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3 Permutability of Subgroups in Finite Groups

This chapter describes functions to check permutability of subgroups in a given group. First we present a function to check whether a subgroup permutes with another one, then we present functions to test whether a subgroup permutes with the members of a given family of subgroups, and finally we introduce some other subgroup embedding properties related to permutability.

3.1 Permutability functions

3.1-1 ArePermutableSubgroups

This function returns true if U and V permute in G. The groups U and V must be subgroups of G. The subgroups U and V permute when UV = VU. This is equivalent to affirming that UV is a subgroup of G.

This is done by checking that the order of ⟨ U, V ⟩ is the order of their Frobenius product UV, that is, |U||V|/|U ∩ V|. Hence the performance of this function depends strongly on the existence of good algorithms to compute the intersection of two subgroups and, of course, the order of a subgroup. Shorthands are provided for the cases in which one of U and V is a subgroup of the other one or U or V are permutable in a common supergroup.

In the version with two arguments, U and V must have a common parent or ClosureGroup( U, V ) (see ClosureGroup (Reference: ClosureGroup)) is called to construct a common supergroup for U and V.

gap> g:=SymmetricGroup(4);
Sym( [ 1 .. 4 ] )
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2)(3,4)]);
Group([ (1,2)(3,4) ])
gap> b:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2,3)]);
Group([ (1,2,3) ])
gap> c:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2)]);
Group([ (1,2) ])
gap> ArePermutableSubgroups(g,a,b);
false
gap> ArePermutableSubgroups(g,a,c);
true
gap> ArePermutableSubgroups(g,b,c);
true
gap> ArePermutableSubgroups(b,c);
true
gap> ArePermutableSubgroups(b,a);
false

3.2 Embedding properties related to permutability

In the following we describe some functions which allow us to test whether a subgroup permutes with the members of some families of subgroups. We pay special attention to the families of all subgroups and all Sylow subgroups of the group. In some cases, we have introduced some "One" functions, which give an element or a subgroup in the relevant family of subgroups of the group which shows that the given property fails, or fail otherwise.

3.2-1 PermutMaxTries

This variable contains the maximum number of random attempts of permutability checks before trying general deterministic methods in the functions IsPermutable (3.2-2) and IsIwasawaSylow (5.3-5). Its default value is 10.

3.2-2 IsPermutable

This property returns true if the subgroup H is permutable in G, otherwise it returns false. We say that a subgroup H of a group G is permutable in G if H permutes with all subgroups of G.

If the attribute OneSubgroupNotPermutingWithInParent (3.2-3) has been set, it is used if possible. Otherwise, the algorithm checks looks for a cyclic subgroup not permuting with H. The number of such cyclic subgroups is controlled by the variable PermutMaxTries (3.2-1), by default, 10. If H permutes with all these subgroups, then the algorithm checks whether H is hypercentrally embedded in G and that the Sylow p-subgroups of H/H_G permute with all cyclic p-subgroups of G/H_G for each prime p dividing the order of G/H_G. This is a sufficient condition for permutability.

3.2-3 OneSubgroupNotPermutingWith

This attribute finds a cyclic subgroup of G which does not permute with H, that is, a subgroup which shows that H is not permutable in G. Recall that a subgroup H of a group G is permutable in G if H permutes with all subgroups of G.

gap> g:=SymmetricGroup(4);
Sym( [ 1 .. 4 ] )
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2)(3,4)]);
Group([ (1,2)(3,4) ])
gap> b:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2,3)]);
Group([ (1,2,3) ])
gap> c:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2)]);
Group([ (1,2) ])
gap> IsPermutable(g,a);
false
gap> IsPermutable(g,b);
false
gap> IsPermutable(g,c);
false
gap> OneSubgroupNotPermutingWith(g,b);
Group([ (1,3,4) ])
gap> v:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2)(3,4),(1,3)(2,4)]);
Group([ (1,2)(3,4), (1,3)(2,4) ])
gap> OneSubgroupNotPermutingWith(g,v);
fail
gap> IsPermutable(g,b);
false
gap> IsPermutable(g,v);
true

gap> g:=SmallGroup(16,6);
<pc group of size 16 with 4 generators>
gap> h:=Subgroup(g,[g.2]);
Group([ f2 ])
gap> IsNormal(g,h);
false
gap> IsPermutable(g,h);
true

Sometimes one does not require a subgroup to permute with all subgroups of the group, but only with a selected family of subgroups of the group. The general case is the following.

3.2-4 IsFPermutable

In this function, H is a subgroup of G and f must be a list of subgroups of G. It returns true if H permutes with all members of f and false otherwise.

This function uses the function OneFSubgroupNotPermutingWith (3.2-5). Hence it tries to use the values of IsPermutableInParent (3.2-2) and OneSubgroupNotPermutingWithInParent (3.2-3) if one of them is set, and if it returns false it tries to set the values of IsPermutableInParent (3.2-2) and OneSubgroupNotPermutingWithInParent (3.2-3).

