Alternating and Sporadic Simple Groups are Determined by Their Character Degrees

Let G be a finite group. Denote by Irr(G) the set of all irreducible complex characters of G. Let cd(G) be the set of all irreducible complex character degrees of G forgetting multiplicities, that is, cd(G) = {χ(1) : χ ∈ Irr(G)} and let cd ^*(G) be the set of all irreducible complex character degrees of G counting multiplicities. Let H be an alternating group of degree at least 5, a sporadic simple group or the Tits group. In this paper, we will show that if G is a non-abelian simple group and cd(G) í cd(H)cd(G)\subseteq cd(H) then G must be isomorphic to H. As a consequence, we show that if G is a finite group with cd^*(G) í cd^*(H)cd^*(G)\subseteq cd^*(H) then G is isomorphic to H. This gives a positive answer to Question 11.8 (a) in (Unsolved problems in group theory: the Kourovka notebook, 16th edn) for alternating groups, sporadic simple groups or the Tits group.     

A Note on Projective and Flat Dimensions and the Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz Σ-Invariants

Let G be a finitely generated group, and A a ?[G]-module of flat dimension n such that the homological invariant Σ ⁿ (G, A) is not empty. We show that A has projective dimension n as a ?[G]-module. In particular, if G is a group of homological dimension hd(G) = n such that the homological invariant Σ ⁿ (G, ?) is not empty, then G has cohomological dimension cd(G) = n. We show that if G is a finitely generated soluble group, the converse is true subject to taking a subgroup of finite index, i.e., the equality cd (G) = hd(G) implies that there is a subgroup H of finite index in G such that Σ^∞(H, ?) ≠ ?.     

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.     

The largest character degree,conjugacy class size and subgroups of finite groups

Let G be a finite group, let b(G) denote the largest irreducible character degree of the group G and let bcl(G) denote the largest conjugacy class size of the group G. We study the relations between the sizes of the nilpotent and solvable subgroups of G and b(G). We also study the relations between the sizes of the nilpotent and solvable subgroups of G and bcl(G).     

The co-degrees of irreducible characters

LetG be a finite group. The co-degree of an irreducible character χ ofG is defined to be the number |G|/χ(1). The set of all prime divisors of all the co-degrees of the nonlinear irreducible characters ofG is denoted by Σ(G). First we show that Σ(G)=π(G) (the set of all prime divisors of |G|) unlessG is nilpotent-by-abelian. Then we make Σ(G) a graph by adjoining two elements of Σ(G) if and only if their product divides a co-degree of some nonlinear character ofG. We show that the graph Σ(G) is connected and has diameter at most 2. Additional information on the graph is given. These results are analogs to theorems obtained for the graph corresponding to the character degrees (by Manz, Staszewski, Willems and Wolf) and for the graph corresponding to the class sizes (by Bertram, Herzog and Mann). Finally, we investigate groups with some restriction on the co-degrees. Among other results we show that ifG has a co-degree which is ap-power for some primep, then the corresponding character is monomial andO _p (G)≠1. Also we describe groups in which each co-degree of a nonlinear character is divisible by at most two primes. These results generalize results of Chillag and Herzog. Other results are proved as well. The paper was written during this author’s visit at the Technion and the University of Tel Aviv. He would like to thank the departments of mathematics at the Technion and the University of Tel Aviv for their hospitality and support.     

Induced characters, Mackey analysis and primitive ideal spaces of nilpotent discrete groups

Let G be a nilpotent discrete group and Prim(C^*(G)) the primitive ideal space of the group C^*-algebra C^*(G). If G is either finitely generated or has absolutely idempotent characters, we are able to describe the hull-kernel topology on Prim(C^*(G)) in terms of a topology on a parametrizing space of subgroup-character pairs. For that purpose, we introduce and study induced traces and develop a Mackey machine for characters. We heavily exploit the fact that the groups under consideration have the property that every faithful character vanishes outside the finite conjugacy class subgroup.     

Automorphisms of Hyperbolic Groups and Graphs of Groups

Using the canonical JSJ splitting, we describe the outer automorphism group Out(G) of a one-ended word hyperbolic group G. In particular, we discuss to what extent Out(G) is virtually a direct product of mapping class groups and a free abelian group, and we determine for which groups Out(G) is infinite. We also show that there are only finitely many conjugacy classes of torsion elements in Out(G), for G any torsion-free hyperbolic group. More generally, let Γ be a finite graph of groups decomposition of an arbitrary group G such that edge groups G_e are rigid (i.e. Out(G_e) is finite). We describe the group of automorphisms of G preserving Γ, by comparing it to direct products of suitably defined mapping class groups of vertex groups.     

