The expected number of random elements to generate a finite group

We will see that the expected number of elements of a finite group G which have to be drawn at random, with replacement, before a set of generators is found, can be determined using the M\uf6bius function defined on the subgroup lattice of G. We will discuss several applications of this result

Eta Products, BPS States and K3 Surfaces

Inspired by the multiplicative nature of the Ramanujan modular discriminant, Δ, we consider physical realizations of certain multiplicative products over the Dedekind eta-function in two parallel directions: the generating function of BPS states in certain heterotic orbifolds and elliptic K3 surfaces associated to congruence subgroups of the modular group. We show that they are, after string duality to type II, the same K3 surfaces admitting Nikulin automorphisms. In due course, we will present identities arising from q-expansions as well as relations to the sporadic Mathieu group M 24

On the table of marks of a direct product of finite groups

We present a method for computing the table of marks of a direct product of finite groups. In contrast to the character table of a direct product of two finite groups, its table of marks is not simply the Kronecker product of the tables of marks of the two groups. Based on a decomposition of the inclusion order on the subgroup lattice of a direct product as a relation product of three smaller partial orders, we describe the table of marks of the direct product essentially as a matrix product of three class incidence matrices. Each of these matrices is in turn described as a sparse block diagonal matrix. As an application, we use a variant of this matrix product to construct a ghost ring and a mark homomorphism for the rational double Burnside algebra of the symmetric group S_3