Structure of the orthogonal group \(O_{n}(V)\) over \(L\)-rings (Q1886545)

The author studies the orthogonal groups of diagonalizable quadratic modules over families of commutative rings with unity. Such a ring \(R\) is defined to be an \(L\)-ring if an equation \(c_1^2+\ldots + c_m^2=1\) holds for \(c_1,\ldots,c_m \in R\) only when \(c_j=\pm 1\) for some index \(j\) and \(c_i=0\) for all \(i\neq j\). In particular, the ring \(\mathbb Z\) of rational integers and the polynomial ring \(\mathbb Z[x_1,\ldots,x_k]\) in \(k\) indeterminates over \(\mathbb Z\) are easily seen to be \(L\)-rings. On the other hand, it is shown, for example, that \(\{\mathbb Z[\root{2r}\of 3]:r\in \mathbb N\}\) is an infinite family of commutative rings that are not \(L\)-rings. Let \(V\) be a quadratic module of rank \(n\) with an orthonormal basis over an \(L\)-ring \(R\) which is also an integral domain. It is proved that the orthogonal group \(O_n(V)\) is a semidirect product of the symmetric group \(S_n\) and the normal subgroup of \(O_n(V)\) consisting of diagonal matrices with entries \(\pm 1\). From this it follows that \(| O_n(V)| =2^nn!\) and that any element of \(O_n(V)\) can be expressed as a product of at most three involutions. Moreover, \(O_n(V)\) is shown to be generated by a pair of elements of orders \(2\) and \(2n\), respectively, and also by a set of three involutions. Analogous results are obtained for quadratic modules which admit an orthogonal (not necessarily orthonormal) basis over a more restricted class of rings (those integral domains which admit an ordering in which \(1\) is the smallest positive element). In this case, the symmetric group \(S_n\) appearing in the semidirect product is replaced by a direct product of symmetric groups of appropriate orders.