On graphs related to conjugacy classes of groups

LetG be a finite group. Attach toG the following two graphs: Γ — its vertices are the non-central conjugacy classes ofG, and two vertices are connected if their sizes arenot coprime, and Γ* — its vertices are the prime divisors of sizes of conjugacy classes ofG, and two vertices are connected if they both divide the size of some conjugacy class ofG. We prove that whenever Γ* is connected then its diameter is at most 3, (this result was independently proved in [3], for solvable groups) and Γ* is disconnected if and only ifG is quasi-Frobenius with abelian kernel and complements. Using the method of that proof we give an alternative proof to Theorems in [1],[2],[6], namely that the diameter of Γ is also at most 3, whenever the graph is connected, and that Γ is disconnected if and only ifG is quasi-Frobenius with abelian kernel and complements. As a result we conclude that both Γ and Γ* have at most two connected components. In [2],[3] it is shown that the above bounds are best possible. The content of this paper corresponds to a part of the author’s Ph.D. thesis carried out at the Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Prof. Marcel Herzog.     

Cycles through specified vertices of a graph

We prove that ifS is a set ofk−1 vertices in ak-connected graphG, then the cycles throughS generate the cycle space ofG. Moreover, whenk≧3, each cycle ofG can be expressed as the sum of an odd number of cycles throughS. On the other hand, ifS is a set ofk vertices, these conclusions do not necessarily hold, and we characterize the exceptional cases. As corollaries, we establish the existence of odd and even cycles through specified vertices and deduce the existence of long odd and even cycles in graphs of high connectivity.     

Prime modules of a gamma ring

We define a prime ΓM-module for a Γ-ringM. It is shown that a subsetP ofM is a prime ideal ofM if and only ifP is the annihilator of some prime ΓM-moduleG. s-prime ideals ofM were defined by the first author. We defines-modules ofM, analogous to a concept defined by De Wet for rings. It is shown that a subsetQ ofM is ans-prime ideal ofM if and only ifQ is the annihilator of somes-moduleG ofM. Relationships between prime ΓM-modules and primeR-modules are established, whereR is the right operator ring ofM. Similar results are obtained fors-modules.     

Asymptotic behaviour of trajectories of unipotent flows on homogeneous spaces

We show that ifG is a semisimple algebraic group defined overQ and Γ is an arithmetic lattice inG:=G _R with respect to theQ-structure, then there exists a compact subsetC ofG/Γ such that, for any unipotent one-parameter subgroup {u _t} ofG and anyg∈G, the time spent inC by the {u _t}-trajectory ofgΓ, during the time interval [0,T], is asymptotic toT, unless {g ⁻¹u_tg} is contained in aQ-parabolic subgroup ofG. Some quantitative versions of this are also proved. The results strengthen similar assertions forSL(n,Z),n≥2, proved earlier in [5] and also enable verification of a technical condition introduced in [7] for lattices inSL(3,R), which was used in our proof of Raghunathan’s conjecture for a class of unipotent flows, in [8].     

Edge choosability of planar graphs without short cycles

In this paper we prove that if G is a planar graph with △= 5 and without 4-cycles or 6-cycles, then G is edge-6-choosable. This consequence together with known results show that, for each fixed k ∈{3,4,5,6}, a k-cycle-free planar graph G is edge-(△ 1)-choosable, where △ denotes the maximum degree of G.     

Finite dimensional representations and subgroup actions on homogeneous spaces

LetH be an ℝ-subgroup of a ℚ-algebraic groupG. We study the connection between the dynamics of the subgroup action ofH onG/G _ℤ and the representation-theoretic properties ofH being observable and epimorphic inG. We show that ifH is a ℚ-subgroup thenH is observable inG if and only if a certainH orbit is closed inG/G _ℤ; that ifH is epimorphic inG then the action ofH onG/G _ℤ is minimal, and that the converse holds whenH is a ℚ-subgroup ofG; and that ifH is a ℚ-subgroup ofG then the closure of the orbit underH of the identity coset image inG/G _ℤ is the orbit of the same point under the observable envelope ofH inG. Thus in subgroup actions on homogeneous spaces, closures of ‘rational orbits’ (orbits in which everything which can be defined over ℚ, is defined over ℚ) are always submanifolds.     

On discrete subgroups containing a lattice in a horospherical subgroup

We showed in [Oh] that for a simple real Lie groupG with real rank at least 2, if a discrete subgroup Γ ofG contains lattices in two opposite horospherical subgroups, then Γ must be a non-uniform arithmetic lattice inG, under some additional assumptions on the horospherical subgroups. Somewhat surprisingly, a similar result is true even if we only assume that Γ contains a lattice in one horospherical subgroup, provided Γ is Zariski dense inG.     

