A Conjecture on the Hall Topology for the Free Group

The Hall topology for the free group is the coarsest topologysuch that every group morphism from the free group onto a finitediscrete group is continuous. It was shoen by M.Hall Jr thatevery finitely generated subgroup of the free group is closedfor this topology. We conjecture that if H₁, H₂,...,H_n are finitelygenerated subgroups of the free group, then the product H₁ H₂...H_n is closed. We discuss some consequences of this conjecture.First, it would give a nice and simple algorithm to computethe closure of a given rational subset of the free group. Next,it implies a similar conjecture for the free monoid, which inturn is equivalent to a deep conjecture on finite semigroupsfor the solution of which J. Rhodes has offered $100. We hopethat our new conjecture will shed some light on Rhodes' conjecture.     

The Product Separability of the Generalized Free Product of Cyclic Groups

Let G be a group endowed with its profinite topology, then Gis called product separable if the profinite topology of G isHausdorff and, whenever H₁, H₂, ..., H_n are finitely generatedsubgroups of G, then the product subset H₁ H₂ ... H_n is closedin G. In this paper, we prove that if G=FxZ is the direct productof a free group and an infinite cyclic group, then G is productseparable. As a consequence, we obtain the result that if Gis a generalized free product of two cyclic groups amalgamatinga common subgroup, then G is also product separable. These resultsgeneralize the theorems of M. Hall Jr. (who proved the conclusionin the case of n=1, [3]), and L. Ribes and P. Zalesskii (whoproved the conclusion in the case of that G is a finite extensionof a free group, [6]).     

Locally Finite Groups All of Whose Subgroups are Boundedly Finite over Their Cores

For n a positive integer, a group G is called core-n if H/H_Ghas order at most n for every subgroup H of G (where H_G is thenormal core of H, the largest normal subgroup of G containedin H). It is proved that a locally finite core-n group G hasan abelian subgroup whose index in G is bounded in terms ofn. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 20D15, 20D60, 20F30.     

Profinite Groups with Multiplicative Probabilistic Zeta Function

To a finitely generated profinite group G, a formal Dirichletseries P_G(s)=_na_n/n^s is associated, where a_n = _|G:H|=n µ_G(H).It is proved that G is prosoluble if and only if the sequence{a_n}_nN is multiplicative, that is, a_rs = a_ra_s for any pairof coprime positive integers r and s. This extends the analogousresult on the probabilistic zeta function of finite groups.     

Homomorphisms from Automorphism Groups of Free Groups

The automorphism group of a finitely generated free group isthe normal closure of a single element of order 2. If m <n, then a homomorphism Aut(F_n)Aut(F_m) can have image of cardinalityat most 2. More generally, this is true of homomorphisms fromAut(F_n) to any group that does not contain an isomorphic imageof the symmetric group S_n+1. Strong restrictions are also obtainedon maps to groups that do not contain a copy of W_n = (Z/2)ⁿ S_n, or of Z^n–1. These results place constraints on howAut(F_n) can act. For example, if n 3, any action of Aut(F_n)on the circle (by homeomorphisms) factors through det : Aut(F_n)Z₂.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20F65, 20F28 (primary).     

Euler Characteristics of Coxeter Groups, PL-Triangulations of Closed Manifolds, and Cohomology of Subgroups of Artin Groups

The motivation for the theory of Euler characteristics of groups,which was introduced by C. T. C. Wall [21], was topology, butit has interesting connections to other branches of mathematicssuch as group theory and number theory. This paper investigatesEuler characteristics of Coxeter groups and their applications.In his paper [20], J.-P. Serre obtained several fundamentalresults concerning the Euler characteristics of Coxeter groups.In particular, he obtained a recursive formula for the Eulercharacteristic of a Coxeter group, as well as its relation tothe Poincaré series (see 3). Later, I. M. Chiswell obtainedin [10] a formula expressing the Euler characteristic of a Coxetergroup in terms of orders of finite parabolic subgroups (Theorem1). These formulae enable us to compute Euler characteristicsof arbitrary Coxeter groups. On the other hand, the Euler characteristics of Coxeter groupsW happen to be intimately related to their associated complexesF_W, which are defined by means of the posets of nontrivial parabolicsubgroups of finite order (see 2.1 for the precise definition).In particular, it follows from the recent result of M. W. Davis[13] that if F_W is a product of a simplex and a generalizedhomology 2n-sphere, then the Euler characteristic of W is zero(Corollary 3.1). The first objective of this paper is to generalizethe previously mentioned result to the case when F_W is a PL-triangulationof a closed 2n-manifold which is not necessarily a homology2n-sphere. In other words (as given below in Theorem 3), ifW is a Coxeter group such that F_W is a PL-triangulation of aclosed 2n-manifold, then the Euler characteristic of W is equalto 1–(F_W)/2.     

Normal Subgroups of Profinite Groups of Finite Cohomological Dimension

A profinite group G of finite cohomological dimension with (topologically)finitely generated closed normal subgroup N is studied. If Gis pro-p and N is either free as a pro-p group or a Poincarégroup of dimension 2 or analytic pro-p, it is shown that G/Nhas virtually finite cohomological dimension cd(G)–cd(N).Some other cases when G/N has virtually finite cohomologicaldimension are also considered. If G is profinite, the case of N projective or the profinitecompletion of the fundamental group of a compact surface isconsidered.     

A constructive version of the Ribes-Zalesski product theorem

For any given finitely generated subgroups H₁,...,H_n of a free group F and any element w of F not contained in the product H₁H_n, a finite quotient of F is explicitly constructed which separates the element w from the set H₁H_n. This provides a constructive version of the product theorem, stating that H₁H_n is closed in the profinite topology of F. The method of proof also applies to other profinite topologies. It is efficient for the profinite topology as well as for the pro-p topology of F. The main tools used are universal p-extensions and inverse automata.The authors gratefully acknowledge support from INTAS project 99–1224. The second author was supported in part by NSERC and by the FCT and POCTI approved projects POCTI/32817/MAT/2000 and POCTI/MAT/37670/2001 in participation with the European Community Fund FEDER.     

Invariants of Finite Reflection Groups and the Mean Value Problem for Polytopes

Let P be an n-dimensional polytope admitting a finite reflectiongroup G as its symmetry group. Consider the set H_P(k) of allcontinuous functions on Rⁿ satisfying the mean value propertywith respect to the k-skeleton P(k) of P, as well as the setH_G of all G-harmonic functions. Then a necessary and sufficientcondition for the equality H_P(k) = H_G is given in terms of adistinguished invariant basis, called the canonical invariantbasis, of G. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 20F55,52B15.     

Group Actions and Asymptotic Behavior of Graded Polynomial Identities

Let F be an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0,and let A be a G-graded algebra over F for some finite abeliangroup G. Through G being regarded as a group of automorphismsof A, the duality between graded identities and G-identitiesof A is exploited. In this framework, the space of multilinearG-polynomials is introduced, and the asymptotic behavior ofthe sequence of G-codimensions of A is studied. Two characterizations are given of the ideal of G-graded identitiesof such algebra in the case in which the sequence of G-codimensionsis polynomially bounded. While the first gives a list of G-identitiessatisfied by A, the second is expressed in the language of therepresentation theory of the wreath product G S_n, where S_nis the symmetric group of degree n. As a consequence, it is proved that the sequence of G-codimensionsof an algebra satisfying a polynomial identity either is polynomiallybounded or grows exponentially.