Non-isomorphic \(2\)-groups coincide at most in three quarters of their multiplication tables (Q1972353)

Let \(G(\circ)\) and \(G(\star)\) be two groups defined on the same \(n\)-element set, \(G\). Their distance, \(\text{dist}(G(\circ),G(\star))\) is the number of pairs \((a,b)\in G\times G\) for which \(a\circ b\neq a\star b\). For a fixed group \(G(\circ)\), \(\nu(G(\circ))\) is defined to be the minimum of all such distances for \(G(\star)\) not isomorphic to \(G(\circ)\). \textit{A. Drápal} has shown [Eur. J. Comb. 13, No. 5, 335-343 (1992; Zbl 0790.20038)] that \(\nu(G(\circ))\) is greater than \(n^2/9\), but all the evidence suggests that \(n^2/4\) is the correct lower bound. This paper provides an important step towards the proof of this by proving that\break \(\text{dist}(G(\circ),G(\star))<n^2/4\) yields an isomorphism of the corresponding Sylow \(2\)-subgroups. Indeed, if \(2^k\) divides \(n\), a bijection is constructed between all \(2^k\)-element subgroups of \(G(\circ)\) and all \(2^k\)-element subgroups of \(G(\star)\) that sends a subgroup of \(G(\circ)\) to an isomorphic subgroup of \(G(\star)\). As a corollary, we see that if \(G(\circ)\) is a \(2\)-group, \(\nu(G(\circ))\geq n^2/4\). The question of which pairs of \(2\)-groups have distance precisely \(n^2/4\) is an intriguing one. The techniques used are too technical to be described here and, unfortunately, it is not clear how they can be extended to a general \(p\), or even to \(3\).