Minimality and unique ergodicity of homogeneous actions

Consider a connected Lie groupG, a lattice Γ inG, a connected subgroupH ofG, and the adjoint representation Ad ofG on its Lie algebra g. Suppose that Ad(H) splits into a semidirect product of a reductive subgroup and the unipotent radical. We prove that the minimality of the leftH-action onG/Γ then implies its unique ergodicity. Simultaneously, we suggest a reduction of the study of finite ergodic measures for an arbitrary action (G/Γ,H), where the subgroupH∈G is connected and Γ∈G is discrete, to the case of an Abelian subgroupH. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 293–301, August, 1999.     

Guarding galleries where every point sees a large area

We prove a conjecture of Kavraki, Latombe, Motwani and Raghavan that ifX is a compact simply connected set in the plane of Lebesgue measure 1, such that any pointx∈X sees a part ofX of measure at least ɛ, then one can choose a setG of at mostconst1/ɛ log 1/ɛ points inX such that any point ofX is seen by some point ofG. More generally, if for anyk points inX there is a point seeing at least 3 of them, then all points ofX can be seen from at mostO(k ³ logk) points. Research supported by grants from the Sloan Foundation, the Israeli Academy of Sciences and Humanities, and by G.I.F. Research supported by Czech Republic Grant GAČR 201/94/2167 and Charles University grants No. 351 and 361. Part of the work was done while the author was visiting The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.     

Unique ergodicity of flows on homogeneous spaces

LetG be a unimodular Lie group, Γ a co-compact discrete subgroup ofG and ‘a’ a semisimple element ofG. LetT _a be the mapgΓ →ag Γ:G/Γ →G/Γ. The following statements are pairwise equivalent: (1) (T _a, G/Γ,θ) is weak-mixing. (2) (T _a, G/Γ) is topologically weak-mixing. (3) (G ^u, G/Γ) is uniquely ergodic. (4) (G ^u, G/Γ,θ) is ergodic. (5) (G ^u, G/Γ) is point transitive. (6) (G ^u, G/Γ) is minimal. If in additionG is semisimple with finite center and no compact factors, then the statement “(T _a, G/Γ,θ) is ergodic” may be added to the above list. The authors were partially supported by NSF grant MCS 75-05250.     

Spectra of ergodic group actions

LetG be a locally compact second countable abelian group, (X, μ) aσ-finite Lebesgue space, and (g, x) →gx a non-singular, properly ergodic action ofG on (X, μ). Let furthermore Γ be the character group ofG and let Sp(G, X) ⊂ Γ denote theL ^∞-spectrum ofG on (X, μ). It has been shown in [5] that Sp(G, X) is a Borel subgroup of Γ and thatσ (Sp(G, X))<1 for every probability measureσ on Γ with lim sup_g→∞Re (g)<1, where is the Fourier transform ofσ. In this note we prove the following converse: ifσ is a probability measure on Γ with lim sup_g→∞Re (g)<1 (g)=1 then there exists a non-singular, properly ergodic action ofG on (X, μ) withσ(Sp(G, X))=1.     

On J. H. C. Whitehead's aspherical question I

A connected, finite two-dimensional CW-complex with fundamental group isomorphic toG is called a [G, 2] _f -complex. LetL⊲G be a normal subgroup ofG. L has weightk if and only ifk is the smallest integer such that there exists {l ₁,…,l _k}⊆L such thatL is the normal closure inG of {l ₁,…,l _k}. We prove that a [G, 2] _f -complexX may be embedded as a subcomplex of an aspherical complexY=X∪{e ₁ ² ,…,e _k ² } if and only ifG has a normal subgroupL of weightk such thatH=G/L is at most two-dimensional and defG=defH+k. Also, ifX is anon-aspherical [G, 2] _f -subcomplex of an aspherical 2-complex, then there exists a non-trivial superperfect normal subgroupP such thatG/P has cohomological dimension ≤2. In this case, any torsion inG must be inP.     

A new characterization of frobenius complements

LetH, G be finite groups such thatH acts onG and each non-trivial element ofH fixes at mostf elements ofG. It is shown that, ifG is sufficiently large, thenH has the structure of a Frobenius complement. This result depends on the classification of finite simple groups. We conclude that, ifG is a finite group andA ⊆G is any non-cyclic abelian subgroup, then the order ofG is bounded above in terms of the maximal order of a centralizerC _G(a) for 1≠a ∈A.     

Finiteness properties of chevalley groups overFq[t]

LetG be a simple Chevalley group of rankn and Γ=G( ). Then the finiteness length of Γ shall be determined by studying the action of Γ on the Bruhat-Tits buildingX ofG . This is always possible provided that certain subcomplexes of the links of simplices inX are spherical. As a consequence, one obtains that Γ is of typeF _n−1 but not of typeFP _n ifG is of typeA _n, B_n, C_n orD _n andq≥2²ⁿ⁻¹.     

