Finite presentation of fibre products of metabelian groups

We show that if Γ is a finitely presented metabelian group, then the “untwisted” fibre product or pull-back P associated to any short exact sequence 1→N→Γ→Q→1 is again finitely presented. In contrast, if N and Q are abelian, then the analogous “twisted” fibre-product is not finitely presented unless Γ is polycyclic. Also a number of examples are constructed, including a non-finitely presented metabelian group P with finitely generated.     

Finite presentability of normal fibre products

We use Bieri–Neumann–Strebel–Renz invariants to determine when a normal fibre product in the product of two finitely presented groups is finitely presented. We give conditions that imply and in some cases characterize the existence of such finitely presented fibre products.     

Generators and relations for subsemigroups via boundaries in Cayley graphs

Given a finitely generated semigroup S and subsemigroup T of S, we define the notion of the boundary of T in S which, intuitively, describes the position of T inside the left and right Cayley graphs of S. We prove that if S is finitely generated and T has a finite boundary in S then T is finitely generated. We also prove that if S is finitely presented and T has a finite boundary in S then T is finitely presented. Several corollaries and examples are given.     

Malcev presentations for subsemigroups of direct products of coherent groups

The direct product of a free group and a polycyclic group is known to be coherent. This paper shows that every finitely generated subsemigroup of the direct product of a virtually free group and an abelian group admits a finite Malcev presentation. (A Malcev presentation is a presentation of a special type for a semigroup that embeds into a group. A group is virtually free if it contains a free subgroup of finite index.) By considering the direct product of two free semigroups, it is also shown that polycyclic groups, unlike nilpotent groups, can contain finitely generated subsemigroups that do not admit finite Malcev presentations.     

Two-dimensional representations of finitely generated free group over an arbitrary field

Working over an arbitrary field, we give equivalent conditions for a representation of a finitely generated free group with given traces and determinants to exist and to be reducible, respectively; also, we classify all two-dimensional representations of a finitely generated free group.     

Infinite groups with large balls of torsion elements and small entropy

We exhibit infinite, solvable, virtually abelian groups with a fixed number of generators, having arbitrarily large balls consisting of torsion elements. We also provide a sequence of 3-generator non-virtually nilpotent polycyclic groups of algebraic entropy tending to zero. All these examples are obtained by taking appropriate quotients of finitely presented groups mapping onto the first Grigorchuk group. Received: 3 August 2005     

Finitely based finite involution semigroups with non-finitely based reducts

Since the study of the finite basis problem for finite semigroups began in the 1960s, it has been unknown if there exists any finite involution semigroup that is finitely based but the reduct of which is non-finitely based. The present article exhibits an example of such an involution semigroup of order n+5 for any positive integer n.     

On infinite tournaments with regular automorphism groups

Atournament regular representation (TRR) of an abstract groupG is a tournamentT whose automorphism group is isomorphic toG and is a regular permutation group on the vertices ofT. L. Babai and W. Imrich have shown that every finite group of odd order exceptZ ₃ ×Z ₃ admits a TRR. In the present paper we give several sufficient conditions for an infinite groupG with no element of order 2 to admit a TRR. Among these are the following: (1)G is a cyclic extension byZ of a finitely generated group; (2)G is a cyclic extension byZ _2n+1 of any group admitting a TRR; (3)G is a finitely generated abelian group; (4)G is a countably generated abelian group whose torsion subgroup is finite.     

Subgroup distortion in wreath products of cyclic groups

We study the effects of subgroup distortion in the wreath products , where A is finitely generated abelian. We show that every finitely generated subgroup of has distortion function equivalent to some polynomial. Moreover, for A infinite, and for any polynomial l^k, there is a 2-generated subgroup of having distortion function equivalent to the given polynomial. Also, a formula for the length of elements in arbitrary wreath product easily shows that the group has distorted subgroups, while the lamplighter group has no distorted (finitely generated) subgroups. In the course of the proof, we introduce a notion of distortion for polynomials. We are able to compute the distortion of any polynomial in one variable over Z,R or C.     

