Bounded generation of SL(n,A) (after D. Carter, G. Keller, and E. Paige).

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Publication:2461601



Abstract: We present unpublished work of D.Carter, G.Keller, and E.Paige on bounded generation in special linear groups. Let n be a positive integer, and let A = O be the ring of integers of an algebraic number field K (or, more generally, let A be a localization O_S.) If n = 2, assume that A has infinitely many units. We show there is a finite-index subgroup H of SL(n,A), such that every matrix in H is a product of a bounded number of elementary matrices. We also show that if T is in SL(n,A), and T is not a scalar matrix, then there is a finite-index, normal subgroup N of SL(n,A), such that every element of N is a product of a bounded number of conjugates of T. For n > 2, these results remain valid when SL(n,A) is replaced by any of its subgroups of finite index.


The paper presents unpublished work of D. Costa, G. Keller, and E. Paige. Let \(A\) be the ring of \(S\)-integers in a number field \(K\). Let \(n=2\) and \(A\) has infinitely many units or \(n\geq 3\). Here are the main two results: (1) there is a finite-index subgroup \(H\) of \(\text{SL}(n,A)\) such that every matrix in \(H\) is a product of a bounded number of elementary matrices, (2) for any non-scalar matrix \(T\) there is a finite-index, normal subgroup \(N\) of \(\text{SL}(n,A)\) such that every matrix in \(N\) is a product of a bounded number of conjugates of \(T\). The proofs are based on the Compactness Theorem, so no explicit bounds are obtained. On the other hand, for \(n\geq 3\), assuming generalized Riemann hypotheses, Carter and Keller obtained explicit bounds for (1) depending on \(n\) and \(K\). For \(n=2\), Cooke and Weinberger obtained an absolute bound in (1).




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