Asymptotics of the number of involutions in finite classical groups

Abstract

Answering a question of Geoff Robinson, we compute the large n limiting proportion of i(n,q)/q^[n^2/2], where i(n,q) denotes the number of involutions in GL(n,q). We give similar results for the finite unitary, symplectic, and orthogonal groups, in both odd and even characteristic. At the heart of this work are certain new "sum=product" identities. Our self-contained treatment of the enumeration of involutions in even characteristic symplectic and orthogonal groups may also be of interest.