Matrices and finite quandles (Q2575116)

A set \(Q\) with a binary operation \(\triangleright: Q\times Q\to Q\) is called a quandle if (i) \(a\triangleright a=a\) for any \(a\in Q\), (ii) for every pair \(a\) and \(b\in Q\), there uniquely exists \(c\in Q\) such that \(a=c\triangleright b\), and (iii) \((a\triangleright b)\triangleright c=(a\triangleright c)\triangleright(b\triangleright c)\) for any \(a\), \(b\), and \(c\in Q\). In this paper the authors introduce an \(n\times n\) matrix corresponding to a quandle with \(n\) elements. Its \((i,j)\)-entry is defined to be \(x_i\triangleright x_j\) if \(Q=\{x_1,x_2,\dots, x_n\}\). They give a condition that a given matrix can be associated with a quandle with finite elements, and consider the automorphism group of such a quandle. They also classify quandles with up to five elements and compute their automorphism groups. Related results were obtained by \textit{H.~Ryder} [Commun. Algebra 23, No. 13, 4971--4989 (1995; Zbl 0842.57011)].