Tournaments with prescribed regular automorphism group

A tournamentX is a TRR for a groupG if (a)G acts regularly on the vertices ofX and (b) Aut(X) is isomorphic toG. We correct some previous work of Babai and Imrich by showing thatZ ₂ ³ andZ ₃ ³ are the only groups of odd order without TRR's. Our methods are perhaps of independent interest, since we use a probabilistic approach.     

Locally Finite Groups with All Subgroups Normal-by-(Finite Rank)

A group is said to have finite (special) rank ≤ sif all of its finitely generated subgroups can be generated byselements. LetGbe a locally finite group and suppose thatH/H_Ghas finite rank for all subgroupsHofG, whereH_Gdenotes the normal core ofHinG. We prove that thenGhas an abelian normal subgroup whose quotient is of finite rank (Theorem 5). If, in addition, there is a finite numberrbounding all of the ranks ofH/H_G, thenGhas an abelian subgroup whose quotient is of finite rank bounded in terms ofronly (Theorem 4). These results are based on analogous theorems on locally finitep-groups, in which case the groupGis also abelian-by-finite (Theorems 2 and 3).     

On automorphism groups of Cayley graphs

LetX _G,H denote the Cayley graph of a finite groupG with respect to a subsetH. It is well-known that its automorphism groupA(X_G,H) must contain the regular subgroupL _G corresponding to the set of left multiplications by elements ofG. This paper is concerned with minimizing the index [A(X_G,H)L_G] for givenG, in particular when this index is always greater than 1. IfG is abelian but not one of seven exceptional groups, then a Cayley graph ofG exists for which this index is at most 2. Nearly complete results for the generalized dicyclic groups are also obtained.     

Congruence subgroups in group rings *

For a large class of groups G a precise congruence subgroup of the group generated by the bicyclic units of the integral group ring ZG is determined. As an application an upper bound is calculated for the index in the unit group of ZG for the group generated by the Bass cyclic units and the bicyclic units.     

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 the full automorphism group of a graph

While it is easy to characterize the graphs on which a given transitive permutation groupG acts, it is very difficult to characterize the graphsX with Aut (X)=G. We prove here that for the certain transitive permutation groups a simple necessary condition is also sufficient. As a corollary we find that, whenG is ap-group with no homomorphism ontoZ _p wrZ _p , almost all Cayley graphs ofG have automorphism group isomorphic toG.     

Finitely Presented, Coherent, and Ultrasimplicial Ordered Abelian Groups

We study notions such as finite presentability and coherence, for partially ordered abelian groups and vector spaces. Typical results are the following: (i) A partially ordered abelian group G is finitely presented if and only if G is finitely generated as a group, G⁺ is well-founded as a partially ordered set, and the set of minimal elements of G⁺\ {0} is finite. (ii) Torison-free, finitely presented partially ordered abelian groups can be represented as subgroups of some Zⁿ, with a finitely generated submonoid of (Z⁺)ⁿ as positive cone. (iii) Every unperforated, finitely presented partially ordered abelian group is Archimedean. Further, we establish connections with interpolation. In particular, we prove that a divisible dimension group G is a directed union of simplicial subgroups if and only if every finite subset of G is contained into a finitely presented ordered subgroup.     

Palindromic Width of Finitely Generated Solvable Groups

We investigate the palindromic width of finitely generated solvable groups. We prove that every finitely generated 3-step solvable group has finite palindromic width. More generally, we show the finiteness of the palindromic width for finitely generated abelian-by-nilpotent-by-nilpotent groups. For arbitrary solvable groups of step ≥3, we prove that if G is a finitely generated solvable group that is an extension of an abelian group by a group satisfying the maximal condition for normal subgroups, then the palindromic width of G is finite. We also prove that the palindromic width of ??? with respect to the set of standard generators is 3.     

Identities of PI-Algebras Graded by a Finite Abelian Group

We consider associative PI-algebras over an algebraically closed field of zero characteristic graded by a finite abelian group G. It is proved that in this case the ideal of graded identities of a G-graded finitely generated PI-algebra coincides with the ideal of graded identities of some finite dimensional G-graded algebra. This implies that the ideal of G-graded identities of any (not necessary finitely generated) G-graded PI-algebra coincides with the ideal of G-graded identities of the Grassmann envelope of a finite dimensional (G × ?₂)-graded algebra, and is finitely generated as GT-ideal. Similar results take place for ideals of identities with automorphisms.     

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.     

