Factorizations of finite groups by conjugate subgroups which are solvable or nilpotent

We consider factorizations of a finite group $G$ into conjugate subgroups, $G=A^{x_{1}}\cdots A^{x_{k}}$ for $A\leq G$ and $x_{1},\ldots ,x_{k}\in G$, where $A$ is nilpotent or solvable. First we exploit the split $BN$-pair structure of finite simple groups of Lie type to give a unified self-contained proof that every such group is a product of four or three unipotent Sylow subgroups. Then we derive an upper bound on the minimal length of a solvable conjugate factorization of a general finite group. Finally, using conjugate factorizations of a general finite solvable group by any of its Carter subgroups, we obtain an upper bound on the minimal length of a nilpotent conjugate factorization of a general finite group

Structure computation and discrete logarithms in finite abelian p-groups

We present a generic algorithm for computing discrete logarithms in a finite abelian p-group H, improving the Pohlig-Hellman algorithm and its generalization to noncyclic groups by Teske. We then give a direct method to compute a basis for H without using a relation matrix. The problem of computing a basis for some or all of the Sylow p-subgroups of an arbitrary finite abelian group G is addressed, yielding a Monte Carlo algorithm to compute the structure of G using O(|G|^0.5) group operations. These results also improve generic algorithms for extracting pth roots in G.Comment: 23 pages, minor edit