Faster Isomorphism for pp-Groups of Class 2 and Exponent pp

The group isomorphism problem determines whether two groups, given by their Cayley tables, are isomorphic. For groups with order $n$, an algorithm with $n^{(\log n + O(1))}$ running time, attributed to Tarjan, was proposed in the 1970s [Mil78]. Despite the extensive study over the past decades, the current best group isomorphism algorithm has an $n^{(1 / 4 + o(1))\log n}$ running time [Ros13]. The isomorphism testing for $p$-groups of (nilpotent) class 2 and exponent $p$ has been identified as a major barrier to obtaining an $n^{o(\log n)}$ time algorithm for the group isomorphism problem. Although the $p$-groups of class 2 and exponent $p$ have much simpler algebraic structures than general groups, the best-known isomorphism testing algorithm for this group class also has an $n^{O(\log n)}$ running time. In this paper, we present an isomorphism testing algorithm for $p$-groups of class 2 and exponent $p$ with running time $n^{O((\log n)^{5/6})}$ for any prime $p > 2$. Our result is based on a novel reduction to the skew-symmetric matrix tuple isometry problem [IQ19]. To obtain the reduction, we develop several tools for matrix space analysis, including a matrix space individualization-refinement method and a characterization of the low rank matrix spaces.Comment: Accepted to STOC 202

Testing isomorphism of graded algebras

We present a new algorithm to decide isomorphism between finite graded algebras. For a broad class of nilpotent Lie algebras, we demonstrate that it runs in time polynomial in the order of the input algebras. We introduce heuristics that often dramatically improve the performance of the algorithm and report on an implementation in Magma

Coclass theory for nilpotent semigroups via their associated algebras

Coclass theory has been a highly successful approach towards the investigation and classification of finite nilpotent groups. Here we suggest a similar approach for finite nilpotent semigroups. This differs from the group theory setting in that we additionally use certain algebras associated to the considered semigroups. We propose a series of conjectures on our suggested approach. If these become theorems, then this would reduce the classification of nilpotent semigroups of a fixed coclass to a finite calculation. Our conjectures are supported by the classification of nilpotent semigroups of coclass 0 and 1. Computational experiments suggest that the conjectures also hold for the nilpotent semigroups of coclass 2 and 3.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

A computer-based approach to the classification of nilpotent Lie algebras

We adopt the $p$-group generation algorithm to classify small-dimensional nilpotent Lie algebras over small fields. Using an implementation of this algorithm, we list the nilpotent Lie algebras of dimension at most~9 over \F_2 and those of dimension at most~7 over \F_3 and \F_5.Comment: submitte

The isomorphism problem for universal enveloping algebras of nilpotent Lie algebras

In this paper we study the isomorphism problem for the universal enveloping algebras of nilpotent Lie algebras. We prove that if the characteristic of the underlying field is not~2 or~3, then the isomorphism type of a nilpotent Lie algebra of dimension at most~6 is determined by the isomorphism type of its universal enveloping algebra. Examples show that the restriction on the characteristic is necessary

Isomorphism in expanding families of indistinguishable groups

For every odd prime $p$ and every integer $n\geq 12$ there is a Heisenberg group of order $p^{5n/4+O(1)}$ that has $p^{n^2/24+O(n)}$ pairwise nonisomorphic quotients of order $p^{n}$. Yet, these quotients are virtually indistinguishable. They have isomorphic character tables, every conjugacy class of a non-central element has the same size, and every element has order at most $p$. They are also directly and centrally indecomposable and of the same indecomposability type. The recognized portions of their automorphism groups are isomorphic, represented isomorphically on their abelianizations, and of small index in their full automorphism groups. Nevertheless, there is a polynomial-time algorithm to test for isomorphisms between these groups.Comment: 28 page