Conway group Co2

In the area of modern algebra known as group theory, the Conway group Co₂ is a sporadic simple group of order

   2¹⁸ · 3⁶ · 5³ · 7 · 11 · 23

= 42305421312000

≈ 4×10¹³.

History and properties

Co₂ is one of the 26 sporadic groups and was discovered by (Conway 1968, 1969) as the group of automorphisms of the Leech lattice Λ fixing a lattice vector of type 2. It is thus a subgroup of Co₀. It is isomorphic to a subgroup of Co₁. The direct product 2xCo₂ is maximal in Co₀.

The Schur multiplier and the outer automorphism group are both trivial.

Representations

Co₂ acts as a rank 3 permutation group on 2300 points.

Co₂ acts on the 23-dimensional even integral lattice with no roots of determinant 4, given as a sublattice of the Leech lattice orthogonal to a norm 4 vector. Over the field with 2 elements it has a 22-dimensional faithful representation; this is the smallest faithful representation over any field.

Feit (1974) showed that if a finite group has an absolutely irreducible faithful rational representation of dimension 23 and has no subgroups of index 23 or 24 then it is contained in either Z/2Z × Co₂ or Z/2Z × Co₃.

The Mathieu group M₂₃ is isomorphic to a maximal subgroup of Co₂ and one representation, in permutation matrices, fixes the type 2 vector (-3,1²³). A block sum of the involution η =

${{\mathbf 1}/2}\left({\begin{matrix}1&-1&-1&-1\\-1&1&-1&-1\\-1&-1&1&-1\\-1&-1&-1&1\end{matrix}}\right)$

and 5 copies of -η also fixes the same vector. Hence Co₂ has a convenient matrix representation inside the standard representation of Co₀. The trace of the block sum involution is -8, while the involutions in M₂₃ have trace 8.

A 24-dimensional block sum of η and -η is in Co₀ if and only if the number of copies of η is odd.

Another representation fixes the vector (4,4,0²²). This includes a permutation matrix representation of M₂₂:2. It also includes diagonal involutions corresponding to octads (trace 8), 16-sets (trace -8), and dodecads (trace 0). It can be shown that Co₂ has just 3 conjugacy classes of involutions. It should be noted that -η sends (4,4,0,0) to (0,0,4,4); there is permutation matrix in M₂₄ that restores (4,4,0,0). There follows a non-monomial generator for this representation of Co₂.

Maximal subgroups

Wilson (2009) found the 11 conjugacy classes of maximal subgroups of Co₂ as follows:

• U₆(2):2 Fixes a point of the rank 3 permutation representation on 2300 points.
• 2¹⁰:M₂₂:2
• McL (fixing 2-2-3 triangle)
• 2¹⁺⁸:Sp₆(2)
• HS:2 (can transpose type 3 vertices of conserved 2-3-3 triangle)
• (2⁴ × 2¹⁺⁶).A₈
• U₄(3):D₈
• 2⁴⁺¹⁰.(S₅ × S₃)
• M₂₃
• 3¹⁺⁴.2¹⁺⁴.S₅
• 5¹⁺²:4S₄

References

• Conway, John Horton (1968), "A perfect group of order 8,315,553,613,086,720,000 and the sporadic simple groups", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 61 (2): 398–400, doi:10.1073/pnas.61.2.398, MR 0237634
• Conway, John Horton (1969), "A group of order 8,315,553,613,086,720,000", The Bulletin of the London Mathematical Society, 1: 79–88, doi:10.1112/blms/1.1.79, ISSN 0024-6093, MR 0248216
• Conway, John Horton (1971), "Three lectures on exceptional groups", in Powell, M. B.; Higman, Graham, Finite simple groups, Proceedings of an Instructional Conference organized by the London Mathematical Society (a NATO Advanced Study Institute), Oxford, September 1969., Boston, MA: Academic Press, pp. 215–247, ISBN 978-0-12-563850-0, MR 0338152 Reprinted in Conway & Sloane (1999, 267–298)
• Conway, John Horton; Sloane, Neil J. A. (1999), Sphere Packings, Lattices and Groups, Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften, 290 (3rd ed.), Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-0-387-98585-5, MR 0920369
• Feit, Walter (1974), "On integral representations of finite groups", Proceedings of the London Mathematical Society. Third Series, 29: 633–683, doi:10.1112/plms/s3-29.4.633, ISSN 0024-6115, MR 0374248
• Thompson, Thomas M. (1983), From error-correcting codes through sphere packings to simple groups, Carus Mathematical Monographs, 21, Mathematical Association of America, ISBN 978-0-88385-023-7, MR 749038
• Conway, John Horton; Parker, Richard A.; Norton, Simon P.; Curtis, R. T.; Wilson, Robert A. (1985), Atlas of finite groups, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-853199-9, MR 827219
• Griess, Robert L. Jr. (1998), Twelve sporadic groups, Springer Monographs in Mathematics, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, ISBN 978-3-540-62778-4, MR 1707296
• Wilson, Robert A. (1983), "The maximal subgroups of Conway's group ·2", Journal of Algebra, 84 (1): 107–114, doi:10.1016/0021-8693(83)90069-8, ISSN 0021-8693, MR 716772
• Wilson, Robert A. (2009), The finite simple groups., Graduate Texts in Mathematics 251, Berlin, New York: Springer-Verlag, doi:10.1007/978-1-84800-988-2, ISBN 978-1-84800-987-5, Zbl 05622792

External links

• MathWorld: Conway Groups
• Atlas of Finite Group Representations: Co₂ version 2
• Atlas of Finite Group Representations: Co₂ version 3