corresponds to the subgroup in the lower nilpotent series and w2 to the subgroup in the elementary-abelian series of this factor, and w3 is the prime dividing the order of gi. Then weight(gi) = (w1, w2, w3) and weightj(gi) = wj for j = 1,2,3 is set. With this definition {gi | weight3(gi) ∈ π} is a Hall-π-subgroup of G and {gi | weight(gi) ≠ (j, 1, p) for some p } is a local head complement.

Now some advantages of a special ag system are summarized.

•[1.] You have a characteristic series with elementary abelian factors of G explicitly given in the ag system. This series is refined by the composition series corresponding to the ag system.

•[2.] You can see whether G is nilpotent or even a p-group, and if it is, you have a central series explicitly given by the Leedham-Green series. Analogously you can see whether the group is even elementary abelian.

•[3.] You can easily calculate Hall-π-subgroups of G. Furthermore the set of public Sylow subgroups forms a Sylow system.

•[4.] You get a smaller generating set of the group by taking only the elements which correspond to local heads of the group.

•[5.] The collection with a special ag system may be faster than the collection with an arbitrary ag system, since in the calculation of the public subgroups of G the commutators of the ag generators are shortened.

•[6.] Many algorithms are faster for special ag groups than for arbitrary ag groups.

26.2 Construction of Special Ag Groups

SpecialAgGroup( G )

The function SpecialAgGroup takes an ag group G as input and calculates a special ag group H, which is isomorphic to G.

To obtain the additional information of a special ag system see Special Ag Group Records.

26.3 Restricted Special Ag Groups

If one is only interested in some of the information of special ag systems then it is possible to suppress the calculation of one or all types of the public subgroups by calling the function SpecialAgGroup( G, flag ), where flag is "noHall", "noHead" or "noPublic". With this options the algorithm takes less time. It calculates an ag group H, which is isomorphic to G. But be careful, because the output H is not handled as a special ag group by GAP3 but as an arbitrary ag group. Exspecially none of the functions listet in Ag Group Functions for Special Ag Groups use the algorithms for special ag groups.

SpecialAgGroup( G, "noPublic" )

calculates an ag group H, which is isomorphic to G and whose ag system is corresponding to the Leedham-Green series.

SpecialAgGroup( G, "noHall" )

calculates an ag group H, which is isomorphic to G and whose ag system is corresponding to the Leedham-Green series and has public local head complements.

SpecialAgGroup( G, "noHead" )

calculates an ag group H, which is isomorphic to G and whose ag system is corresponding to the Leedham-Green series and has public Hall subgroups.

To obtain the additional information of a special ag system see Special Ag Group Records.

26.4 Special Ag Group Records

In addition to the record components of ag groups (see Finite Polycyclic Groups) the following components are present in the group record of a special ag group H.

weights:

This is a list of weights such that the i-th entry gives the weight of the element hi, i.e., the triple (w1, w2, w3) when hi lies in Gw1, w2, w3 but not lower down in the Leedham-Green series (see More about Special Ag Groups).

The entries layers, first, head and tail only depend on the weights. These entries are useful in many of the programs using the special ag system.

layers:

This is a list of integers. Assume that the subgroups of the Leedham-Green series are numbered beginning at G and ending at the trivial group. Then the i-th entry gives the number of the subgroup in the Leedham-Green series to which hi corresponds as described in weights.

first:

This is a list of integers, and first[j] = i if hi is the first element of the j-th layer. Additionally the last entry of the list first is always n + 1.

head:

This is a list of integers, and head[j] = i if hi is the first element of the j-th local head. Additionally the last entry of the list head is always n + 1 (see More about Special Ag Groups).

tail:

This is a list of integers, and tail[j] = i if hi-1 is the last element of the j-th local head. In other words hi is either the first element of the tail of the j-th layer in the lower nilpotent series, or in case this tail is trivial, then hi is the first element of the j+1-st layer in the lower nilpotent series. If the tail of the smallest nontrivial subgroup of the lower nilpotent series is trivial, then the last entry of the list tail is n+1 (see More about Special Ag Groups).

bijection:

This is the isomorphism from H to G given through the images of the generators of H.

The next four entries indicate if any flag and which one is used in the calculation of the special ag system (see Construction of Special Ag Groups and Restricted Special Ag Groups).

isHallSystem:

This entry is a Boolean. It is true if public Hall subgroups have been calculated, and false otherwise.

isHeadSystem:

This entry is a Boolean. It is true if public local head complements have been calculated, and false otherwise.

isSagGroup:

This entry is a Boolean. It is true if public Hall subgroups and public local head complements have been calculated, and false otherwise.

Note that in GAP3 an ag group is called a special ag group if and only if the record entry isSagGroup is true.

