Locally Finite Finitary Skew Linear Groups

Let V be a vector space over the division ring D of infinitedimension. We study locally finite, primitive groups G of finitarylinear automorphisms of V. We show that the derived group G'of G is infinite, simple, and lies in every non-trivial normalsubgroup of G, and that G' G Aut G'. Moreover if char D =0, then G is either the finitary symmetric group or the alternatinggroup on some infinite set. If D is commutative, that is, ifD is a field, then all these results are known and are the consequenceof the collective work of a number of people: in particular(in alphabetical order) V. V. Belyaev, J. I. Hall, F. Leinen,U. Meierfrankenfeld, R. E. Phillips, O. Puglisi, A. Radfordand quite probably others. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification:20H25, 20H20, 20F50.     

Finitary Power Semigroups of Infinite Groups are not Finitely Generated

For a semigroup S, the finitary power semigroup of S, denotedP_f(S), consists of all finite subsets of S under the usual multiplication.The main result of this paper asserts that P_f(G) is not finitelygenerated for any infinite group G. 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification 20M05 (primary), 20M30, 20F99 (secondary).     

On the Homeomorphism Groups of Cantor's Discontinuum and the Spaces of Rational and Irrational Numbers

The paper shows that the homeomorphism groups of, respectively,Cantor's discontinuum, the rationals and the irrationals haveuncountable cofinality. It is well known that the homeomorphismgroup of Cantor's discontinuum is isomorphic to the automorphismgroup Aut B of the countable, atomless boolean algebra B. Soalso Aut B has uncountable cofinality, which answers a questionposed earlier by the first author and H. D. Macpherson. Thecofinality of a group G is the cardinality of the length ofa shortest chain of proper subgroups terminating at G. 2000Mathematics Subject Classification 20B22, 20E15.     

On Self-Contragredient Genera Of Z[G]-Lattices

If G is a finite group and V is a finite-dimensional Q[G]-module,V is isomorphic to its contragredient module V*. In general,V need not contain any Z[G]-lattice which is locally isomorphicto its contragredient lattice. Nevertheless, it turns out thatfor every V there exists another Q[G]-module V' such that bothV' and V V' contain Z[G]-lattices which are locally isomorphicto their contragredient lattices. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification20C10, 20C05.     

The Second Bounded Cohomology of a Group Acting on a Gromov-Hyperbolic Space

Suppose a group G acts on a Gromov-hyperbolic space X properlydiscontinuously. If the limit set L(G) of the action has atleast three points, then the second bounded cohomology groupof is infinite dimensional. For example, if M is a complete, pinched negatively curved Riemannianmanifold with finite volume, then is infinite dimensional. As an application, we show that ifG is a knot group with GZ, then is infinite dimensional. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification:primary 20F32; secondary 53C20, 57M25.     

Isomorphisms of Group Algebras

Let G₁ and G₂ be locally compact groups. If T is an algebraisomorphism of L¹(G₁) onto L¹(G₂) with ||T|| (1+3), then G₁and G₂ are isomorphic. This improves on earlier results, and,in a certain sense, is best possible. However, the main conjecturethat the groups are isomorphic if ||T|| < 2 remains unsolvedexcept for abelian groups and for connected groups. Similarresults are given for the measure algebra M(G) and for the algebraC(G) of continuous functions when the group G is compact.     

A Ramsey-type theorem for traceable graphs

A graph G is traceable if there is a path passing through all the vertices of G. It is proved that every infinite traceable graph either contains arbitrarily large finite chordless paths, or contains a subgraph isomorphic to graph A, illustrated in the text. A corollary is that every finitely generated infinite lattice of length 3 contains arbitrarily large finite fences. It is also proved that every infinite traceable graph containing no chordless four-point path contains a subgraph isomorphic to K_ω,ω. The versions of these results for finite graphs are discussed.     

COHOMOLOGICAL DIMENSION OF MACKEY FUNCTORS FOR INFINITE GROUPS

We consider the cohomology of Mackey functors for infinite groupsand define the Mackey-cohomological dimension cdG of a groupG. We will relate this dimension to other cohomological dimensionssuch as the Bredon-cohomological dimension cdG and the relativecohomological dimension -cdG. In particular, we show that forvirtually torsion free groups the Mackey-cohomological dimensionis equal to both -cdG and the virtual cohomological dimension.     

Some Nasty reflexive groups

In {\it Almost Free Modules, Set-theoretic Methods}, Eklof and Mekler [5,p. 455, Problem 12] raised the question about the existence of dual abelian groups G which are not isomorphic to . Recall that G is a dual group if for some group D with . The existence of such groups is not obvious because dual groups are subgroups of cartesian products and therefore have very many homomorphisms into . If is such a homomorphism arising from a projection of the cartesian product, then . In all `classical cases' of groups {\it D} of infinite rank it turns out that . Is this always the case? Also note that reflexive groups G in the sense of H. Bass are dual groups because by definition the evaluation map is an isomorphism, hence G is the dual of . Assuming the diamond axiom for we will construct a reflexive torsion-free abelian group of cardinality which is not isomorphic to . The result is formulated for modules over countable principal ideal domains which are not field. Received July 1, 1999; in final form January 26, 2000 / Published online April 12, 2001     

Cancellation and absorption of lexicographic powers of totally ordered Abelian groups

Let G and H be totally ordered Abelian groups such that, for some integer k, the lexicographic powers G ^k and H ^k are isomorphic (as ordered groups). It was proved by F. Oger that G and H need not be isomorphic. We show here that they are whenever G is either divisible or ₁ -saturated (and in a few more cases). Our proof relies on a general technique which we also use to prove that G and H must be elementary equivalent as ordered groups (a fact also proved by F. Delon and F. Lucas) and isomorphic as chains. The same technique applies to the question of whether G and H should be isomorphic as groups, but, in this last case, no hint about a possible negative answer seems available.     

