Redfield's proofs of MacMahon's conjecture (Q913779): Difference between revisions

In 1927 P. A. MacMahon published a conjecture concerning n-dimensional determinants (or permanents) of order p. J. H. Redfield discovered two proofs of the conjecture. In 1927, in a letter to MacMahon he starts with two permutation groups \(G_ 1\) and \(G_ 2\) and describes a structure which is now called the wreath product of \(G_ 1[G_ 2]\) of the groups; but he does not give it a name, nor does he have a notation for the group itself. In 1940 Redfield submitted a second paper to the American Journal of Mathematics, but it was rejected; some 40 years after Redfield's death, it was published in \textit{J. H. Redfield}, J. Graph Theory 8, 205- 224 (1984; Zbl 0538.05003)]. The present author presents and discusses two proofs of the conjecture, based on unpublished, Redfield's papers and letters.