    # construct a wreath product of a4 with s3 where s3 operates on 3 points.
    gap> s3 := SymmetricGroup( AgWords, 3 );;
    gap> a4 := AlternatingGroup( AgWords, 4 );;
    gap> a4wrs3 := WreathProduct(a4, s3, s3.bijection);
    Group( h1, h2, n1_1, n1_2, n1_3, n2_1, n2_2, n2_3, n3_1, n3_2, n3_3 )

    # now calculate the special ag group
    gap> S := SpecialAgGroup( a4wrs3 );
    Group( h1, n3_1, h2, n2_1, n1_1, n1_2, n1_3, n2_2, n2_3, n3_2, n3_3 )
    gap> S.weights;
    [ [ 1, 1, 2 ], [ 1, 1, 3 ], [ 2, 1, 3 ], [ 2, 1, 3 ], [ 2, 2, 3 ], 
      [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], 
      [ 3, 1, 2 ] ]
    gap> S.layers;
    [ 1, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5 ]
    gap> S.first;
    [ 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 12 ]
    gap> S.head;
    [ 1, 3, 6, 12 ]
    gap> S.tail;
    [ 3, 5, 12 ]
    gap> S.bijection;
    GroupHomomorphismByImages( Group( h1, n3_1, h2, n2_1, n1_1, n1_2,
    n1_3, n2_2, n2_3, n3_2, n3_3 ), Group( h1, h2, n1_1, n1_2, n1_3,
    n2_1, n2_2, n2_3, n3_1, n3_2, n3_3 ),
    [ h1, n3_1, h2, n2_1, n1_1, n1_2, n1_3, n2_2, n2_3, n3_2, n3_3 ],
    [ h1, n3_1, h2, n2_1*n3_1^2, n1_1*n2_1*n3_1, n1_2, n1_3, n2_2, n2_3,
      n3_2, n3_3 ] )
    gap> S.isHallSystem;
    true
    gap> S.isHeadSystem;
    true
    gap> S.isSagGroup;
    true 

In the next sections the functions which only apply to special ag groups are described.

26.5 MatGroupSagGroup

MatGroupSagGroup( H, i )

MatGroupSagGroup calculates the matrix representation of H on the i-th layer of the Leedham-Green series of H (see More about Special Ag Groups).

See also MatGroupAgGroup.

    gap> S := SpecialAgGroup( a4wrs3 );;
    gap> S.weights;
    [ [ 1, 1, 2 ], [ 1, 1, 3 ], [ 2, 1, 3 ], [ 2, 1, 3 ], [ 2, 2, 3 ], 
      [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], [ 3, 1, 2 ], 
      [ 3, 1, 2 ] ]
    gap> MatGroupSagGroup(S,3);
    Group( [ [ Z(3), 0*Z(3) ], [ 0*Z(3), Z(3) ] ], 
    [ [ Z(3)^0, Z(3)^0 ], [ 0*Z(3), Z(3)^0 ] ] )

26.6 DualMatGroupSagGroup

DualMatGroupSagGroup( H, i )

DualMatGroupSagGroup calculates the dual matrix representation of H on the i-th layer of the Leedham-Green series of H (see More about Special Ag Groups).

Let V be an F H-module for a field F. Then the dual module to V is defined by V* := {f : V → F | f is linear }. This module is also an F H-module and the dual matrix representation is the representation on the dual module.

    gap> S := SpecialAgGroup( a4wrs3 );;
    gap> DualMatGroupSagGroup(S,3);
    Group( [ [ Z(3), 0*Z(3) ], [ 0*Z(3), Z(3) ] ], 
    [ [ Z(3)^0, 0*Z(3) ], [ Z(3)^0, Z(3)^0 ] ] ) 

26.7 Ag Group Functions for Special Ag Groups

Since special ag groups are ag groups all functions for ag groups are applicable to special ag groups. However certain of these functions use special implementations to treat special ag groups, i.e. there exists functions like SagGroupOps.FunctionName, which are called by the corresponding general function in case a special ag group given. If you call one of these general functions with an arbitrary ag group, the general function will not calculate the special ag group but use the function for ag groups. For the special implementations to treat special ag groups note the following.

Centre( H )
MinimalGeneratingSet( H )
Intersection( U, L)
EulerianFunction( H ) MaximalSubgroups( H )
ConjugacyClassesMaximalSubgroups( H )
PrefrattiniSubgroup( H )
FrattiniSubgroup( H )
IsNilpotent( H )
These functions are often faster and often use less space for special ag groups.

ElementaryAbelianSeries( H )
This function returns the Leedham-Green series (see More about Special Ag Groups).

IsElementaryAbelianSeries( H )
Returns true.

HallSubgroup( H, primes )
SylowSubgroup( H, p )
SylowSystem( H )
These functions return the corresponding public subgroups (see More about Special Ag Groups).

Subgroup( H, gens )
AgSubgroup( H, gens, bool )
These functions return an ag group which is not special, except if the group itself is returned.

All domain functions not mentioned here use no special treatments for special ag groups.

Note also that there exists a package to compute formation theoretic subgroups of special ag groups. This may be used to compute the system normalizer of the public Sylow system, which is the F-normalizer for the formation of nilpotent groups F. It is also possible to compute F-normalizers as well as F-covering subgroups and F-residuals of special ag groups for a number of saturated formations F which are given within the package or for self-defined saturated formations F. Previous Up Next
Index

gap3-jm
27 Nov 2023