Unextendible sequences in finite abelian groups (Q1010681)

Summary: Let \(G=C_{n_1}\oplus \dots \oplus C_{n_r}\) be a finite abelian group with \(r=1\) or \(1< n_1|\dots|n_r\), and let \(S=(a_1,\dots,a_t)\) be a sequence of elements in \(G\). We say \(S\) is an unextendible sequence if \(S\) is a zero-sum free sequence and for any element \(g\in G\), the sequence \(Sg\) is not zero-sum free any longer. Let \(L(G)=\lceil \log_2{n_1}\rceil+\dots+\lceil \log_2{n_r}\rceil\) and \(d^*(G)=\sum_{i=1}^r(n_i-1)\), in this paper we prove, among other results, that the minimal length of an unextendible sequence in \(G\) is not bigger than \(L(G)\), and for any integer \(k\), where \(L(G)\leq k \leq d^*(G)\), there exists at least one unextendible sequence of length \(k\).