Cycle indices for the finite classical groups (Q4256986)

The author defines and studies cycle indices for the finite classical groups and applies them to investigate properties of random elements in these groups. The paradigm is Polya's identity for the cycle index of the symmetric group \(S_n\): \[ \sum^\infty_{n=0} {u^n\over n!}\sum_{\pi\in S_n}\prod_i x^{a_i(\pi)}_i=\prod^\infty_{m=1} e^{x_mu^m/m}, \] where \(a_i(\pi)\) denotes the number of \(i\)-cycles in the permutation \(\pi\in S_n\). Let \(\Lambda\) denote the set of partitions \(\lambda:=\lambda_1\geq\lambda_2\geq\cdots\) of some number \(|\lambda|\), then, using the rational canonical form of matrices, it can be seen that the set of conjugacy classes of \(\text{GL}(n,q)\) is in bijection with the set \({\mathcal C}:=\{\lambda\colon\mathbb{F}_q[X]\to\Lambda\mid\sum_\phi|\lambda_\phi|\text{deg }\phi=n\}\). Let \(x_{\phi,\lambda}\) be variables, indexed by pairs of polynomials and partitions, then the cycle index for \(\text{GL}(n,q)\) is defined to be \[ 1+\sum^\infty_{n=1} {u^n\over|\text{GL}(n,q)|}\sum_{\alpha\in\text{GL}(n,q)}\prod_{\phi\neq z} x_{\phi,\lambda_\phi(\alpha)}, \] where \(\lambda_*(\alpha)\in{\mathcal C}\) is associated to the class containing \(\alpha\). In section two of this paper the author studies factorization properties of this cycle index and gives some useful rewritings involving formulae for the orders of centralizers of group elements. He also defines and studies the cycle index for the adjoint action of \(\text{GL}_n(q)\) on the matrix algebra \(\text{Mat}(n,q)\). In section three the cycle index is used to obtain limiting probabilities (for \(n\to\infty\)) that elements of \(\text{GL}_n(q)\) or \(\text{Mat}(n,q)\) are semisimple (i.e., the minimal polynomial is multiplicity free), regular (i.e., the algebraic centralizer has minimal dimension) or regular semisimple. For example it turns out that the \(n\to\infty\)-probability that an element in \(\text{GL}(n,q)\) is regular semisimple is \(1-q^{-1}\). In section four cycle indices are defined and studied for the finite unitary, symplectic and orthogonal groups. In section five the author uses techniques from the theory of algebraic groups to explain an interesting asymptotic connection between the cycle index of a finite group of Lie type \(G(q)\) and that of its corresponding Weyl group \(W\). This is proved under the assumption that the probability of a random element of \(G\) to be regular semisimple approaches \(1\) for \(q\to\infty\). In section six the author illustrates how to use the cycle indices for classical groups to generalize some known results of random matrices to random elements of other classical groups. This leads for example to lower bounds for the average order of an element in classical groups.