Nilpotent 1‐factorizations of the complete graph

For which groups G of even order 2n does a 1‐factorization of the complete graph K_2n exist with the property of admitting G as a sharply vertex‐transitive automorphism group? The complete answer is still unknown. Using the definition of a starter in G introduced in 4 , we give a positive answer for new classes of groups; for example, the nilpotent groups with either an abelian Sylow 2‐subgroup or a non‐abelian Sylow 2‐subgroup which possesses a cyclic subgroup of index 2. Further considerations are given in case the automorphism group G fixes a 1‐factor. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs     

Simulated factorizations II

Summary A factorization of a finite abelian group is said to be simulated if it is obtained from a factorization into a direct product of subgroups by changing at mostk elements in each subgroup. The question has been asked as to which values ofk imply that in fact at least one subgroup must be left unaltered. This has been shown to be true fork = 1 but to be false, in general, fork = p – 1, wherep is the least prime dividing the order ofG. In this paper it is shown to be true fork = p – 2.     

On the Structure of Minimal Left Ideals in the Largest Compactification of a Locally Compact Group

This paper is centred around a single question: can a minimalleft ideal L in G^LUC, the largest semi-group compactificationof a locally compact group G, be itself algebraically a group?Our answer is no (unless G is compact). In deriving this conclusion,we obtain for nearly all groups the stronger result that nomaximal subgroup in L can be closed. A feature of our work isthat completely different techniques are required for the connectedand totally disconnected cases. For the former, we can relyon the extensive structure theory of connected, non-compact,locally compact groups to derive the solution from the commutativecase, using some reduction lemmas. The latter directly involvestopological dynamics; we construct a compact space and an actionof G on it which has pathological properties. We obtain otherresults as tools towards our main goal or as consequences ofour methods. Thus we find an extension to earlier work on therelationship between minimal left ideals in G^LUC and H^LUC whenH is a closed subgroup of G with G/H compact. We show that thedistal compactification of G is finite if and only if the almostperiodic compactification of G is finite. Finally, we use ourmethods to show that there is no finite subset of G^LUC invariantunder the right action of G when G is an almost connected groupor an IN-group.     

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]).     

On Principal Blocks of p-Constrained Groups

A theorem of K. W. Roggenkamp and L. L. Scott shows that fora finite group G with a normal p-subgroup containing its owncentralizer, any two group bases of the integral group ringZG are conjugate in the units of Z_pG. Though the theorem presentsitself in the work of others and appears to be needed, thereis no published account. There seems to be a flaw in the proof,because a ‘theorem’ appearing in the survey [K.W. Roggenkamp, ‘The isomorphism problem for integral grouprings of finite groups’, Progress in Mathematics 95 (Birkhäuser,Basel, 1991), pp. 193--220], where the main ingredients of aproof are given, is false. In this paper, it is shown how toclose this gap, at least if one is only interested in the conclusionmentioned above. Therefore, some consequences of the resultsof A. Weiss on permutation modules are stated. The basic stepsof which any proof should consist are discussed in some detail.In doing so, a complete, yet short, proof of the theorem isgiven in the case that G has a normal Sylow p-subgroup. 2000Mathematical Subject Classification: primary 16U60; secondary20C05.     

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.     

Factoring by simulated subsets II

In earlier papers it has been shown that certain different types of conditions on the factors in a factorization of a finite abelian group by its subsets lead to the conclusion that one factor must be a subgroup. In this paper the common generalization is proved that this result still holds even if different factors satisfy different types of condition. It is also shown that one condition may be weakened without effecting the conclusion.     

On a problem posed by S. Li and J. Liu

A subgroup H of a finite group G is said to be Hall normally embedded in G if there is a normal subgroup N of G such that H is a Hall subgroup of N. The aim of this note is to prove that a group G has a Hall normally embedded subgroup of order |B| for each subgroup B of G if and only if G is soluble with nilpotent residual cyclic of square-free order. This is the answer to a problem posed by Li and Liu (J. Algebra 388:1–9, 2013).     

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     

QR Factorization for Linear Least-Squares Problems on a Hypercube Multiprocessor

Least squares problems occur in many branches of science. Typicallythere may be a large number of data points or observations andonly a small to moderate number of variables. On sequentialmachines these problems can be time-consuming and thereforethe use of parallel machines to solve large least-squares problemsmay well yield substantial savings. The solution of least-squaresproblems by a QR factorization using Givens rotations seemsto be particularly suitable for a parallel machine, becausethere is much choice in the order of the Givens rotations andmany Givens rotations can be carried out in parallel. In this paper, an implementation of a QR factorization on theIntel hypercube is described. Each row of the least-squaresmatrix is assigned to a processor and most of the rotationsinvolve rows within one processor in the usual case when eachprocessor receives several rows. However, it is also necessaryto carry out rotations involving rows in different processorsand we call these rotations merges. Two ways of implementingthe merges are described and they are compared on the groundsof load balance and the number of communications required. Onefeature of the implementations is that processors can continueto do Givens rotations on rows within the processor while waitingfor messages that are required for merges. There is also someflexibility in the order of the merges and this can be incorporatedinto the algorithm. For each column, the merges are carriedout according to a tree structure and the choices of trees andtheir roots are discussed. Numerical results are given to showthe usefulness and efficiency of the proposed algorithms.     

