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.     

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]).     

A Characterization of Finite Soluble Groups by Laws in Two Variables

Define a sequence (s_n) of two-variable words in variables x,y as follows: s₀(x, y) = x, s_n+1(x,y)=[s_n(x, y]^–y, s_n(x,y)for n 0. It is shown that a finite group G is soluble if andonly if s_n is a law of G for all but finitely many values ofn. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20D10, 20D06.     

On Free Modules for Finite Subgroups of Algebraic Groups

We show that given an affine algebraic group G over a fieldK and a finite subgroup scheme H of G there exists a finitedimensional G-module V such that V|_H is free. The problem israised in the recent paper by Kuzucuglu and Zalesski [15] which containsa treatment of the special case in which K is the algebraicclosure of a finite field and H is reduced. Our treatment isdivided into two parts, according to whether K has zero or positivecharacteristic. The essence of the characteristic 0 case isa proof that, for given n, there exists a polynomial GL_n(Q)-moduleV of dimension , where the product is over all primes less than or equal to n+1, such thatV is free as a QH-module for every finite subgroup H of GL_n(Q).The module V is the tensor product of the exterior algebra *(E),on the natural GL_n(Q)-module E, and Steinberg modules St_p, onefor each prime not exceeding n+1. The Steinberg modules alsoplay the major role in the case in which K has characteristicp>0 and the key point in our treatment is to show that fora finite subgroup scheme H of a general linear group scheme(or universal Chevalley group scheme) G over K, the Steinbergmodule St_pⁿ for G is injective (and projective) on restrictionto H for n>>0. A curious consequence of this is that,despite the wild behaviour of the modular representation theoryof finite groups, one has the following. Let H be a finite groupand V a finite dimensional vector space. Then there exists a(well-understood) faithful rational representation GL(V)GL(W)such that, for each faithful representation : HGL(V), the compositeo: HGL(W) is free, in particular all representations o are equivalent.     

A Bound on the Presentation Rank of a Finite Group

Let G be a finite group, and let I_G be the augmentation idealof ZG. We denote by d(G) the minimum number of generators forthe group G, and by d(I_G) the minimum number of elements ofI_G needed to generate I_G as a G-module. The connection betweend(G) and d(I_G) is given by the following result due to Roggenkamp]14]: where pr(G) is a non-negative integer, called the presentationrank of G, whose definition comes from the study of relationmodules (see [4] for more details). 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 20D20.     

The finite images of finitely generated groups

Given any sequence of non-abelian finite simple primitive permutationgroups S_n, we construct a finitely generated group G whose profinitecompletion is the infinite permutational wreath product ...S_n S_n–1 ... S₀. It follows that the upper compositionfactors of G are exactly the groups S_n. By suitably choosingthe sequence S_n we can arrange that G has any one of a continuousrange of slow, non-polynomial subgroup growth types. We alsoconstruct a 61-generator perfect group that has every non-abelianfinite simple group as a quotient. 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification: 20E07, 20E08, 20E18, 20E32.     

Bounded Generation and Subgroup Growth

The author proves in this paper that every profinite group Gwith polynomial subgroup growth is boundedly generated; thatis, it is a product of finitely many procyclic subgroups. Thisanswers a question of P. Zalesskii. By contrast, if G is a boundedlygenerated group, then the subgroup growth of G is at most n^clogn.As a byproduct, a short, elementary proof demonstrates thatAut(F_r) (for r 2) and many other related groups are not boundedlygenerated. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20E07 (primary),20E22 (secondary).     

For Rewriting Systems the Topological Finiteness Conditions FDT and FHT are Not Equivalent

A finite rewriting system is presented that does not satisfythe homotopical finiteness condition FDT, although it satisfiesthe homological finiteness condition FHT. This system is obtainedfrom a group G and a finitely generated subgroup H of G througha monoid extension that is almost an HNN extension. The FHTproperty of the extension is closely related to the FP₂ propertyfor the subgroup H, while the FDT property of the extensionis related to the finite presentability of H. The example systemseparating the FDT property from the FHT property is then obtainedby applying this construction to an example group.     

