Large centralizers in finite solvable groups

In 1955 R. Brauer and K. A. Fowler showed that ifG is a group of even order >2, and the order |Z(G)| of the center ofG is odd, then there exists a strongly real) elementx∈G−Z whose centralizer satisfies|C _G(x)|>|G|^1/3. In Theorem 1 we show that every non-abeliansolvable groupG contains an elementx∈G−Z such that|C _G(x)|>[G:G′∩Z]^1/2 (and thus|C _G(x)|>|G|^1/3). We also note that if non-abelianG is either metabelian, nilpotent or (more generally) supersolvable, or anA-group, or any Frobenius group, then|C _G(x)|>|G|^1/2 for somex∈G−Z. In Theorem 2 we prove that every non-abelian groupG of orderp ^mqⁿ (p, q primes) contains a proper centralizer of order >|G|^1/2. Finally, in Theorem 3 we show that theaverage |C(x)|, x∈G, is ≧c|G| ^1/3 for metabelian groups, wherec is constant and the exponent 1/3 is best possible.     

Growth and Hölder conditions for the sample paths of Feller processes

Let (A,D(A)) be the infinitesimal generator of a Feller semigroup such that C _c ^∞(ℝ ⁿ )⊂D(A) and A|C _c ^∞(ℝ ⁿ ) is a pseudo-differential operator with symbol −p(x,ξ) satisfying |p(•,ξ)|_∞≤c(1+|ξ|²) and |Imp(x,ξ)|≤c ₀Rep(x,ξ). We show that the associated Feller process {X _t } _{t ≥0} on ℝ ⁿ is a semimartingale, even a homogeneous diffusion with jumps (in the sense of [21]), and characterize the limiting behaviour of its trajectories as t→0 and ∞. To this end, we introduce various indices, e.g., β_∞ ^x :={λ>0:lim _{|ξ|→∞ | x − y |≤2/|ξ|}|p(y,ξ)|/|ξ|^λ=0} or δ_∞ ^x :={λ>0:liminf _{|ξ|→∞ | x − y |≤2/|ξ| |ε|≤1}|p(y,|ξ|ε)|/|ξ|^λ=0}, and obtain a.s. (ℙ ^x ) that lim _{t →0} t ^−1/λ _{s ≤ t} |X _s −x|=0 or ∞ according to λ>β_∞ ^x or λ<δ_∞ ^x . Similar statements hold for the limit inferior and superior, and also for t→∞. Our results extend the constant-coefficient (i.e., Lévy) case considered by W. Pruitt [27]. Received: 21 July 1997 / Revised version: 26 January 1998     

A construction of two distinct canonical sets of lifts of Brauer characters of a p-solvable group

In [5], Navarro defines the set , where Q is a p-subgroup of a p-solvable group G, and shows that if δ is the trivial character of Q, then Irr(G|Q, δ) provides a set of canonical lifts of IBr_p(G), the irreducible Brauer characters with vertex Q. Previously, in [2], Isaacs defined a canonical set of lifts B_π(G) of I_π(G). Both of these results extend the Fong-Swan Theorem to π-separable groups, and both construct canonical sets of lifts of the generalized Brauer characters. It is known that in the case that 2∈π, or if |G| is odd, we have B_π(G) = Irr(G|Q, 1_Q). In this note we give a counterexample to show that this is not the case when . It is known that if and χ∈B_π(G), then the constituents of χ_N are in B_π (N). However, we use the same counterexample to show that if , and χ∈Irr(G|Q, 1_Q) is such that θ ∈Irr(N) and [θ, χ _N] ≠ 0, then it is not necessarily the case that θ ∈Irr(N) inherits this property. Received: 17 October 2005     

Generalization of the fricke theorem on entire functions of finite index

We prove that, for every sequence (a _k) of complex numbers satisfying the conditions Σ(1/|a _k |) < ∞ and |a _k+1| − |a _k | ↗ ∞ (k → ∞), there exists a continuous functionl decreasing to 0 on [0, + ∞] and such thatf(z) = Π(1 −z/|a _k |) is an entire function of finitel-index.     

Singular Integrals with Bilinear Phases

We prove the boundedness from Lp（T2） to itself, 1 〈 p 〈∞, of highly oscillatory singular integrals Sf（x, y） presenting singularities of the kind of the double Hilbert transform on a non-rectangular domain of integration, roughly speaking, defined by ｜y′｜ 〉 ｜x′｜, and presenting phases λ（Ax ＋ By） with 0≤ A, B ≤ 1 and λ≥ 0. The norms of these oscillatory singular integrals are proved to be independent of all parameters A1 B and A involved. Our method extends to a more general family of phases. These results are relevant to problems of almost everywhere convergence of double Fourier and Walsh series.     

