A description of Baer-Suzuki type of the solvable radical of a finite group

We obtain the following characterization of the solvable radical R(G) of any finite group G: R(G) coincides with the collection of all g∈G such that for any 3 elements a₁,a₂,a₃∈G the subgroup generated by the elements , i=1,2,3, is solvable. In particular, this means that a finite group G is solvable if and only if in each conjugacy class of G every 4 elements generate a solvable subgroup. The latter result also follows from a theorem of P. Flavell on {2,3}^′-elements in the solvable radical of a finite group (which does not use the classification of finite simple groups).     

Groups with a positive law on commutators

Let p be a prime number and let G be a finitely generated group that is residually a finite p-group. We prove that if G satisfies a positive law on all elements of the form [a,b][c,d]ⁱ, a,b,c,d∈G and i?0, then the entire derived subgroup G^′ satisfies a positive law. In fact, G^′ is an extension of a nilpotent group by a locally finite group of finite exponent.     

Notes on the length of conjugacy classes of finite groups

The purpose of this paper is to investigate influences of lengths of conjugacy classes of finite groups on the structure of finite groups. We get a necessary and sufficient condition for a finite group G to be equal to O_p(G)×O_p^′(G). We also generalize some results (Comm. Algebra 27 (9) (1999) 4347).     

On some examples of duality groups

In [1, 3] it was shown: Theorem A. If G is the fundamental group of a finite graph of λ-dimensional duality groups with |G _o(e) : G _e | < ∞ and |G _τ(e) : G _e | < ∞ for every edge e of the corresponding G-tree, then G is an (λ + 1)-dimensional duality group. Here we use the methods of Brown and Geoghegan in [3] to obtain examples of duality groups under weaker conditions than those of Theorem A. Received: 5 June 2007     

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.     

Uniquely factorizable elements and solvability of finite groups

In a finite group G every element can be factorized in such a way that there is one factor for each prime divisor p of | G |, and the order of this factor is p^α for some integer α ≧ 0. We define g ∈G to be uniquely factorizable if it has just one such factorization (whose factors must be pairwise commuting). We consider the existence of uniquely factorizable elements and its relation to the solvability of the group. We prove that G is solvable if and only if the set of all uniquely factorizable elements of G is the Fitting subgroup of G. We also prove various sufficient conditions for the non-existence of uniquely factorizable elements in non-solvable groups. Received: 9 June 2005     

The converse of Schur’s theorem

Schur’s theorem states that for a group G finiteness of G/Z(G) implies the finiteness of G′. In this paper, we show the converse is true provided that G/Z(G) is finitely generated and in such case, we have |G/Z(G)| ≤ |G′| ^d(G/Z(G)). In the special case of G being nilpotent, we prove |G/Z(G)| divides |G′| ^d(G/Z(G)).     

Conjugacy classes and finite p-groups

Let G be a finite p-group, where p is a prime number, and a ∈ G. Denote by Cl(a) = {gag⁻¹| g ∈ G} the conjugacy class of a in G. Assume that |Cl(a)| = pⁿ. Then Cl(a) Cl(a⁻¹) = {xy | x ∈ Cl(a), y ∈ Cl(a⁻¹)} is the union of at least n(p − 1) + 1 distinct conjugacy classes of G. Received: 16 December 2004     

Soluble groups with their centralizer factor groups of bounded rank

For a group class X, a group G is said to be a CX-group if the factor group G/C_G(g^G)∈X for all g∈G, where C_G(g^G) is the centralizer in G of the normal closure of g in G. For the class F_f of groups of finite order less than or equal to f, a classical result of B.H. Neumann [Groups with finite classes of conjugate elements, Proc. London Math. Soc. 1 (1951) 178-187] states that if G∈CF_f, the commutator group G^′ belongs to F_f^′ for some f^′ depending only on f. We prove that a similar result holds for the class , the class of soluble groups of derived length at most d which have Prüfer rank at most r. Namely, if , then for some r^′ depending only on r. Moreover, if , then for some r^′ and f^′ depending only on r,d and f.     

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′.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">OD</Emphasis>-Characterization of the automorphism groups of <Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis><Stack><Subscript>10</Subscript><Superscript>±</Superscript></Stack>(2)

The prime graph of a finite group was introduced by Gruenberg and Kegel. The degree pattern of a finite group G associated to its prime graph was introduced in [1] and denoted by D(G). The group G is called k-fold OD-characterizable if there exist exactly k non-isomorphic groups H satisfying conditions (1) |G| = |H| and (2) D(G) = D(H). Moreover, a 1-fold OD-characterizable group is simply called an OD-characterizable group. Till now a lot of finite simple groups were shown to be OD-characterizable, and also some finite groups especially the automorphism groups of some finite simple groups were shown not being OD-characterizable but k-fold OD-characterizable for some k > 1. In the present paper, the authors continue this topic and show that the automorphism groups of orthogonal groups O ₁₀⁺(2) and O ₁₀⁻(2) are OD-characterizable.     

