Five degrees of separation
Given an infinite Abelian group \((A,+)\) and a function \(f: A \to A\), call the map \((x,y) \mapsto (x, y + f(x))\) (\((x,y) \mapsto (x + f(y), y)\), resp.) a vertical (horizontal, resp.) slide. The author proves that there is a number \(N\) (not depending on \(A\)) such that, given any \(B , C \subseteq A \times A\) with \(|B|= |C|\) and \( |(A \times A) \setminus B |= |( A \times A) \setminus C |\), \(B\) can be mapped to \(C\) by at most \(N\) slides. This generalizes (and gives a new, purely set-theoretic, proof of) earlier work of \textit{M. Abért } and \textit{T. Keleti} [Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 130, No. 2, 549-553 (2002; Zbl 0989.03046)], who had obtained the same result for the special case \((A,+) = ({\mathbb R},+)\) with a larger constant \(N\). As a consequence there is a number \(M\) such that (i) every permutation of \(A \times A\) is a product of at most \(M\) slides, (ii) every infinite symmetric group is the set product of \(M\) copies of two isomorphic Abelian subgroups.
- Five degrees of randomness
- The mystery of the six degrees of separation. II: Navigability and small worlds
- The mystery of the six degrees of separation. I: From order to random
- Five spheres in mutual contact
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2119933
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 90711
- Graphs, friends and acquaintances
- Social distance and network structures
- The Friendship Theorem
This page was built for publication: Five degrees of separation
Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q4529691)
