Sylow Theory for Quasigroups II: Sectional Action

Abstract

The first paper in this series initiated a study of Sylow theory for quasigroups and Latin squares based on orbits of the left multiplication group. The current paper is based on so‐called pseudo‐orbits, which are formed by the images of a subset under the set of left translations. The two approaches agree for groups, but differ in the general case. Subsets are described as sectional if the pseudo‐orbit that they generate actually partitions the quasigroup. Sectional subsets are especially well behaved in the newly identified class of conflatable quasigroups, which provides a unified treatment of Moufang, Bol, and conjugacy closure properties. Relationships between sectional and Lagrangean properties of subquasigroups are established. Structural implications of sectional properties in loops are investigated, and divisors of the order of a finite quasigroup are classified according to the behavior of sectional subsets and pseudo‐orbits. An upper bound is given on the size of a pseudo‐orbit. Various interactions of the Sylow theory with design theory are discussed. In particular, it is shown how Sylow theory yields readily computable isomorphism invariants with the resolving power to distinguish each of the 80 Steiner triple systems of order 15.