The Noether numbers and the Davenport constants of the groups of order less than 32

Abstract

The computation of the Noether numbers of all groups of order less than thirty-two is completed. It turns out that for these groups in non-modular characteristic the Noether number is attained on a multiplicity free representation, it is strictly monotone on subgroups and factor groups, and it does not depend on the characteristic. Algorithms are developed and used to determine the small and large Davenport constants of these groups. For each of these groups the Noether number is greater than the small Davenport constant, whereas the first example of a group whose Noether number exceeds the large Davenport constant is found, answering partially a question posed by Geroldinger and Grynkiewicz.