Surjective word maps and Burnsides $p^aq^b$ theorem

TL;DR

This paper proves that certain power-product word maps are surjective on finite simple and quasisimple groups, extending classical theorems and providing asymptotic results based on prime factorization.

Contribution

It generalizes Burnside and Feit-Thompson theorems by establishing surjectivity of specific power-product word maps on finite simple groups.

Findings

Surjectivity of (x,y) to x^N y^N on all finite simple groups when N is a product of two prime powers.

Surjectivity of (x,y,z) to x^N y^N z^N on all finite quasisimple groups for odd N.

Asymptotic results relating surjectivity to the number of prime factors of N.

Abstract

We prove surjectivity of certain word maps on finite non-abelian simple groups. More precisely, we prove the following: if N is a product of two prime powers, then the word map sending (x,y) to the product of the Nth powers of x and y is surjective on every finite non-abelian simple group; If is an odd integer, then the word map sending the triple (x,y,z) to the product of the Nth powers is surjective on every finite quasisimple group. These generalize classical theorems of Burnside and Feit-Thompson. We also prove asymptotic results about the surjectivity of the word map sending (x,y) to the product of the Nth powers of x and y that depend on the number of prime factors of the integer N.