Power Subgroups of Pro-(Finite Soluble) Groups

The aim of this paper is to prove that Gⁿ, the subgroup generatedby all nth-powers of a pro-(finite soluble of bounded Fittingheight) group G is a closed subgroup of G     

The Consistency of Holt's Conjectures on Cohomological Dimension of Locally Finite Groups

Let G be a locally finite group of cardinality _n where n isa natural number. Let (G) be the set of primes p for which Ghas an element of order p. In [5], Holt conjectures that ifk is a finite field with char k (G) then (1) G has cohomological dimension n+1 over k; (2) Hⁿ⁺¹(G, kG) has cardinality 2^_n; (3) Hⁱ(G, kG) = 0 for 0 i n.     

Automorphisms of Relatively Free Groups in the Variety N2A {wedge} AN2 {wedge} Nc

For positive integers n and c, with n 2, let G_{n, c} be a relativelyfree group of finite rank n in the variety N₂A AN₂ N_c. Itis shown that the subgroup of the automorphism group Aut(G_n,c) of G_{n, c} generated by the tame automorphisms and an explicitlydescribed finite set of IA-automorphisms of G_{n, c} has finiteindex in Aut(G_{n, c}). Furthermore, it is proved that there areno non-trivial elements of G_{n, c} fixed by every tame automorphismof G_{n, c}.     

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.     

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.     

Restrictions of Algebraic Group Representations to Finite Subgroups

Suppose that H is a finite subgroup of a linear algebraic group,G. It was proved by Donkin that there exists a finite-dimensionalrational representation of G whose restriction to H is free.This paper gives a short proof of this in characteristic 0.The author also studies more closely which representations ofH can appear as a restriction of G.     

On the Automorphism Groups of Cayley Graphs of Finite Simple Groups

Let G be a finite nonabelian simple group and let be a connectedundirected Cayley graph for G. The possible structures for thefull automorphism group Aut are specified. Then, for certainfinite simple groups G, a sufficient condition is given underwhich G is a normal subgroup of Aut. Finally, as an applicationof these results, several new half-transitive graphs are constructed.Some of these involve the sporadic simple groups G = J₁, J₄,Ly and BM, while others fall into two infinite families andinvolve the Ree simple groups and alternating groups. The twoinfinite families contain examples of half-transitive graphsof arbitrarily large valency.     

Characterisation of Graphs which Underlie Regular Maps on Closed Surfaces

It is proved that a graph K has an embedding as a regular mapon some closed surface if and only if its automorphism groupcontains a subgroup G which acts transitively on the orientededges of K such that the stabiliser G_e of every edge e is dihedralof order 4 and the stabiliser G of each vertex is a dihedralgroup the cyclic subgroup of index 2 of which acts regularlyon the edges incident with . Such a regular embedding can berealised on an orientable surface if and only if the group Ghas a subgroup H of index 2 such that H is the cyclic subgroupof index 2 in G. An analogous result is proved for orientably-regularembeddings.     

On Perfect Isometries for Tame Blocks

Any 2-block of a finite group G with a quaternion defect groupQ₈ is Morita equivalent to the corresponding block of the centraliserH of the unique involution of Q₈ in G; this answers positivelyan earlier question raised by M. Broué. 2000 MathematicsSubject Classification 20C20.     

On c-Normal Subgroups of Finite Groups

A subgroup H is said to be c-normal in a group G if there exists a normal subgroup K of G such that G = HK and H K is contained in H_G, where H_G is the maximal normal subgroup of G. We determine the structures of some groups in which some primary subgroups is c-normal.AMS Mathematics Subject Classification (2000) 20D10 20D20     

A Necessary Condition for Transitivity of a Finite Permutation Group

Suppose the group G is generated by permutations g₁, g₂, ...,g₈ acting on a set of size n, such that g₁g₂...g₈ is the identitypermutation. If the generator g_i has exactly c_i cycles (for1 i s), and G is transitive on , then n(s–2)– is a non-negative even integer. Thisis proved using an elementary graph-theoretic argument.     

Enumerating Transitive Finite Permutation Groups

Denote by f(n) the number of subgroups of the symmetric groupSym(n) of degree n, and by f_trans(n) the number of its transitivesubgroups. It was conjectured by Pyber [9] that almost all subgroupsof Sym(n) are not transitive, that is, f_trans(n)/f(n) tendsto 0 when n tends to infinity. It is still an open questionwhether or not this conjecture is true. The difficulty comesfrom the fact that, from many points of view, transitivity isnot a really strong restriction on permutation groups, and thereare too many transitive groups [9, Sections 3 and 4]. In thispaper we solve the problem in the particular case of permutationgroups of prime power degree, proving the following result.1991 Mathematics Subject Classification 20B05, 20D60.