Computing in Quotient Groups
William M. Kantor, Eugene M. Luks
Committee:
Technical Report(Mar 1990)
Keywords:

We present polynomial-time algorithms for computation in quotient groups G/K of a permutation group G. In effect, these solve, for quotient groups, the problems that are known to be in polynomial-time for permutation groups. Since it is not computationally feasible to represent G/K itself as a permutation group, the methodology for the quotient-group versions of such problems frequently differ markedly from the procedures that have been observed for the K = 1 subcases. Whereas the algorithms for permutation groups may have rested on elementary notions, procedures underlying the extension to quotient groups often utilize deep knowledge of the structure of the group.

In some instances, we present algorithms for problems that were not previously known to be in polynomial time, even for permutation groups themselves (K = 1). These problems apparently required access to quotients.