A question on partial CAP-subgroups of finite groups

A subgroup H of a finite group G is a partial CAP-subgroup of G if there is a chief series of G such that H either covers or avoids every chief factor of the series.The structural impact of the partial cover and avoidance property of some distinguished subgroups of a group has been studied by many authors.However,there are still some open questions which deserve an answer.The purpose of the present paper is to give a complete answer to one of these questions.     

Generating Countable Sets of Permutations

Let E be an infinite set. In answer to a question of Wagon,I show that every countable subset of the symmetric group Sym(E)is contained in a 2-generator subgroup of Sym(E). In answerto a question of Macpherson and Neumann, I show that, if Sym(E)is generated by A B where |B| ||E||, then Sym(E) is generatedby A {} for some permutation in Sym(E).     

On the Bergman Property for the Automorphism Groups of Relatively Free Groups

A group G is said to have the Bergman property (the propertyof uniformity of finite width) if given any generating X withX = X^–1 of G, we have that G = X^k for some natural k,that is, every element of G is a product of at most k elementsof X. We prove that the automorphism group Aut(N) of any infinitelygenerated free nilpotent group N has the Bergman property. Also,we obtain a partial answer to a question posed by Bergman byestablishing that the automorphism group of a free group ofcountably infinite rank is a group of uniformly finite width.     

Constructions for chiral polytopes

An abstract polytope of rank n is said to be chiral if its automorphismgroup has two orbits on flags, with adjacent flags lying indifferent orbits. In this paper, we describe a method for constructingfinite chiral n-polytopes, by seeking particular normal subgroupsof the orientation-preserving subgroup of an n-generator Coxetergroup (having the property that the subgroup is not normalizedby any reflection and is therefore not normal in the full Coxetergroup). This technique is used to identify the smallest examplesof chiral 3- and 4-polytopes, in both the self-dual and non-self-dualcases, and then to give the first known examples of finite chiral5-polytopes, again in both the self-dual and non-self-dual cases.     

On Subgroups of Finite Index in Positively Finitely Generated Groups

This paper proves that a subgroup of finite index in a positivelyfinitely generated profinite group has maximal subgroup growthat most n^log(n). In particular such a subgroup cannot be free,answering a question by L. Pyber. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification20E28, 20P05.     

Locally Nilpotent p-Groups whose Proper Subgroups are Hypercentral or Nilpotent-by-Chernikov

Let G be a group and P be a property of groups. If every propersubgroup of G satisfies P but G itself does not satisfy it,then G is called a minimal non-P group. In this work we studylocally nilpotent minimal non-P groups, where P stands for ‘hypercentral’or ‘nilpotent-by-Chernikov’. In the first case weshow that if G is a minimal non-hypercentral Fitting group inwhich every proper subgroup is solvable, then G is solvable(see Theorem 1.1 below). This result generalizes [3, Theorem1]. In the second case we show that if every proper subgroupof G is nilpotent-by-Chernikov, then G is nilpotent-by-Chernikov(see Theorem 1.3 below). This settles a question which was consideredin [1–3, 10]. Recently in [9], the non-periodic case ofthe above question has been settled but the same work containsan assertion without proof about the periodic case. The main results of this paper are given below (see also [13]).     

The Tits Alternative for Cat(0) Cubical Complexes

A Tits alternative theorem is proved in this paper for groupsacting on CAT(0) cubical complexes. That is, a proof is givento show that if G is assumed to be a group for which there isa bound on the orders of its finite subgroups, and if G actsproperly on a finite-dimensional CAT(0) cubical complex, theneither G contains a free subgroup of rank 2, or G is finitelygenerated and virtually abelian. In particular, the above conclusionholds for any group G with a free action on a finite-dimensionalCAT(0) cubical complex. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification20F67, 20E08.     

Modular Subgroup Arithmetic and a Theorem of Philip Hall

A surprising relationship is established in this paper, betweenthe behaviour modulo a prime p of the number S_n G of index nsubgroups in a group G, and that of the corresponding subgroupnumbers for a normal subgroup in G normal subgroup in p-powerorder. The proof relies, among other things, on a twisted versiondue to Philip Hall of Frobenius' theorem concerning the equationx^m=1 in finite groups. One of the applications of this result,presented here, concerns the explicit determination modulo pof S_n G in the case when G is the fundamental group of a treeof groups all of whose vertex groups are cyclic of p-power order.Furthermore, a criterion is established (by a different technique)for the function S_n G to be periodic modulo p. 2000 MathematicsSubject Classification 20E06, 20F99 (primary); 05A15, 05E99(secondary).