Homomorphisms from a finite group into wreath products

Abstract

Let $G$ be a finite group, $A$ a finite abelian group. Each homomorphism $\phi:G\to A\wr S_n$ induces a homomorphism $\bar{\phi}:G\to A$ in a natural way. We show that as $\phi$ is chosen randomly, then the distribution of $\bar{\phi}$ is close to uniform. As application we prove a conjecture of T. M\"uller on the number of homomorphisms from a finite group into Weyl groups of type $D_n$.