The density conjecture for uncyclic matrices

Let q2q\geqslant 2 be a finite field size and let n1n\geqslant 1. Write unc(n,q)\operatorname{unc}(n,q) for the number of uncyclic matrices in M(n,q)\operatorname{M}(n,q), where an uncyclic matrix is one for which every primary component of the underlying Fq[X]\mathbb{F}_q[X]-module Fqn\mathbb{F}_q^n is non-cyclic. The density conjecture. The proportion of uncyclic matrices satisfies

unc(n,q)qn21q(1q+12q2)n.\frac{\operatorname{unc}(n,q)}{q^{n^2}} \leqslant \frac{1}{q}\left(\frac{1}{q}+\frac{1}{2q^2}\right)^n.

The conjecture gives an upper bound for the density of uncyclic matrices, equivalently a lower bound for the density of ff-cyclic matrices relevant to the Meat-axe algorithm. The paper confirms the bound for dimensions n37n\leqslant 37, while the general assertion for all finite field sizes and dimensions is left open.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

S. P. Glasby and Cheryl E. Praeger, “The density of uncyclic matrices”, arXiv:1405.5631 (2014).

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