Groups with an almost regular involution

An involution j of a group G is said to be almost perfect in G if any two involutions in j^G whose product has infinite order are conjugated by a suitable involution in j^G. Let G contain an almost perfect involution j and |C_G(j)| < ∞. Then the following statements hold: (1) [j,G] is contained in an FC-radical of G, and |G: [j,G]| ⩽ |C_G(j)|; (2) the commutant of an FC-radical of G is finite; (3) FC(G) contains a normal nilpotent class 2 subgroup of finite index in G. __________ Translated from Algebra i Logika, Vol. 46, No. 3, pp. 360–368, May–June, 2007.     

Certain asymptotic expansions for laguerre polynomials and Charlier polynomials

Here proposed are certain asympotic expansion formulas for L _n ^(∞-1) (λz) and C _n ^(∞) (λz) in which 0<w=0(λ) and C_n/(^w)(λz), z being a complex number. Also presented are certain estimates for the remainders (error bounds) of the asymptotic expansions within the regions D₁(-∞<R_ez<=1/2(ω/λ) and D₂(1/2(ω/λ)<=Re_z<∞), respectively. Supported by NSERC (Canada) and also by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Irreducible disconnected systems in groups

LetG be an arbitrary group with a subgroupA. The subdegrees of (A, G) are the indices [A:A ∪A ⁹] (wheregεG). Equivalent definitions of that concept are given in [IP] and [K]. IfA is not normal inG and all the subdegrees of (A, G) are finite, we attach to (A, G) the common divisor graph Γ: its vertices are the non-unit subdegrees of (A, G), and two different subdegrees are joined by an edge iff they arenot coprime. It is proved in [IP] that Γ has at most two connected components. Assume that Γ is disconnected. LetD denote the subdegree set of (A, G) and letD ₁ be the set of all the subdegrees in the component of Γ containing min(D−{1}). We proved [K, Theorem A] that ifA is stable inG (a property which holds whenA or [G:A] is finite), then the setH={g ε G| [A:A ∪A ^g ] εD ₁ ∪ {1}} is a subgroup ofG. In this case we say thatA<H<G is a disconnected system (briefly: a system). In the current paper we deal with some fundamental types of systems. A systemA<H<G is irreducible if there does not exist 1<N△G such thatAN<H andAN/N<H/N<G/N is a system. Theorem A gives restrictions on the finite nilpotent normal subgroups ofG, whenG possesses an irreducible system. In particular, ifG is finite then Fit(G) is aq-group for a certain primeq. We deal also with general systems. Corollary (4.2) gives information about the structure of a finite groupG which possesses a system. Theorem B says that for any systemA<H<G,N _G (N _G (A))=N _G (A). Theorem C and Corollary C’ generalize a result of Praeger [P, Theorem 2]. The content of this paper corresponds to a part of the author’s Ph.D. thesis carried out at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Prof. Marcel Herzog.     

Expanders obtained from affine transformations

A bipartite graphG=(U, V, E) is an (n, k, δ, α) expander if |U|=|V|=n, |E|≦kn, and for anyX⊆U with |X|≦αn, |Γ _G (X)|≧(1+δ(1−|X|/n)) |X|, whereΓ _G (X) is the set of nodes inV connected to nodes inX with edges inE. We show, using relatively elementary analysis in linear algebra, that the problem of estimating the coefficientδ of a bipartite graph is reduced to that of estimating the second largest eigenvalue of a matrix related to the graph. In particular, we consider the case where the bipartite graphs are defined from affine transformations, and obtain some general results on estimating the eigenvalues of the matrix by using the discrete Fourier transform. These results are then used to estimate the expanding coefficients of bipartite graphs obtained from two-dimensional affine transformations and those obtained from one-dimensional ones.     

The size-Ramsey number of trees

IfG andH are graphs, let us writeG→(H)₂ ifG contains a monochromatic copy ofH in any 2-colouring of the edges ofG. Thesize-Ramsey number r _e(H) of a graphH is the smallest possible number of edges a graphG may have ifG→(H)₂. SupposeT is a tree of order |T|≥2, and lett ₀,t ₁ be the cardinalities of the vertex classes ofT as a bipartite graph, and let Δ(T) be the maximal degree ofT. Moreover, let Δ₀, Δ₁ be the maxima of the degrees of the vertices in the respective vertex classes, and letβ(T)=T ₀Δ₀+t ₁Δ₁. Beck [7] proved thatβ(T)/4≤r _e(T)=O{β(T)(log|T|)¹²}, improving on a previous result of his [6] stating thatr _e(T)≤Δ(T)|T|(log|T|)¹². In [6], Beck conjectures thatr _e(T)=O{Δ(T)|T|}, and in [7] he puts forward the stronger conjecture thatr _e(T)=O{β(T)}. Here, we prove the first of these conjectures, and come quite close to proving the second by showing thatr _e(T)=O{β(T)logΔ(T)}.     

Remarks on the total variation of the Jacobian

The total variation TV(u) of the Jacobian determinant of nonsmooth vector fields u has recently been studied in [2] [3]. We focus on the subclass u(x) = φ(x/|x|) of homogeneous extensions of smooth functions In the case n = 2, we explicitely compute TV(u) for some relevant examples exhibiting a gap with respect to the total variation |Det Du| of the distributional determinant. We then provide examples of functions with |DetDu| = 0 and TV(u) = + ∞. We finally show that this gap phenomenon doesn’t occur if n ≥ 3.     

