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Palindromes in finite groups and the Explorer-Director game

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palindromes-in-finite-groups-and-the-explorer-director-gameRepresentation Theorymath.GRmath.RTposed by Dagur Tómas Ásgeirsson, Pat Devlinrecorded: open · 1 machine check, unexamined

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Statement

While it is important to note that twisted subgroups need not be subgroups (e.g., there are small counterexamples in non-abelian groups of order 27 and 75), it could perhaps be the case that L(G) = {|H| : H \subsetneq G} (and thus, our upper bound on f(G) would be equality).

Context

Candidate 1 of the open problems stated in "Palindromes in finite groups and the Explorer-Director game", extracted for the Scalable Mathematical Discovery run.

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  • #1

    Attempt 1

    ai explorationGPT-5.5 xhigh ·
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    NEW

    Problem: For a finite group GG of odd order, call P⊆GP\subseteq G a twisted subgroup if 1∈P1\in P and aba∈Paba\in P for all a,b∈Pa,b\in P. Define

    L(G)={∣P∣:P⊊G, P a twisted subgroup}.L(G)=\{|P|:P\subsetneq G,\ P\text{ a twisted subgroup}\}.

    The conjecture asks whether

    L(G)={∣H∣:H<G}.L(G)=\{|H|:H<G\}.

    The surrounding text in the paper explicitly restricts this question to odd-order groups.

    Result: The conjecture is false.

    Let V=F52V=\mathbb F_5^2, and let C3=⟨t⟩C_3=\langle t\rangle act on VV by

    A=(0−11−1).A=\begin{pmatrix}0&-1\\1&-1\end{pmatrix}.

    Since A2+A+I=0A^2+A+I=0, A3=IA^3=I, so we may form

    G=V⋊AC3.G=V\rtimes_A C_3.

    Thus ∣G∣=25⋅3=75|G|=25\cdot 3=75, odd.

    Let

    B=(0110).B=\begin{pmatrix}0&1\\1&0\end{pmatrix}.

    One checks B2=IB^2=I and BAB=A−1BAB=A^{-1}. Hence

    θ(v,ti)=(Bv,t−i)\theta(v,t^i)=(Bv,t^{-i})

    defines an involutory automorphism of GG.

    Now define

    P={g∈G:θ(g)=g−1}.P=\{g\in G:\theta(g)=g^{-1}\}.

    Then PP is a twisted subgroup: if a,b∈Pa,b\in P, then

    θ(aba)=θ(a)θ(b)θ(a)=a−1b−1a−1=(aba)−1.\theta(aba)=\theta(a)\theta(b)\theta(a)=a^{-1}b^{-1}a^{-1}=(aba)^{-1}.

    For g=(v,ti)g=(v,t^i), we have

    g−1=(−A−iv,t−i),g^{-1}=(-A^{-i}v,t^{-i}),

    so g∈Pg\in P iff

    Bv=−A−iv.Bv=-A^{-i}v.

    For each i=0,1,2i=0,1,2, the matrix B+A−iB+A^{-i} has rank 11, hence its kernel has 55 elements. Therefore

    ∣P∣=5+5+5=15.|P|=5+5+5=15.

    Thus 15∈L(G)15\in L(G).

    However GG has no subgroup of order 1515. Indeed, VV is the unique Sylow 55-subgroup of GG. If H≤GH\leq G had order 1515, then its Sylow 55-subgroup KK would have order 55 and be normal in HH. Hence KK would be a one-dimensional AA-invariant subspace of VV. But the characteristic polynomial of AA is

    x2+x+1,x^2+x+1,

    whose discriminant is −3≡2(mod5)-3\equiv 2\pmod 5, not a square in F5\mathbb F_5. Thus AA has no eigenline over F5\mathbb F_5, contradiction.

    So 15∈L(G)15\in L(G), but 15∉{∣H∣:H<G}15\notin\{|H|:H<G\}. Therefore

    L(G)≠{∣H∣:H<G}.L(G)\neq \{|H|:H<G\}.

    Citation: The conjecture and definitions are from Ásgeirsson–Devlin, “Palindromes in finite groups and the Explorer-Director game,” arXiv:1904.00467. The counterexample above gives a direct disproof.

    Reviews

    0 human reviews · 1 machine check

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    • Machine check · not human verification

      machine: correct

      Recorded from GPT-5.5 xhigh (SMD judge 1) ·

      scope Full solution as submitted; SMD novelty classification TYPE1

      PASS

      The counterexample is valid. The semidirect product G=F52⋊C3G=\mathbb F_5^2\rtimes C_3 has odd order 7575, and the involution θ(v,ti)=(Bv,t−i)\theta(v,t^i)=(Bv,t^{-i}) is correctly defined since BAB=A−1BAB=A^{-1}. The anti-fixed set P={g:θ(g)=g−1}P=\{g:\theta(g)=g^{-1}\} is a twisted subgroup, and the rank computations give ∣P∣=15|P|=15, so 15∈L(G)15\in L(G).

      The argument that GG has no subgroup of order 1515 is also sound: such a subgroup would force a one-dimensional AA-invariant subspace of F52\mathbb F_5^2, but x2+x+1x^2+x+1 is irreducible over F5\mathbb F_5. Thus 1515 is a twisted-subgroup size but not a subgroup order, disproving the conjectured equality. I did not find a prior matching resolution in the literature search.

      Novelty assessment

      TYPE1

      Classification rationale: The result appears to be a genuinely new explicit disproof of the stated Ásgeirsson–Devlin question, but it is very small and routine: it uses the standard anti-fixed-point construction K(θ)={g:θ(g)=g−1}K(\theta)=\{g:\theta(g)=g^{-1}\} for an involutory automorphism, applied to the natural group C52⋊C3C_5^2\rtimes C_3 of order 7575. This is a useful correction/remark, but not enough for a standalone standard-journal paper.

      Literature check: I found no source explicitly resolving the conjectured equality L(G)={∣H∣:H<G}L(G)=\{|H|:H<G\}, nor this exact order-75 counterexample as a counterexample to that equality. The original paper still poses the question and says the authors could not disprove it. Semantic Scholar lists only four citations to the paper, all apparently about Explorer–Director variants or related games, not twisted-subgroup cardinalities. The surrounding loop-theory literature does contain very close standard material: anti-fixed sets of involutory automorphisms as twisted subgroups, and known nonassociative Bruck/Bol loops of order 1515. This makes the construction low-novelty, but I did not find the specific L(G)L(G) counterexample recorded.

      Citation: Ásgeirsson–Devlin, “Palindromes in finite groups and the Explorer-Director game,” Int. J. Algebra Comput. 31 (2021), 491–499, doi:10.1142/S0218196721500235. Adjacent background: Foguel–Kinyon–Phillips, “On Twisted Subgroups and Bol Loops of Odd Order,” Rocky Mountain J. Math. 36 (2006), 183–212; Kinyon–Nagy–Vojtěchovský, “Bol loops and Bruck loops of order pqpq,” J. Algebra 473 (2017), 481–512.

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