Classifying spaces with virtually cyclic stabilisers for certain infinite cyclic extensions

Let G?B?Z be an infinite cyclic extension of a group B where the action of Z on the set of conjugacy classes of non-trivial elements of B is free. This class of groups includes certain strictly descending HNN-extensions with abelian or free base groups, certain wreath products by Z and the soluble Baumslag-Solitar groups BS(1,m) with |m|≥2. We construct a model for , the classifying space of G for the family of virtually cyclic subgroups of G, and give bounds for the minimal dimension of . Finally we determine the geometric dimension when G is a soluble Baumslag-Solitar group.     

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.     

Derived length and conjugacy class sizes

Let G be a finite solvable group, and let F(G) be its Fitting subgroup. We prove that there is a universal bound for the derived length of G/F(G) in terms of the number of distinct conjugacy class sizes of G. This result is asymptotically best possible. It is based on the following result on orbit sizes in finite linear group actions: If G is a finite solvable group and V a finite faithful irreducible G-module of characteristic r, then there is a universal logarithmic bound for the derived length of G in terms of the number of distinct r^′-parts of the orbit sizes of G on V. This is a refinement of the author's previous work on orbit sizes.     

Morphic groups

A group G is called morphic if every endomorphism α:G→G for which Gα is normal in G satisfies G/Gα≅ker(α). This concept originated in a 1976 paper of Gertrude Ehrlich characterizing when the endomorphism ring of a module is unit regular. The concept has been extensively studied in module and ring theory, and this paper investigates the idea in the category of groups. After developing their basic properties, we characterize the morphic groups among the dihedral groups and the groups whose normal subgroups form a finite chain. We investigate when a direct product of morphic groups is again morphic, prove that a finite nilpotent group is morphic if and only if its Sylow subgroups are morphic, and present some results for the case where a p-group is morphic.     

On the supremum of the pseudocompact group topologies

P is the class of pseudocompact Hausdorff topological groups, and P^′ is the class of groups which admit a topology T such that (G,T)∈P. It is known that every G=(G,T)∈P is totally bounded, so for G∈P^′ the supremum T^∨(G) of all pseudocompact group topologies on G and the supremum T#(G) of all totally bounded group topologies on G satisfy T^∨⊆T#.The authors conjecture for abelian G∈P^′ that T^∨=T#. That equality is established here for abelian G∈P^′ with any of these (overlapping) properties. (a) G is a torsion group; (b) |G|?c²; (c) r₀(G)=|G|=ω|G|; (d) |G| is a strong limit cardinal, and r₀(G)=|G|; (e) some topology T with (G,T)∈P satisfies w(G,T)?c; (f) some pseudocompact group topology on G is metrizable; (g) G admits a compact group topology, and r₀(G)=|G|. Furthermore, the product of finitely many abelian G∈P^′, each with the property T^∨(G)=T#(G), has the same property.     

On the ranks of O’N and Ly

Let G be a finite group and X a conjugacy class of G. We denote rank(G:X) to be the minimum number of elements of X generating G. In the present article, we determine the ranks for two sporadic simple groups, namely the O’Nan sporadic simple group O’N and the Lyons sporadic simple group, Ly. Computations were carried with the aid of the computer algebra system GAP [The GAP Group, GAP—Groups, Algorithms and Programming, Version 4.3, Aachen, St Andrews, 2003, 〈http://www.gap-system.org〉].     

Group algebra series and coboundary modules

The shift action on the 2-cocycle group Z²(G,C) of a finite group G with coefficients in a finitely generated abelian group C has several useful applications in combinatorics and digital communications, arising from the invariance of a uniform distribution property of cocycles under the action. In this article, we study the shift orbit structure of the coboundary subgroup B²(G,C) of Z²(G,C). The study is placed within a well-known setting involving the Loewy and socle series of a group algebra over G. We prove new bounds on the dimensions of terms in such series. Asymptotic results on the size of shift orbits are also derived; for example, if C is an elementary abelian p-group, then almost all shift orbits in B²(G,C) are maximal-sized for large enough finite p-groups G of certain classes.     

Random generation of finite simple groups byp-regular orp-singular elements

Letp be a fixed prime and letG be a finite simple group. It is shown that two randomly chosen elements ofG of orders prime top generateG with probability tending to 1 as |G| → ∞. This answers a question of Kantor. Some related results are also established. Partially supported by a grant from the Israel Science Foundation, administered by the Israel Academy of Science and Humanities.     

On the composition factors of a group with the same prime graph as B n (5)

Let G be a finite group. The prime graph of G is a graph whose vertex set is the set of prime divisors of |G| and two distinct primes p and q are joined by an edge, whenever G contains an element of order pq. The prime graph of G is denoted by Γ(G). It is proved that some finite groups are uniquely determined by their prime graph. In this paper, we show that if G is a finite group such that Γ(G) = Γ(B _n (5)), where n ? 6, then G has a unique nonabelian composition factor isomorphic to B _n (5) or C _n (5).