Finite 2-groups with a nonabelian Frattini subgroup of order 16

According to a classical result of Burnside, if G is a finite 2-group, then the Frattini subgroup Φ(G) of G cannot be a nonabelian group of order 8. Here we study the next possible case, where G is a finite 2-group and Φ(G) is nonabelian of order 16. We show that in that case Φ(G) ≅ M × C₂, where M ≅ D₈ or M ≅ Q₈ and we shall classify all such groups G (Theorem A). Received: 16 February 2005; revised: 7 March 2005     

Characterization of finite simple group <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis></Subscript>(2)

Let G be a finite group, and let π _e (G) be the spectrum of G, that is, the set of all element orders of G. In 1987, Shi Wujie put forward the following conjecture. If G is a finite group and M is a non-abelian simple group, then G ≅ M if and only if |G| = |M| and π _e (G) = π _e (M). In this short paper, we prove that if G is a finite group, then G ≅ M if and only if |G| = |M| and π _e (G) = π _e (M), where M = D _n (2) and n is even.     

Random walks in random environments on metric groups

Random walks in random environments on countable metric groups with bounded jumps of the walking particle are considered. The transition probabilities of such a random walk from a pointx εG (whereG is the group in question) are described by a vectorp(x) ε ℝ^|W| (whereW ⊏G is fixed and |W|<∞). The set {p(x),x εG} is assumed to consist of independent identically distributed random vectors. A sufficient condition for this random walk to be transient is found. As an example, the groups ℤ ^d , free groups, and the free product of finitely many cyclic groups of second order are considered. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 67, No. 1, pp. 129–135, January, 2000.     

On finite groups whose derived subgroup has bounded rank

Let G be a finite group with derived subgroup of rank r. We prove that |G: Z ₂(G)| ≤ |G′|^2r . Motivated by the results of I. M. Isaacs in [5] we show that if G is capable then |G: Z(G)| ≤ |G′|^4r . This answers a question of L. Pyber. We prove that if G is a capable p-group then the rank of G/Z(G) is bounded above in terms of the rank of G′.     

Zero sets of holomorphic functions in the unit ball with slow growth

We study the zero-varieties of holomorphic functions in the unit ball satisfying the growth condition log |f(z)|≤c _fλ(|z|), where λ:(0,1)→ℝ⁺ is a positive increasing function. We obtain some sufficient conditions on an analytic variety to be defined by such a function. Some results for the particular case λ(r)=log(e/(1−r)), corresponding to the classA ^−∞, generalize those of B. Korenblum in one variable. Both authors supported by DGICYT grant PB92-0804-C02-02.     

Large deviations and continuum limit in the 2D Ising model

Summary. We study the 2D Ising model in a rectangular box Λ _L of linear size O(L). We determine the exact asymptotic behaviour of the large deviations of the magnetization ∑ _t∈ΛL σ(t) when L→∞ for values of the parameters of the model corresponding to the phase coexistence region, where the order parameter m ^* is strictly positive. We study in particular boundary effects due to an arbitrary real-valued boundary magnetic field. Using the self-duality of the model a large part of the analysis consists in deriving properties of the covariance function <σ(0)σ(t)>, as |t|→∞, at dual values of the parameters of the model. To do this analysis we establish new results about the high-temperature representation of the model. These results are valid for dimensions D≥2 and up to the critical temperature. They give a complete non-perturbative exposition of the high-temperature representation. We then study the Gibbs measure conditioned by {|∑ _t∈ΛL σ(t) −m|Λ _L ||≤|Λ _L |L ^{− c} }, with 0<c<1/4 and −m ^*<m<m ^*. We construct the continuum limit of the model and describe the limit by the solutions of a variational problem of isoperimetric type. Received: 17 October 1996 / In revised form: 7 March 1997     

Description of sequences of zeros of one class of functions analytic in a half-plane

We describe sequences of zeros of functions ƒ ≠ 0 that are analytic in the right half-plane and satisfy the condition |ƒ(z)| ≤ 0(1) exp (σ| z |η(| z |)), 0 ≤ <+ ∞, Re z > 0, where η: [0; + ∞) → (- ∞; + ∞) is a function of bounded variation. Translated from Ukrainskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 50, No. 9, pp. 1169–1176, September, 1998.     

The largest lengths of conjugacy classes and the Sylow subgroups of finite groups

Let G be a finite nonabelian group, P ∈Syl_p(G), and bcl(G) the largest length of conjugacy classes of G. In this short paper, we prove that in general and |P/O_p(G)| < bcl(G) in the case where P is abelian. Received: 26 December 2004; revised: 26 January 2005     

On the growth of entire functions

Suppose thatα>1, 0<R<∞ and thatf is analytic in |z|≤αR with |f(0)|≥1. It is shown that for a constant dα depending only onα, . Therefore iff is entire of order λ<∞, logM(r,f)/T(r,f) has order at most λ/2. These results are shown by example to be quite precise.