A graph related to the sum of element orders of a finite group

Authors

  • Mihai-Silviu Lazorec Faculty of Mathematics, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" University of Iasi

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55016/ojs/cdm.v18i2.73182

Abstract

A finite group is called $\psi$-divisible iff $\psi(H)|\psi(G)$ for any subgroup $H$ of a finite group $G$. Here, $\psi(G)$ is the sum of element orders of $G$. For now, the only known examples of such groups are the cyclic ones of square-free order. The existence of non-abelian $\psi$-divisible groups still constitutes an open question. The aim of this paper is to make a connection between the $\psi$-divisibility property and graph theory. Hence, for a finite group $G$, we introduce a simple undirected graph called the $\psi$-divisibility graph of $G$. We denote it by $\psi_G$. Its vertices are the non-trivial subgroups of $G$, while two distinct vertices $H$ and $K$ are adjacent iff $H\subset K$ and $\psi(H)|\psi(K)$ or $K\subset H$ and $\psi(K)|\psi(H)$. We prove that $G$ is $\psi$-divisible iff $\psi_G$ has a universal (dominating) vertex. Also, we study various properties of $\psi_G$, when $G$ is a finite cyclic group. The choice of restricting our study to this specific class of groups is motivated in the paper.

Downloads

Published

2023-12-31

Issue

Section

Articles