Invariant metrics on finite groups

Abstract

We study invariant and bi-invariant metrics on groups focusing on finite groups G. We show that non-equivalent (bi) invariant metrics on G are in 1-1 correspondence with unitary symmetric (conjugate) partitions on G. To every metric group (G,d) we associate to it the symmetry group and the weighted graph of distances. Using these objects we can classify all equivalence classes of invariant and bi-invariant metrics for small groups. We then study the number of non-equivalent invariant and bi-invariant metrics on G. We give an expression for the number of such metrics in terms of Bell numbers, with closed expressions for certain groups such as abelian, dihedral, quasidihedral and dicyclic groups. We then characterize all the groups (finite or not) in which every invariant metric is also bi-invariant. We give the number of non-equivalent invariant and bi-invariant metrics for all the groups of order up to 32.