On the maximal number of elements pairwise generating the finite alternating group (Q6126166)

Let \(G\) be a finite noncyclic \(2\)-generator group. Define \(\omega (G)\) to be the size of the largest subset \(S\) of \(G\) such that every pair \(x,y\) of distinct elements in \(S\) generate \(G\). Similarly define \(\sigma (G)\) to be the size of the smallest family of proper subgroups of \(G\) whose union is \(G\). Since no two elements of \(S\) are contained in a proper subgroup of \(G\) we have \(\omega (G)\leq \sigma (G)\). It was shown in [\textit{F. Fumagalli} et al., Discrete Math. 345, No. 4, Article ID 112776, 7 p. (2022; Zbl 1491.20060)] that for the symmetric groups \(\omega (S_{n})/\sigma (S_{n})\rightarrow 1\) as \(n\rightarrow \infty\), and the present paper is devoted to proving an analogous result for the alternating groups. The authors also give an expression for the exact value for \(\sigma (A_{n})\) in the case that \(n\equiv 3\pmod{18}\).