Generation of some orthogonal groups by a set of three involutions (Q2644761)

Let G be a nonabelian simple group and i(G) be the minimal number of involutions that generate G: then i(G)\(\geq 3\). It is known that \(i(G)=3\) when G is one of the following groups: \(A_ n\), PSL(n,q), \(Sz(2^{2n+1})\), PSp(2n,q), \(\Omega^-(4\ell,2^ m)\), a sporadic simple group. In this paper we show that the orthogonal groups \(\Omega^+(2\ell,q)\) and \(\Omega (2\ell +1,q)\), \(\ell \geq 3\), are generated by three involutions.