Finite groups embeddable in division rings

DOI10.1090/S0002-9939-01-05961-5MaRDI QIDQ2731903zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors T. Y. Lam

Publication date 30 July 2001

Published in Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0005037

zbMATH Keywords

Amitsur groupdivision ringsSylow-cyclic group

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Skew fields, division rings (12E15)

Abstract: Finite groups that are embeddable in the multiplicative groups of division rings $K$ were completely determined by S. A. Amitsur in 1955. In case $K$ has characteristic $p>0$, the only possible finite subgroups of $K^{\ast }$ are cyclic groups, according to a theorem of I. N. Herstein. Thus, the only interesting case is when $K$ has characteristic 0; that is, when $KsupseteqBbbQ$. Herstein conjectured that odd-order subgroups of division rings $K$ were cyclic, and he proved this to be the case when $K$ is the division ring of the real quaternions. Herstein's conjecture was settled negatively by Amitsur. As part of his complete classification of finite groups in division rings, Amitsur showed that the smallest noncyclic odd-order group that can be embedded in a division ring is one of order 63 (and this group is unique). Amitsur's paper is daunting to read as it is long and technically complicated. In lecturing to a graduate class on division rings, I tried to find a simple reason for the ``first exceptional odd order 63 (to Herstein's conjecture). After some work, I did come up with a reason that was simple enough to be explained to my class, without having to go through any part of Amitsur's paper. Furthermore, the method I used led easily to the second exceptional odd order, 117 (which was not mentioned in Amitsur's paper). Since this line of reasoning did not seem to have appeared in the literature before, I record it in this short note. To better motivate the results discussed here, I have also included a quick exposition on the beginning part of the theory of finite subgroups of division rings.

Review text

\textit{S. A. Amitsur} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 80, 361-386 (1955; Zbl 0065.25603)] determined all finite subgroups of division rings. The author's aim is to find a simpler approach to some of these results. He defines an Amitsur group as a finite group embeddable in the multiplicative group of a division ring and first observes that any Amitsur \(p\)-group is cyclic if \(p\) is odd, while for \(p=2\) it is cyclic or dicyclic. Next put \(G_{m,n,r}= gp \{a,b/a^m =b^n=1, bq=a^rb\}\), where \(r^n\equiv 1\pmod m\), and call a group Sylow-cyclic if all its Sylow subgroups are cyclic. Finite Sylow-cyclic groups were characterized as \(G_{m,n,r}\), where \((m,n(r-1))=1\) by Hölder, Burnside and Zassenhaus [see \textit{M. Hall}, The theory of groups, Macmillan (1959; Zbl 0084.02202), p. 146]. It follows that any Amitsur group of order not divisible by 8 is Sylow-cyclic; thus all such groups are metacyclic.NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThe author next finds some conditions on \(G_{m,n,r}\) to be an Amitsur group and concludes that an Amitsur group \(G\) of order \(<171\) is cyclic except possibly when \(|G|=63\) or 117. Examples where \(|G|=63\) are the cyclic group and \(G_{7,9,2}\) (as is shown by a direct proof) while \(G_{13,9,9}\) is an example of order 117. As the author points out, these results, for which Amitsur required some fairly deep number theory, are more easily obtained by division algebra methods.

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Cites work

• Embedding finite groups in rational division algebras. II
• Finite groups and division algebras
• Finite multiplicative subgroups in division rings
• Finite Subgroups of Division Rings
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3887879 (Why is no real title available?)
• scientific article; zbMATH DE number 3764109 (Why is no real title available?)

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• A classification of the automorphism groups of polarized abelian threefolds over finite fields
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• On a classification of the automorphism groups of polarized abelian surfaces over finite fields
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