The conjugacy classes of fixed point free elements of order three or four in \(\text{GL}_ n(K)\), \(\text{SL}_ n(K)\), \(\text{PGL}_ n(K)\), and \(\text{PSL}_ n(K)\) (Q1337436)

The group \(\text{GL}_ n (K)\) acts primitively on the one-dimensional subspaces of an \(n\)-dimensional vector space \(V\) over the field \(K\). These 1-subspaces are the points of the projective space \(\text{PG} (n- 1, K)\). An element of \(\text{GL}_ n (K)\) or \(\text{PGL}_ n (K)\) is called fixed point free if it fixes none of these points. There are no fixed point free involutions in \(\text{GL}_ n (K)\), but there can be fixed point free involutions in \(\text{PGL}_ n (K)\). The author shows first that \(\text{GL}_ n (K)\) has fixed point free elements of order 3 (respectively of order 4) if and only if \(n\) is even and \(t^ 2+ t+1\) is irreducible over \(K\) (respectively \(-1\) is a non- square in \(K\)), in which case they form a single conjugacy class. Further, he states that this result does not extend to elements of order greater than 4 for all \(K\) and \(n\). Then it is proved that fixed point free elements of order 3 or 4 from \(\text{GL}_ n (K)\) belong to \(\text{SL}_ n (K)\) and it is described how the single conjugacy class of fixed point free elements of \(\text{GL}_ n (K)\) of order 3 (respectively of order 4) splits into a set of conjugacy classes of \(\text{SL}_ n (K)\). Finally, basing on results obtained for \(\text{GL}_ n (K)\) and \(\text{SL}_ n (K)\), the author describes the conjugacy classes of fixed point free elements of order 2, 3 and 4 in \(\text{PGL}_ n (K)\) and of order 2 and 3 in \(\text{PSL}_ n (K)\).