Abelian maps, brace blocks, and solutions to the Yang-Baxter equation (Q2125175)

A \emph{skew (left) brace} is a triple \(\left(B, \cdot,\circ \right)\) consisting of a set and two binary operations such that \(\left(B, \cdot\right)\) and \(\left(B, \circ\right)\) are groups and the identity \begin{align*} x\circ\left(y\cdot z\right) = \left(x\circ y\right)\cdot x^{-1}\cdot \left(x\circ z\right) \end{align*} holds, for all \(x,y,z\in B\). \textit{L. Guarnieri} and \textit{L. Vendramin} introduced this structure in [Math. Comput. 86, No. 307, 2519--2534 (2017; Zbl 1371.16037)] as a useful tool for determining bijective set-theoretical solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation, a fundamental equation in statistical mathematics, see [\textit{V. G. Drinfel'd}, Lect. Notes Math. 1510, 1--8 (1992; Zbl 0765.17014)]. In particular, if the group \(\left(B, \cdot\right)\) is abelian, then \(\left(B, \cdot,\circ \right)\) is a brace, the structure introduced by \textit{W. Rump} for studying involutive solutions in [J. Algebra 307, No. 1, 153--170 (2007; Zbl 1115.16022)]. In the paper under review, the author shows how to construct skew braces by using \emph{abelian maps}, i.e., endomorphisms of a finite group \(G = \left(G, \cdot\right)\) with an abelian image. Specifically, it is proved that a single abelian map \(\psi:G\to G\) on a group \(G\) gives rise to a family of skew braces called \emph{brace block}, namely, a collection of binary operations \(\{\circ_n\}\) on \(G\) such that \(\left(G, \circ_m, \circ_n\right)\) is a skew brace, for all \(m,n\). In this way, the construction of skew braces contained in [\textit{A. Koch}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc., Ser. B 8, 189--203 (2021; Zbl 1473.16027)] is improved. Skew braces obtained by a brace block lie in the special class of \emph{bi-skew braces} introduced and studied firstly in [\textit{L. N. Childs}, New York J. Math. 25, 574--588 (2019; Zbl 1441.12001)] and that consist of skew braces which are also skew braces if the operations \(\cdot\) and \(\circ\) are reversed.