Alternating groups as products of cycle classes

Abstract

Given integers $k,l\geq 2$, where either $l$ is odd or $k$ is even, let $n(k,l)$ denote the largest integer $n$ such that each element of $A_n$ is a product of $k$ many $l$-cycles. In 2008, M. Herzog, G. Kaplan and A. Lev proved that if $k,l$ both are odd, $3\mid l$ and $l>3$, then $n(k,l)=\frac{2}{3}kl$. They further conjectured that if $k$ is even and $3\mid l$, then $n(k,l)=\frac{2}{3}kl+1$. In this article, we prove this conjecture. We also prove that $n(k,3)=2k+1$ if $k$ is odd.