Improving the Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv theorem for some non-Abelian groups. (Q2466035)

This paper discusses the Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv theorem for some non-Abelian groups. Let \(G\) be a finite group of order \(m\). Let \(D(G)\) be the least integer \(d\) such that given any \(d\) elements in \(G\) (repetition allowed), there is a subcollection such that the product of the subcollection will be 1. Also, let \(s(G)\) be the least integer \(t\) such that any given \(t\) elements will have a subcollection of \(m\) with product 1. It is well known by Erdős-Ginzburg-Ziv that \(D(G)+m-1\leq s(G)\leq 2m-1\). Moreover, it was conjectured by Zhuang and Gao that \(s(G)=D(G)+m-1\). The conjecture was indeed proved to be true for all Abelian groups by \textit{W. D. Gao} in [Acta Math. Sin. 39, No. 4, 514--523 (1996; Zbl 0862.20018)]. In the case of dihedral groups \(D_{2n}\), the conjecture was verified for prime \(n\geq 4001\) by \textit{J. Zhuang} and \textit{W. D. Gao} [Eur. J. Comb. 26, No. 7, 1053--1059 (2005; Zbl 1077.20044)]. This paper proves the conjecture for all dihedral groups (\(D_{2n}\), \(n\geq 2\)) and all dicyclic groups (\(Q_{4n}\), \(n\geq 2\)), where \(Q_{4n}=\{x,y\mid x^2=y^n\), \(y^{2n}=1\), \(yx=xy^{-1}\}\).