On character amenability of semigroup algebras

We study the character amenability of semigroup algebras. We work on general semigroups and certain semigroups such as inverse semigroups with a finite number of idempotents, inverse semigroups with uniformly locally finite idempotent set, Brandt and Rees semigroup and study the character amenability of the semigroup algebra l¹(S) in relation to the structures of the semigroup S. In particular, we show that for any semigroup S, if ?¹(S) is character amenable, then S is amenable and regular. We also show that the left character amenability of the semigroup algebra ?¹(S) on a Brandt semigroup S over a group G with index set J is equivalent to the amenability of G and J being finite. Finally, we show that for a Rees semigroup S with a zero over the group G, the left character amenability of ?¹(S) is equivalent to its amenability, this is in turn equivalent to G being amenable.     

Profinite groups of finite cohomological dimension

Let 1→N→G→G/N→1 be a short exact sequence of profinite groups, and let p be a prime number. We prove that if G is of finite cohomological p-dimension n:=cd_p(G)<∞ and if the order of $\text{H}{}^{\mathrm{k}}\text{(N,}\text{F}{}_{\mathrm{p}}\text{)}$ is finite for k:=cd_p(N), the virtual cohomological p-dimension of G/N equals n?k. To cite this article: T. Weigel, P. Zalesskii, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 338 (2004).     

On the character degree sums

Let G be a finite group, and T(G) be the sum of all complex irreducible character degrees of G. In this paper, we get the exact lower bound of |G|∕T(G) for a non-r-solvable group G.     

Coloring of character graphs

In this paper, we study the character graph Δ(G) of a finite solvable group G. We prove that sum of the chromatic number of Δ(G) and the matching number of complement graph of Δ(G) is equal to the order of Δ(G). Also, we prove that when Δ(G) is not a block, the chromatic number of Δ(G) is equal to the clique number of Δ(G).     

Degree Graphs of Simple Linear and Unitary Groups

Let G be a finite group and let cd (G) be the set of irreducible character degrees of G. The degree graph Δ(G) is the graph whose set of vertices is the set of primes that divide degrees in cd (G), with an edge between p and q if pq divides a for some degree a ? cd (G). We determine the graph Δ(G) for the finite simple groups of types A _?(q) and ² A _? (q ²), that is, for the simple linear and unitary groups.     

On zeros of characters of finite groups

For a finite group G and a non-linear irreducible complex character χ of G write υ(χ) = {g ∈ G | χ(g) = 0}. In this paper, we study the finite non-solvable groups G such that υ(χ) consists of at most two conjugacy classes for all but one of the non-linear irreducible characters χ of G. In particular, we characterize a class of finite solvable groups which are closely related to the above-mentioned question and are called solvable φ-groups. As a corollary, we answer Research Problem 2 in [Y.Berkovich and L.Kazarin: Finite groups in which the zeros of every non-linear irreducible character are conjugate modulo its kernel. Houston J. Math. 24 (1998), 619–630.] posed by Y.Berkovich and L.Kazarin.     

The trivial intersection problem for characters of principal indecomposable modules

For a prime p and a finite group G let Φ_p(G) denote the complex character associated to the projective indecomposable module in characteristic p with trivial head. Let Irr(Φ_p(G)) denote the set of irreducible characters occurring as constituents in Φ_p(G). We characterize all finite simple groups which satisfy Irr(Φ_p(G))∩Irr(Φ_q(G))={1_G} for all primes p≠q.     

Splitting Mixed Groups of Finite Torsion-Free Rank

Abstract

First, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for torsion-free finite rank subgroups of arbitrary abelian groups to be purifiable. An abelian group G is said to be a strongly ADE decomposable group if there exists a purifiable T(G)-high subgroup of G. We use a previous result to characterize ADE decomposable groups of finite torsion-free rank. Finally, in an extreme case of strongly ADE decomposable groups, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for abelian groups of finite torsion-free rank to be splitting.     

Groups with Anticentral Elements

We study finite groups G with elements g such that |C _G (g)| = |G:G′|. (Such elements generalize fixed-point-free automorphisms of finite groups.) We show that these groups have a unique conjugacy class of nilpotent supplements for the commutator subgroup and, using the classification of finite simple groups, that these groups are solvable.     

On Finite n-Acentralizer Groups

Let G be a group and Aut(G) be the group of automorphisms of G. Then the Acentralizer of an automorphism α ∈Aut(G) in G is defined as C _G (α) = {g ∈ G∣α(g) = g}. For a finite group G, let Acent(G) = {C _G (α)∣α ∈Aut(G)}. Then for any natural number n, we say that G is n-Acentralizer group if |Acent(G)| =n. We show that for any natural number n, there exists a finite n-Acentralizer group and determine the structure of finite n-Acentralizer groups for n ≤ 5.