A Classification of Fully Residually Free Groups of Rank Three or Less

A groupGisfully residually freeprovided to every finite setS ⊂ G\{1} of non-trivial elements ofGthere is a free groupF_Sand an epimorphismh_S:G → F_Ssuch thath_S(g) ≠ 1 for allg ∈ S. Ifnis a positive integer, then a groupGisn-freeprovided every subgroup ofGgenerated bynor fewer distinct elements is free. Our main result shows that a fully residually free group of rank at most 3 is either abelian, free, or a free rank one extension of centralizers of a rank two free group. To prove this we prove that every 2-free, fully residually free group is actually 3-free. There are fully residually free groups which are not 2-free and there are 3-free, fully residually free groups which are not 4-free.     

Solvable absolute Galois groups are metabelian

We show that solvable absolute Galois groups have an abelian normal subgroup such that the quotient is the direct product of two finite cyclic and a torsion-free procyclic group. In particular, solvable absolute Galois groups are metabelian. Moreover, any field with solvable absolute Galois group G admits a non-trivial henselian valuation, unless each Sylow-subgroup of G is either procyclic or isomorphic to Z ₂⋊Z/2Z. A complete classification of solvable absolute Galois groups (up to isomorphism) is given. Oblatum 22-IV-1998 & 1-IX-2000?Published online: 30 October 2000     

The Ring of Modules with Endo-permutation Source

In this paper we consider certain subalgebras of the Green algebra (representation algebra) of a finite group G. One such algebra is spanned by the isomorphism classes of all indecomposable modules whose source is an endo-permutation module. This algebra can be embedded into a finite direct product of Laurent polynomial rings in finitely many variables over a field. Another such algebra is spanned by the isomorphism classes of all irreducibly generated modules. When G is p-solvable then this algebra is finite-dimensional and split semisimple.R. Boltje was supported by the NSF, DMS-0200592 and 0128969. B. Külshammer was supported by the DAAD.     

Groups with super-exponential subgroup growth

We show that, if the subgroup growth of a finitely generated (abstract or profinite) groupG is super-exponential, then every finite group occurs as a quotient of a finite index subgroup ofG. The proof involves techniques from finite permutation groups, and depends on the Classification of Finite Simple Groups.The first author was partially supported by the Hungarian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Grant No. T7441. The second author was partially supported by the Israeli National Science Foundation.     

Broué's conjecture for non-principal 3-blocks of finite groups

In representation theory of finite groups, there is a well-known and important conjecture due to M. Broué. He conjectures that, for any prime p, if a p-block A of a finite group G has an abelian defect group D, then A and its Brauer correspondent p-block B of N_G(D) are derived equivalent. We demonstrate in this paper that Broué's conjecture holds for two non-principal 3-blocks A with elementary abelian defect group D of order 9 of the O'Nan simple group and the Higman-Sims simple group. Moreover, we determine these two non-principal block algebras over a splitting field of characteristic 3 up to Morita equivalence.     

A theorem of Jon F. Carlson on filtrations of modules

We give an alternative proof to a theorem of Carlson [J.F. Carlson, Cohomology and induction from elementary abelian subgroups, Quart. J. Math. 51 (2000) 169-181] which states that if G is a finite group and k is a field of characteristic p, then any kG-module is a direct summand of a module which has a filtration whose sections are induced from elementary abelian p-subgroups of G. We also prove two new theorems which are closely related to Carlson’s theorem.     

On the hyperbolic limit points of groups acting on hyperbolic spaces

We study the hyperbolic limit points of a groupG acting on a hyperbolic metric space, and consider the question of whether any attractive limit point corresponds to a unique repulsive limit point. In the special case whereG is a (non-elementary) finitely generated hyperbolic group acting on its Cayley graph, the answer is affirmative, and the resulting mapg ⁺↦g ⁻, is discontinuous everywhere on the hyperbolic boundary. We also provide a direct, combinatorial proof in the special case whereG is a (non-abelian) free group of finite type, by characterizing algebraically the hyperbolic ends ofG. Partially supported by a grant from M.U.R.S.T., Italy.     

Central Automorphisms and Inner Automorphisms in Finitely Generated Groups

Let G be a group and Aut_c(G) be the group of all central automorphisms of G. We know that in a finite p-group G, Aut_c(G) = Inn(G) if and only if Z(G) = G′ and Z(G) is cyclic. But we shown that we cannot extend this result for infinite groups. In fact, there exist finitely generated nilpotent groups of class 2 in which G′ =Z(G) is infinite cyclic and Inn(G) < C* = Aut_c(G). In this article, we characterize all finitely generated groups G for which the equality Aut_c(G) = Inn(G) holds.