Extremal product-one free sequences over $C_n \rtimes_s C_2$

TL;DR

This paper classifies all sequences of length n over certain groups that do not contain a subsequence with product equal to the identity, extending previous results on the small Davenport constant for these groups.

Contribution

It completely characterizes all product-one free sequences of length n over groups of the form $C_n times_s C_2$, including quasidihedral and modular maximal-cyclic groups.

Findings

All sequences of length n over $C_n times_s C_2$ that are product-one free are classified.

The classification completes the understanding of product-one free sequences for these groups.

The result extends known bounds on the small Davenport constant for these groups.

Abstract

Let $G$ be a finite group multiplicatively written. The small Davenport constant of $G$ is the maximum positive integer ${\sf d}(G)$ such that there exists a sequence $S$ of length ${\sf d}(G)$ for which every subsequence of $S$ is product-one free. Let $s^2 \equiv 1 \pmod n$, where $s \not\equiv \pm1 \pmod n$. It has been proven that ${\sf d}(C_n \rtimes_s C_2) = n$ (see Lemma 6 of [Zhuang, Gao; Europ. J. Combin. 26 (2005), 1053-1059]). In this paper, we determine all sequences over $C_n \rtimes_s C_2$ of length $n$ which are product-one free. It completes the classification of all product-one free sequences over every group of the form $C_n \rtimes_s C_2$, including the quasidihedral groups and the modular maximal-cyclic groups.