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RANDOM GENERATION OF SIMPLE GROUPS BY TWO CONJUGATE ELEMENTS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 1997

ANER SHALEV
Affiliation:
Institute of Mathematics, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
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Abstract

Let G be a finite simple group. A conjecture of J. D. Dixon, which is now a theorem (see [2, 5, 9]), states that the probability that two randomly chosen elements x, y of G generate G tends to 1 as [mid ]G[mid ]→∞. Geoff Robinson asked whether the conclusion still holds if we require further that x, y are conjugate in G. In this note we study the probability Pc(G) that 〈x, xy〉=G, where x, yG are chosen at random (with uniform distribution on G×G). We shall show that Pc(G)→1 as [mid ]G[mid ]→∞ if G is an alternating group, or a projective special linear group, or a classical group of bounded dimension. In fact, some (but not all) of the exceptional groups of Lie type will also be dealt with.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The London Mathematical Society 1997

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