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Class Transposition


A class transposition is a permutation involution of the integers that exchanges two disjoint residue classes term by term and fixes all other integers (Kohl 2010). For m,n>0, 0<=a<m, and 0<=b<n, write a(m)=a+mZ and b(n)=b+nZ. Their disjointness is equivalent to gcd(m,n)(b-a), where gcd is the greatest common divisor. The class transposition tau_(a(m),b(n)) interchanges a+km and b+kn for every integer k. For example, tau_(0(2),1(2)) swaps every even number with the following odd number.

Iskra (2026) proved that if a product of two class transpositions has finite order, then its order divides 840. The bound is sharp. The product of tau_(0(40),18(28)) and tau_(4(42),5(15)) has order 840, which Kohl independently verified using GAP's RCWA package (Iskra 2026).

Iskra (2026) reports using ChatGPT to check arguments, search computationally for the order-840 example, and assist with language. The author states that all mathematical arguments and examples were independently verified.


See also

Permutation Involution, Residue Class, Transposition

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References

Iskra, A. "Finite Orders of Products of Two Class Transpositions Divide 840." 1 Oct 2026. https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.01793.Kohl, S. "A Simple Group Generated by Involutions Interchanging Residue Classes of the Integers." Math. Z. 264, 927-938, 2010. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00209-009-0497-8.

Cite this as:

Weisstein, Eric W. "Class Transposition." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Resource. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/ClassTransposition.html

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