Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2009
An important problem in finite-group theory is the determination of an abstract definition for a given group , that is, a set of relations
between k generating operations S1, …., Sk of , such that every other relation between S1, …., Sk is an algebraic consequence of (1).
The number of groups for which abstract definitions are actually known is relatively small, but a remarkable feature of the results already obtained is the extreme simplicity of the relations (1) in the case of several groups of quite high order. This fact constitutes an additional incentive to the search for abstract definitions, and many elegant results have doubtless yet to be discovered.
page 27 note 1 See, e.g., Moore, , Proc. London Math. Soc. (1), 28 (1897) 357–366;Google ScholarDickson, , Linear Groups (Leipzig, 1901).Google Scholar
page 28 note 1 See, e.g., Burnside, , Theory of Groups, 2nd Ed. (Cambridge, 1911), Ch. XII.Google Scholar
page 29 note 1 We use this word by analogy with the case of a set of homogeneous linear equations whose only solution is the trivial one: 0, 0,......, 0.
page 33 note 1 Todd, , Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 27 (1931), 221.Google Scholar
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