SL(V) is 4-reflectional (Q755896): Difference between revisions

The authors show that every element of the special linear group SL(V) of a vectorspace V of finite dimension \(n\neq 2\) over a commutative field K is the product of four involutions. Moreover, every element of SL(V) with \(n=\dim V\neq 2\) is the product of three involutions if and only if at least one of the following conditions is satisfied: (1) V has dimension one or four; (2) \(K=GF(2)\), or \(K=GF(3)\), or \(K=GF(5)\) and \(n\not\equiv 2 mod 4\); (3) V has dimension three, and K is of characteristic three, or \(x^ 2+x+1\) is irreducible.