Bonding the genus of finite simple groups
by
Clifton E. Ealy Jr.
Department of Mathematics, Western Michigan University, Kalamazo MI, 49008-4852

Let S(k) be the sphere with k handles. The graph theoretic genus of a group G is the smallest k such that a Cayley graph of G can be drawn on S(k). In 1992, the symmetric genus of 23 of the sporadic simple groups was determined. In 1996, it was determnined that every finite simple group can be generated by an element of order 2 and an element of order m. With the above as two of our starting points, we will give bounds for the graph theoretic genus of the finite simple groups. This is a prelininary report.

Date received: March 12, 2001

Copyright © 2001 by the author(s). The author(s) of this document and the organizers of the conference have granted their consent to include this abstract in Atlas Conferences Inc. Document # cagg-22.