Free actions of virtually FC-groups

If an infinite group G admits a free action by a group of automorphisms A which is virtually an FC-group and which has only finitely many orbits, then G is isomorphic to the additive group of a field and the action is that of a group of semilinear transformations. Received: 21 February 2005     

Decomposing thick subcategories of the stable module category

Let be the stable category of finitely generated modular representations of a finite group G over a field k. We prove a Krull-Remak-Schmidt theorem for thick subcategories of . It is shown that every thick tensor-ideal of (i.e. a thick subcategory which is a tensor ideal) has a (usually infinite) unique decomposition into indecomposable thick tensor-ideals. This decomposition follows from a decomposition of the corresponding idempotent kG-module into indecomposable modules. If is the thick tensor-ideal corresponding to a closed homogeneous subvariety W of the maximal ideal spectrum of the cohomology ring , then the decomposition of reflects the decomposition of W into connected components. Received: 27 April 1998 / In revised form: 16 July 1998     

Finite character of finitely stable domains

A commutative domain is finitely stable if every nonzero finitely generated ideal is stable, i.e. invertible over its endomorphism ring. A domain satisfies the local stability property provided that every locally stable ideal is stable.We prove that a finitely stable domain satisfies the local stability property if and only if it has finite character, that is every nonzero ideal is contained in at most finitely many maximal ideals. This result allows us to answer the open problem of whether every Clifford regular domain is of finite character.     

A characterisation of virtually free groups

We prove that a finitely generated group G is virtually free if and only if there exists a generating set for G and k > 0 such that all k-locally geodesic words with respect to that generating set are geodesic. Received: 30 October 2006     

A note on the solvability of finite Moufang loops

In this short note we show that finite Moufang loops with nilpotent inner mapping groups are solvable. Received: 24 May 2006     

Homological finiteness properties of monoids, their ideals and maximal subgroups

We consider the general question of how the homological finiteness property left-(resp. right-) holding in a monoid influences, and conversely depends on, the property holding in the substructures of that monoid. This is done by giving methods for constructing free resolutions of substructures from free resolutions of their containing monoids, and vice versa. In particular, we show that left- is inherited by the maximal subgroups in a completely simple minimal ideal, in the case that the minimal ideal has finitely many left ideals. For completely simple semigroups, we prove the converse, and as a corollary, show that a completely simple semigroup is of type left- and right- if and only if it has finitely many left and right ideals and all of its maximal subgroups are of type . Also, given an ideal of a monoid, we show that if the ideal has a two-sided identity element then the containing monoid is of type left- if and only if the ideal is of type left-. Applying this result, we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for a Clifford monoid (and more generally a strong semilattice of monoids) to be of type left-. Examples are provided showing that for each of the results all of the hypotheses are necessary.     

On a conjecture of E. Rapaport Strasser about knot-like groups and its pro-p version

A group G is knot-like if it is finitely presented of deficiency 1 and has abelianization G/G^′?Z. We prove the conjecture of E. Rapaport Strasser that if a knot-like group G has a finitely generated commutator subgroup G^′ then G^′ should be free in the special case when the commutator G^′ is residually finite. It is a corollary of a much more general result : if G is a discrete group of geometric dimension n with a finite K(G,1)-complex Y of dimension n, Y has Euler characteristics 0, N is a normal residually finite subgroup of G, N is of homological type FP_n-1 and G/N?Z then N is of homological type FP_n and hence G/N has finite virtual cohomological dimension vcd(G/N)=cd(G)-cd(N). In particular either N has finite index in G or cd(N)?cd(G)-1.Furthermore we show a pro-p version of the above result with the weaker assumption that G/N is a pro-p group of finite rank. Consequently a pro-p version of Rapaport's conjecture holds.     

Tits alternative for 3-manifold groups

Let M be an irreducible, orientable, closed 3-manifold with fundamental group G. We show that if the pro-p completion of G is infinite then G is either soluble-by-finite or contains a free subgroup of rank 2. Both authors are partially supported by “Bolsa de produtividade de pesquisa” from CNPq, Brazil. Received: 16 February 2006     

Analogues of Cayley graphs for topological groups

We define for a compactly generated totally disconnected locally compact group a graph, called a rough Cayley graph, that is a quasi-isometry invariant of the group. This graph carries information about the group structure in an analogous way to the ordinary Cayley graph for a finitely generated group. With this construction the machinery of geometric group theory can be applied to topological groups. This is illustrated by a study of groups where the rough Cayley graph has more than one end and a study of groups where the rough Cayley graph has polynomial growth. Supported by project J2245 of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and be an IEF Marie Curie Fellowship of the Commission of the European Union.     

The Aumann-Gould Integral

We introduce and study a multi-valued integral of Aumann-type where the selectors are Gould integrals of real functions with respect to finitely additive vector-valued measures. We also discuss the relationship between this kind of integral and the M-Gould set-valued integral with respect to a finitely additive multimeasure M. Received: November 17, 2006, Revised: September 17, 2007 and January, 8, 2008, Accepted: March 13, 2008.