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.     

Confined Subgroups of Simple Locally Finite Groups and Ideals of their Group Rings

We are concerned in this paper with the ideal structure of grouprings of infinite simple locally finite groups over fields ofcharacteristic zero, and its relation with certain subgroupsof the groups, called confined subgroups. The systematic studyof the ideals in these group rings was initiated by the secondauthor in[15], although some results had been obtained previously(see [3, 1]). Let G be an infinite simple locally finite groupand K a field of characteristic zero. It is expected that inmost cases, the group ring KG will have the smallest possiblenumber of ideals, namely three, (KG itself, {0} and the augmentationideal), and this has been verified in some cases. In some interestingcases, however, the situation is different, and there are moreideals. We mention in particular the infinite alternating groups[3] and the stable special linear groups [9], in which the ideallattice has been completely determined. The second author hasconjectured that the presence of ideals in KG, other than thethree unavoidable ones, is synonymous with the presence in thegroup of proper confined subgroups. Here a subgroup H of a locallyfinite group G is called confined, if there exists a finitesubgroup F of G such that H^gF1 for all gG. This amounts to sayingthat F has no regular orbit in the permutation representationof G on the cosets of H.     

Normal Subgroups of Groups Which Split Over The Infinite Cyclic Group

Let G be either a free product with amalgamation A*_CB or anHNN group A*_C, where all normal subgroups of C are finitelygenerated. Suppose that both A and B have no non-trivial finitelygenerated normal subgroups of infinite indices. We show thatif G contains a finitely generated normal subgroup N which intersectsA or B non-trivially but is not contained in C, then the indexof N in G is finite. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification20E06.     

The spine of a Fourier-Stieltjes algebra

We define the spine A *(G) of the Fourier–Stieltjes algebraB (G) of a locally compact group G. This algebra encodes informationabout much of the fine structure of B (G), particularly informationabout certain homomorphisms and idempotents. We show that A *(G) is graded over a certain semi-lattice, thatof non-quotient locally precompact topologies on G. We computethe spine's spectrum G*, which admits a semi-group structure.We discuss homomorphisms from A *(G) to B (H) where H is anotherlocally compact group; and we show that A *(H) contains theimage of every completely bounded homomorphism from the Fourieralgebra A (H) of any amenable group G. We also show that A *(G)contains all of the idempotents in B (G). Finally, we computeexamples for vector groups, abelian lattices, minimally almostperiodic groups and the (ax + b)-group; and we explore the complexityof A *(G) for the discrete rational numbers and free groups.     

Projective Limits of Finite-Dimensional Lie Groups

For a topological group G we define N to be the set of all normalsubgroups modulo which G is a finite-dimensional Lie group.Call G a pro-Lie group if, firstly, G is complete, secondly,N is a filter basis, and thirdly, every identity neighborhoodof G contains some member of N. It is easy to see that everypro-Lie group G is a projective limit of the projective systemof all quotients of G modulo subgroups from N. The converseimplication emerges as a difficult proposition, but it is shownhere that any projective limit of finite-dimensional Lie groupsis a pro-Lie group. It is also shown that a closed subgroupof a pro-Lie group is a pro-Lie group, and that for any closednormal subgroup N of a pro-Lie group G, for any one parametersubgroup Y : R G/N there is a one parameter subgroup X : R G such that X(t) N = Y(t) for any real number t. The categoryof all pro-Lie groups and continuous group homomorphisms betweenthem is closed under the formation of all limits in the categoryof topological groups and the Lie algebra functor on the categoryof pro-Lie groups preserves all limits and quotients. 2000 MathematicsSubject Classification 22E65, 22D05, 22E20, 22A05, 54B35.     

On The Orders of Automorphism Groups of Finite Groups

In the Kourovka notebook, Deaconescu asks whether |AutG|(|G|)for all finite groups G, where denotes the Euler totient function,and whether G is cyclic whenever |AutG|. Both questions areanswered in the negative in this paper. Moreover, |AutG|/(|G|)can be made arbitrarily small. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification20E36 (primary), 20F28 (secondary).     

Witt groups and unipotent elements in algebraic groups

Let G be a semisimple algebraic group defined over an algebraicallyclosed field K of good characteristic p>0. Let u be a unipotentelement of G of order p^t, for some t N. In this paper it isshown that u lies in a closed subgroup of G isomorphic to theit Witt group W^t(K), which is a t-dimensional connected abelianunipotent algebraic group. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification:20G15.     

On Growth of Groups with Few Relators

Let G be a group that has a presentation with n generators andm relators, where m < n, and let S be an arbitrary generatingset for G. Then some subset of n-m elements of S freely generatesa free subgroup of G. This leads to the proof of a conjectureof Gromov on growth of groups. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification20F05, 20E18.     

On full groups of measure-preserving and ergodic transformations with uncountable cofinalities

The group of all measure-preserving permutations of the unitinterval and the full group of an ergodic transformation ofthe unit interval are shown to have uncountable cofinality andthe Bergman property. Here, a group G is said to have the Bergmanproperty if, for any generating subset E of G, some boundedpower of EE^–1{1} already covers G. This property arosein a recent interesting paper of Bergman, where it was derivedfor the infinite symmetric groups. We give a general sufficientcriterion for groups G to have the Bergman property. We showthat the criterion applies to a range of other groups, includingsufficiently transitive groups of measure-preserving, non-singular,or ergodic transformations of the reals; it also applies tolarge groups of homeomorphisms of the rationals, the irrationals,or the Cantor set.