On the number of gradings on matrix algebras (Q2029814)

A distinguished place in ring theory is occupied by the study of group gradings on associative algebras. In the case of full matrix algebras over an algebraically closed field \(\mathbb{F}\), the problem of describing all group gradings on \(M_n(\mathbb{F})\) was solved in [\textit{Yu. A. Bahturin} et al., J. Algebra 241, No. 2, 677--698 (2001; Zbl 0988.16033); \textit{Yu. A. Bahturin} and \textit{M. V. Zaicev}, Can. Math. Bull. 45, No. 4, 499--508 (2002; Zbl 1022.16032)]. The authors of the present paper are concerned with the analysis of the number of isomorphism classes of \(G\)-gradings on \(M_n(\mathbb{F})\). They first provide formulas for the number \(E(G,\boldsymbol{m})\) of elementary gradings (also called good gradings in the literature) of an arbitrary finite group on an algebra of upper block-triangular matrices \(UT(\boldsymbol{m})\) and for the number \(N(G,\boldsymbol{m})\) of arbitrary \(G\)-gradings on \(UT(\boldsymbol{m})\), for \(G\) finite abelian. Then they study the asymptotic growth of \(E(G,m)\) and \(N(G,m)\) in the case of the full matrix algebra \(M_m(\mathbb{F})\) and they prove that: (1) the sequence \(\{E(G,m)\}_{m=1}^{\infty}\) completely characterizes a finite abelian group \(G\) (Theorem 1.1) and (2) that if the field \(\mathbb{F}\) is algebraically closed then the sequences \(\{N(G, m)\}_{m=1}^{\infty}\) and \(\{E(G, m)\}_{m=1}^{\infty}\) have the same asymptotic growth for all finite abelian groups \(G\), namely \(N(G, m) \sim E(G, m) \sim m^{|G|-1}/|G|!\) (Theorem 1.2). A reader interested in further recent developments in the study of gradings on subalgebras of full matrix algebras, may be interested in [\textit{F. Beşleagă} and \textit{S. Dăscălescu}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 373, No. 10, 6863--6885 (2020; Zbl 1472.16043)] too, where the authors construct and classify certain elementary gradings on structural matrix algebras.