3.2-5 OneFSubgroupNotPermutingWith

In this operation, H is a subgroup of G and f must be a list of subgroups of G. It returns a subgroup in f not permuting with H if such a subgroup exists, and fail otherwise.

This function tries to use the values of IsPermutableInParent (3.2-2) and OneSubgroupNotPermutingWithInParent (3.2-3) if one of them is set. If it returns fail, then it tries to set the value of IsPermutableInParent (3.2-2) and OneSubgroupNotPermutingWithInParent (3.2-3).

gap> g:=SymmetricGroup(4);
Sym( [ 1 .. 4 ] )
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2,3,4),(1,3)]);
Group([ (1,2,3,4), (1,3) ])
gap> Size(a);
8
gap> OneFSubgroupNotPermutingWith(g,a,MaximalSubgroups(g));
Group([ (1,2), (3,4), (1,3)(2,4) ])
gap> IsFPermutable(g,a,MaximalSubgroups(g));
false
gap> HasIsPermutableInParent(a);
true
gap> IsPermutableInParent(a);
false
gap> HasOneSubgroupNotPermutingWithInParent(a);
true
gap> OneSubgroupNotPermutingWithInParent(a);
Group([ (1,2), (3,4), (1,3)(2,4) ])
gap> IsFPermutable(g,a,AllSubnormalSubgroups(g));
true
gap> OneFSubgroupNotPermutingWith(g,a,AllSubnormalSubgroups(g));
fail
gap> sylows:=g->Union(List(SylowSubgroups(g),
>           t->ConjugacyClassSubgroups(g,t)));
function( g ) ... end
gap> OneFSubgroupNotPermutingWith(g,a,sylows(g));
Group([ (3,4), (1,4)(2,3), (1,3)(2,4) ])

The following functions can be considered as particular cases of the previous function for some subgroup embedding functors. However, they can be stored as "in parent" attributes or properties and in some cases we have tried to give more efficient code.

3.2-6 IsSPermutable

This operation returns true if a subgroup H of G is S-permutable in G, that is, H permutes with all Sylow subgroups of G, and returns false otherwise.

gap> g:=SmallGroup(8,3);
<pc group of size 8 with 3 generators>
gap> IsSPermutable(g,Subgroup(g,[g.1]));
true
gap> IsPermutable(g,Subgroup(g,[g.1]));
false

3.2-7 OneSylowSubgroupNotPermutingWith

The argument H must be a subgroup of G. If H is S-permutable in G, then it returns fail. Otherwise, it returns a Sylow subgroup of G which does not permute with H. We say that a subgroup H of a group G is S-permutable in G if H permutes with all Sylow subgroups of G.

gap> g:=SymmetricGroup(4);;
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2)(3,4)]);;
gap> OneSylowSubgroupNotPermutingWith(g,a);
Group([ (2,4,3) ])

3.2-8 IsSNPermutable

This operation returns true if H permutes with all system normalisers of G, and false otherwise. Here G must be a soluble group and H must be a subgroup of G. If the function is applied to an insoluble group, it gives an error.

3.2-9 OneSystemNormaliserNotPermutingWith

Here G must be a soluble group and H must be a subgroup of G. If H permutes with all system normalisers of G, then this operation returns fail. Otherwise, it returns a system normaliser D of G such that H does not permute with D. If the group G is not soluble, then it gives an error.

gap> g:=Group((1,2,3),(4,5,6),(1,2));
Group([ (1,2,3), (4,5,6), (1,2) ])
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2,3)(4,5,6)]);
Group([ (1,2,3)(4,5,6) ])
gap> IsSNPermutable(g,a);
true
gap> IsSPermutable(g,a);
false

The next functions are not particular cases of IsFPermutable (3.2-4) or OneFSubgroupNotPermutingWith (3.2-5), but we include them in the package because every subgroup permuting with all its conjugates is subnormal (see [Fog97]).

3.2-10 IsConjugatePermutable

This operation takes the value true if H permutes with all its conjugates, and the value false otherwise.

gap> g:=SymmetricGroup(4);
Sym( [ 1 .. 4 ] )
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[(1,2)(3,4)]);
Group([ (1,2)(3,4) ])
gap> IsPermutable(g,a);
false
gap> IsConjugatePermutable(g,a);
true

3.2-11 OneConjugateSubgroupNotPermutingWith

This operation finds a conjugate subgroup of H which does not permute with H if such a subgroup exists. If H permutes with all its conjugates, then this operation returns fail.

gap> g:=SmallGroup(16,7);
<pc group of size 16 with 4 generators>
gap> h:=Subgroup(g,[g.1*g.4]);
Group([ f1*f4 ])
gap> IsConjugatePermutable(g,h);
false
gap> OneConjugateSubgroupNotPermutingWith(g,h);
Group([ f1*f3 ])

Next we introduce some subgroup embedding functions related to permutability which have proved to be useful in some characterisations of soluble T-groups, PT-groups, and PST-groups. The "One" functions return a value which proves that the corresponding subgroup embedding property is false.

