On the Steinhaus property in topological groups

Let G be a locally compact Abelian group and μ a Haar measure on G. We prove: (a) If G is connected, then the complement of a union of finitely many translates of subgroups of G with infinite index is μ-thick and everywhere of second category. (b) Under a simple (and fairly general) assumption on G, for every cardinal number m such that ℵ₀?m?|G| there is a subgroup of G of index m that is μ-thick and everywhere of second category. These results extend theorems by Muthuvel and Erd?s-Marcus, respectively. (b) also implies a recent theorem by Comfort-Raczkowski-Trigos stating that every nondiscrete compact Abelian group G admits ²|G|-many μ-nonmeasurable dense subgroups.     

Abelian groups admitting a Fréchet-Urysohn pseudocompact topological group topology

We show that every Abelian group G with r₀(G)=|G|=|G|^ω admits a pseudocompact Hausdorff topological group topology T such that the space (G,T) is Fréchet-Urysohn. We also show that a bounded torsion Abelian group G of exponent n admits a pseudocompact Hausdorff topological group topology making G a Fréchet-Urysohn space if for every prime divisor p of n and every integer k≥0, the Ulm-Kaplansky invariant f_p,k of G satisfies (f_p,k)^ω=f_p,k provided that f_p,k is infinite and f_p,k>f_p,i for each i>k.Our approach is based on an appropriate dense embedding of a group G into a Σ-product of circle groups or finite cyclic groups.     

Group-valued continuous functions with the topology of pointwise convergence

Let G be a topological group with the identity element e. Given a space X, we denote by Cp(X,G) the group of all continuous functions from X to G endowed with the topology of pointwise convergence, and we say that X is: (a) G-regular if, for each closed set F⊆X and every point x∈X?F, there exist f∈Cp(X,G) and g∈G?{e} such that f(x)=g and f(F)⊆{e}; (b) G^?-regular provided that there exists g∈G?{e} such that, for each closed set F⊆X and every point x∈X?F, one can find f∈Cp(X,G) with f(x)=g and f(F)⊆{e}. Spaces X and Y are G-equivalent provided that the topological groups Cp(X,G) and Cp(Y,G) are topologically isomorphic.We investigate which topological properties are preserved by G-equivalence, with a special emphasis being placed on characterizing topological properties of X in terms of those of Cp(X,G). Since R-equivalence coincides with l-equivalence, this line of research “includes” major topics of the classical Cp-theory of Arhangel'ski? as a particular case (when G=R).We introduce a new class of TAP groups that contains all groups having no small subgroups (NSS groups). We prove that: (i) for a given NSS group G, a G-regular space X is pseudocompact if and only if Cp(X,G) is TAP, and (ii) for a metrizable NSS group G, a G^?-regular space X is compact if and only if Cp(X,G) is a TAP group of countable tightness. In particular, a Tychonoff space X is pseudocompact (compact) if and only if Cp(X,R) is a TAP group (of countable tightness). Demonstrating the limits of the result in (i), we give an example of a precompact TAP group G and a G-regular countably compact space X such that Cp(X,G) is not TAP.We show that Tychonoff spaces X and Y are T-equivalent if and only if their free precompact Abelian groups are topologically isomorphic, where T stays for the quotient group R/Z. As a corollary, we obtain that T-equivalence implies G-equivalence for every Abelian precompact group G. We establish that T-equivalence preserves the following topological properties: compactness, pseudocompactness, σ-compactness, the property of being a Lindelöf Σ-space, the property of being a compact metrizable space, the (finite) number of connected components, connectedness, total disconnectedness. An example of R-equivalent (that is, l-equivalent) spaces that are not T-equivalent is constructed.     

Compactifications and algebraic completions of limit groups

This paper considers the existence of nondiscrete embeddings Γ ↦ G, where Γ is an abstract limit group and G is topological group. Namely, it is shown that a locally compact group G that admits a nondiscrete nonabelian free subgroup F admits a nondiscrete copy of every nonabelian limit group L. In some cases, for instance if the F is of rank 2 and its closure in G is compact or semisimple algebraic, or if L is a surface group (as considered in [6]), L can be chosen with the same closure as F.     

Continuity in topological groups

We prove that, when G is a group equipped with a Baire and metrizable topology, if there is a second category dense subset S of G such that the right translations ρs and ρs⁻¹ are continuous for all s∈S and each left translation λs, s∈G, is almost-continuous (defined below) on a residual subset of G, then G is a topological group. Among other consequences, this yields that when G is a second countable locally compact right topological group, its topological centre is a topological group.     

Harmonic analysis of SL(2) over a locally compact field

We carry over the pioneer work of Kunze and Stein concerning representation theory and harmonic analysis on SL(2, R) to the group G = SL(2, K), K a locally compact totally disconnected nondiscrete field. The main result is that convolution by an L^p(G) function, 1 ? p < 2, is a bounded operator on L²(G). To accomplish this result we develop the appropriate estimates (which depend upon the work of Sally et al.) that enable us to apply the Kunze and Stein interpolation theory to the Fourier-Laplace transform for the group G. Best possible estimates are obtained.     

