We consider an integer $n \ge 3,$ the set $S=\{1,2,3,\ldots,n\}$ and the set $\mathcal{F}$ of the functions from $S$ to $S.$ We say that $\mathcal{G} \subset \mathcal{F}$ is a generating set for $\mathcal{H} \subset \mathcal{F}$ if any function in $\mathcal{H}$ can be represented as a composition of functions from $\mathcal{G}.$ a) Let the functions $a:S \to S,$ $a(n-1)=n,$ $a(n)=n-1$ and $a(k)=k$ for $k \in S \setminus \{n-1,n\}$ and $b:S \to S,$ $b(n)=1$ and $b(k)=k+1$ for $k \in S \setminus \{n\}.$ Prove that $\{a,b\}$ is a generating set for the set $\mathcal{B}$ of bijective functions of $\mathcal{F}.$ b) Prove that the smallest number of elements that a generating set of $\mathcal{F}$ has is $3.$
Problem
Source: Romanian National Olympiad 2024 - Grade 10 - Problem 4
Tags: function, algebra, functions, permutations, basis, combinatorics