3.2-12 IsWeaklySPermutable

The value returned by this operation is true when H is a weakly S-permutable subgroup of G, that is, H is S-permutable in ⟨ H, H^g ⟩ implies that H is S-permutable in ⟨ H, g ⟩, and false otherwise.

3.2-13 OneElementShowingNotWeaklySPermutable

If H is a weakly S-permutable subgroup of G, then this operation returns fail. Otherwise, the value returned by this operation is an element g ∈ G such that H is S-permutable in ⟨ H, H^g ⟩, but H is not S-permutable in ⟨ H, g ⟩. A subgroup H of a group G is said to be weakly S-permutable if H is S-permutable in ⟨ H, H^g ⟩ implies that H is S-permutable in ⟨ H, g ⟩.

3.2-14 IsWeaklyPermutable

This operation returns true if H is weakly permutable in G, and false otherwise. A subgroup H of G is weakly permutable if the fact that H is S-permutable in ⟨ H, H^g ⟩, implies that H is S-permutable in ⟨ H, g ⟩.

3.2-15 OneElementShowingNotWeaklyPermutable

If H is a weakly permutable subgroup of G, then this operation returns fail. Otherwise, the value returned by this operation is an element g ∈ G such that H is permutable in ⟨ H, H^g ⟩, but H is not permutable in ⟨ H, g ⟩. A subgroup H of a group G is said to be weakly permutable if the fact that H is permutable in ⟨ H, H^g ⟩ implies that H is permutable in ⟨ H, g ⟩.

3.2-16 IsWeaklyNormal

This operation returns true if H is weakly normal in G, and false otherwise. A subgroup H of G is weakly normal whenever if H^g ≤ N_G(H), then g ∈ N_G(H).

3.2-17 OneElementShowingNotWeaklyNormal

If H is a weakly normal subgroup of G, then this function returns fail. Otherwise, the value returned by this operation is an element g such that H^g≤ N_G(H) is a subgroup of N_G(H) but g ∉ N_G(H).

gap> g:=DihedralGroup(8);
<pc group of size 8 with 3 generators>
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[g.1]);
Group([ f1 ])
gap> IsWeaklySPermutable(g,a);
true
gap> IsWeaklyPermutable(g,a);
false
gap> x:=OneElementShowingNotWeaklyPermutable(g,a);
f2
gap> IsSubgroup(Normalizer(g,a),ConjugateSubgroup(a,x));
true
gap> x in Normalizer(g,a);
false

3.2-18 IsWithSubnormalizerCondition

This operation returns true if the subgroup H satisfies the subnormaliser condition in G, and false otherwise.

A subgroup H is said to satisfy the subnormaliser condition in G if the condition that H is subnormal in a subgroup K of G implies that H is normal in K.

3.2-19 OneSubgroupInWhichSubnormalNotNormal

This function returns a subgroup K of G such that H is subnormal in K and H is not normal in K, if this subgroup exists; otherwise, it returns fail.

3.2-20 IsWithSubpermutizerCondition

This operation returns true if the subgroup H satisfies the subpermutiser condition in G, and false otherwise.

A subgroup H is said to satisfy the subpermutiser condition in G if the condition that H is subnormal in a subgroup K of G implies that H is permutable in K.

3.2-21 OneSubgroupInWhichSubnormalNotPermutable

This function returns a subgroup K of G such that H is subnormal in K and H is not permutable in K if this subgroup exists; otherwise it returns fail.

3.2-22 IsWithSSubpermutizerCondition

This operation returns true if the subgroup H satisfies the S-subpermutiser condition in G, and false otherwise.

A subgroup H is said to satisfy the S-subpermutiser condition in G if the condition that H is subnormal in a subgroup K of G implies that H is S-permutable in K.

3.2-23 OneSubgroupInWhichSubnormalNotSPermutable

This function returns a subgroup K of G such that H is subnormal in K and H is not S-permutable in K if such a subgroup exists; otherwise it returns fail.

gap> g:=SmallGroup(324,160);
<pc group of size 324 with 6 generators>
gap> a:=Subgroup(g,[g.3,g.5]);
Group([ f3, f5 ])
gap> IsWithSubnormalizerCondition(g,a);
true
gap> IsWeaklyNormal(g,a);
false
gap> IsWeaklySPermutable(g,a);
false
gap> x:=OneElementShowingNotWeaklyNormal(g,a);
f1
gap> ConjugateSubgroup(a,x)=a;
false
gap> IsSubset(Normalizer(g,a),ConjugateSubgroup(a,x));
true

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