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.     

Topologies on groups determined by discrete subsets

Let G be an infinite group. Given a filter F on G, let T[F] denote the largest left invariant topology on G in which F converges to the identity. In this paper, we study the topology T[F] in case when F contains the Fréchet filter and there is such that all the subsets xM(x), where x∈G, are pairwise disjoint. We show that T[F] possesses interesting extremal properties. We consider also the question whether T[F] can be a group topology.     

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.     

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.     

On coverings in the lattice of all group topologies of arbitrary Abelian groups

The remainder of the completion of a topological abelian group (G, τ₀) contains a nonzero element of prime order if and only if G admits a Hausdorff group topology τ₁ that precedes the given topology and is such that (G, τ₀) has no base of closed zero neighborhoods in (G, τ₁).     

Topological groups in which each nowhere dense subset is closed

Assuming the validity of the combinatorial principlep=c, which follows from Martin's axiom, it is proved that an arbitrary nondiscrete metrizable group topology on an Abelian group can be strengthened to a nondiscrete group topology in which each nowhere dense subset is closed.Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 64, No. 2, pp. 207–211, August, 1998.     

Expected values of parameters associated with the minimum rank of a graph

We investigate the expected value of various graph parameters associated with the minimum rank of a graph, including minimum rank/maximum nullity and related Colin de Verdière-type parameters. Let G(v,p) denote the usual Erd?s-Rényi random graph on v vertices with edge probability p. We obtain bounds for the expected value of the random variables mr(G(v,p)), M(G(v,p)), ν(G(v,p)) and ξ(G(v,p)), which yield bounds on the average values of these parameters over all labeled graphs of order v.     

Counting maximal topologies on countable groups and rings

Two non-discrete Hausdorff group topologies τ₁, τ₂ on a group G are called transversal if the least upper bound τ₁∨τ₂ of τ₁ and τ₂ is the discrete topology. We show that a countable group G admitting non-discrete Hausdorff group topologies admits c² pairwise transversal complete group topologies on G (so c² maximal group topologies). Moreover, every abelian group G admits ²|G|² pairwise transversal complete group topologies.     

Invariant Weighted Algebras ℒ p w (G)

The paper is devoted to weighted spaces ? _p ^w (G) on a locally compact group G. If w is a positive measurable function on G, then the space ? _p ^w (G), p ≥ 1, is defined by the relation ? _p ^w (G) = {f: fw ∈ ? _p (G)}. The weights w for which these spaces are algebras with respect to the ordinary convolution are treated. It is shown that, for p > 1, every sigma-compact group admits a weight defining such an algebra. The following criterion is proved (which was known earlier for special cases only): a space ? _p ^w (G) is an algebra if and only if the function w is semimultiplicative. It is proved that the invariance of the space ? _p ^w (G) with respect to translations is a sufficient condition for the existence of an approximate identity in the algebra ? _p ^w (G). It is also shown that, for a nondiscrete group G and for p > 1, no approximate identity of an invariant weighted algebra can be bounded.     

Note on a Result of Kerman and Weit II

Let G be a locally compact topological group, equipped with a fixed left Haar measure μ. We show that if f is a compactly supported real valued continuous function on G which has a unique maximum or a unique minimum at a point in G, then the space generated by the span of left translations of {f ⁿ ∣n=1,2,3,…} is dense in L ^p (G,μ), 1≤p<∞, in the space of continuous functions, continuous compactly supported functions and in the space of continuous functions vanishing at ∞. Similar results are true when the group G is substituted by G-spaces with compact isotropy group.     

Characterization of almost maximally almost-periodic groups

Let G be an Abelian group. We prove that a group G admits a Hausdorff group topology τ such that the von Neumann radical n(G,τ) of (G,τ) is non-trivial and finite iff G has a non-trivial finite subgroup. If G is a topological group, then n(n(G))≠n(G) if and only if n(G) is not dually embedded. In particular, n(n(Z,τ))=n(Z,τ) for any Hausdorff group topology τ on Z.     

Group Rings with Solvable Unit Groups of Minimal Derived Length

Let F be a field of characteristic p > 2 and G a nonabelian nilpotent group containing elements of order p. Write F G for the group ring. The conditions under which the unit group ??(F G) is solvable are known, but only a few results have been proved concerning its derived length. It has been established that if G is torsion, the minimum derived length is ?log₂(p + 1)?, and this minimum occurs if and only if |G′| = p. In the present note, we show that the same holds if G has elements of infinite order.     

Minimum product set sizes in nonabelian groups of order pq

Let G be a nonabelian group of order pq, where p and q are distinct odd primes. We analyze the minimum product set cardinality μG(r,s)=min|AB|, where A and B range over all subsets of G of cardinalities r and s, respectively. In this paper, we completely determine μG(r,s) in the case where G has order 3p and conjecture that this result can be extended to all nonabelian groups of order pq. We also prove that for every nonabelian group of order pq there exist 1?r,s?pq such that μG(r,s)>μZ/pqZ(r,s).