Irreducible disconnected systems in groups

LetG be an arbitrary group with a subgroupA. The subdegrees of (A, G) are the indices [A:A ∪A ⁹] (wheregεG). Equivalent definitions of that concept are given in [IP] and [K]. IfA is not normal inG and all the subdegrees of (A, G) are finite, we attach to (A, G) the common divisor graph Γ: its vertices are the non-unit subdegrees of (A, G), and two different subdegrees are joined by an edge iff they arenot coprime. It is proved in [IP] that Γ has at most two connected components. Assume that Γ is disconnected. LetD denote the subdegree set of (A, G) and letD ₁ be the set of all the subdegrees in the component of Γ containing min(D−{1}). We proved [K, Theorem A] that ifA is stable inG (a property which holds whenA or [G:A] is finite), then the setH={g ε G| [A:A ∪A ^g ] εD ₁ ∪ {1}} is a subgroup ofG. In this case we say thatA<H<G is a disconnected system (briefly: a system). In the current paper we deal with some fundamental types of systems. A systemA<H<G is irreducible if there does not exist 1<N△G such thatAN<H andAN/N<H/N<G/N is a system. Theorem A gives restrictions on the finite nilpotent normal subgroups ofG, whenG possesses an irreducible system. In particular, ifG is finite then Fit(G) is aq-group for a certain primeq. We deal also with general systems. Corollary (4.2) gives information about the structure of a finite groupG which possesses a system. Theorem B says that for any systemA<H<G,N _G (N _G (A))=N _G (A). Theorem C and Corollary C’ generalize a result of Praeger [P, Theorem 2]. The content of this paper corresponds to a part of the author’s Ph.D. thesis carried out at Tel Aviv University under the supervision of Prof. Marcel Herzog.     

Cusp forms

LetG andH ⊂G be two real semisimple groups defined overQ. Assume thatH is the group of points fixed by an involution ofG. Letπ ⊂L ²(H\G) be an irreducible representation ofG and letf επ be aK-finite function. Let Γ be an arithmetic subgroup ofG. The Poincaré seriesP _f(g)=Σ_H∩ΓΓ f(γ{}itg) is an automorphic form on Γ\G. We show thatP _f is cuspidal in some cases, whenH ∩Γ\H is compact. Partially supported by NSF Grant # DMS 9103608.     

Derived subgroups of fixed points

LetA be an elementary abelianq-group acting on a finiteq′-groupG. We show that ifA has rank at least 3, then properties ofC _G(a)′, 1 ≠a ∈A restrict the structure ofG′. In particular, we consider exponent, order, rank and number of generators. This author was supported by the NSF. This author was supported by CNP_q-Brazil.     

Matching behaviour is asymptotically normal

Ak-matching in a graphG is a set ofk edges, no two of which have a vertex in common. The number of these inG is writtenp(G, k). Using an idea due to L. H. Harper, we establish a condition under which these numbers are approximately normally distributed. We show that our condition is satisfied ifn=|V(G)| is large compared to the maximum degree Δ of a vertex inG(i.e. Δ=o(n)) orG is a large complete graph. One corollary of these results is that the number of points fixed by a randomly chosen involution in the symmetric groupS is asymptotically normally distributed.     

On r-recognition by prime graph of Bp(3) where p is an odd prime

Let G be a finite group. The prime graph Γ(G) of G is defined as follows. The vertices of Γ(G) are the primes dividing the order of G and two distinct vertices p and p′ are joined by an edge if there is an element in G of order pp′. We denote by k(Γ(G)) the number of isomorphism classes of finite groups H satisfying Γ(G) = Γ(H). Given a natural number r, a finite group G is called r-recognizable by prime graph if k(Γ(G)) =  r. In Shen et al. (Sib. Math. J. 51(2):244–254, 2010), it is proved that if p is an odd prime, then B _p (3) is recognizable by element orders. In this paper as the main result, we show that if G is a finite group such that Γ(G) = Γ(B _p (3)), where p > 3 is an odd prime, then G @ B_p(3){G\cong B_p(3)} or C _p (3). Also if Γ(G) = Γ(B ₃(3)), then G @ B₃(3), C₃(3), D₄(3){G\cong B_3(3), C_3(3), D_4(3)}, or G/O₂(G) @ Aut(²B₂(8)){G/O_2(G)\cong {\rm Aut}(^2B_2(8))}. As a corollary, the main result of the above paper is obtained.     

Finitely-presented groups with long lower central series

We construct examples of finitely presented groupsG with the property that, ifG _ω is the intersection of the lower central series ofG, then [G,G _ω ] ≠G _ω .