Abstract:
Let $G_{k}$ be defined as $G_{k} = \langle a, b; a^{-1}ba = b^{k} \rangle$, where $k \ne 0$. It is known that, if $p$ is some prime number, then $G_{k}$ is residually a finite $p$-group if and only if $p \mid k - 1$. It is also known that, if $p$ and $q$ are primes not dividing $k - 1$, $p < q$, and $\pi = \{p, q\}$, then $G_{k}$ is residually a finite $\pi$-group if and only if $(k, q) = 1$, $p \mid q - 1$, and the order of $k$ in the multiplicative group of the field $\mathbb{Z}_{q}$ is a $p$-number. This paper examines the question of the number of two-element sets of prime numbers that satisfy the conditions of the last criterion. More precisely, let $f_{k}(x)$ be the number of sets $\{p, q\}$ such that $p < q$, $p \nmid k - 1$, $q \nmid k - 1$, $(k, q) = 1$, $p \mid q - 1$, the order of $k$ modulo $q$ is a $p$-number, and $p$, $q$ are chosen among the first $x$ primes. We state that, if $2 \leq |k| \leq 10000$ and $1 \leq x \leq 50000$, then, for almost all considered $k$, the function $f_{k}(x)$ can be approximated quite accurately by the function $\alpha_{k}x^{0.85}$, where the coefficient $\alpha_{k}$ is different for each $k$ and $\{\alpha_{k} \mid 2 \leq |k| \leq 10000\} \subseteq (0.28; 0.31]$. We also investigate the dependence of the value $f_{k}(50000)$ on $k$ and propose an effective algorithm for checking a two-element set of prime numbers for compliance with the conditions of the last criterion. The results obtained may have applications in the theory of computational complexity and algebraic cryptography.
Keywords:Baumslag–Solitar groups, residual $\pi$-finiteness, function approximation, analysis of algorithms.
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