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.     

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 the algebraic independence in the selberg class

We prove that a functionF of the Selberg class ℐ is ab-th power in ℐ, i.e.,F=H ^b for someHσ ℐ, if and only ifb divides the order of every zero ofF and of everyp-componentF _p. This implies that the equationF ^a=G^b with (a, b)=1 has the unique solutionF=H ^b andG=H ^a in ℐ. As a consequence, we prove that ifF andG are distinct primitive elements of ℐ, then the transcendence degree of ℂ[F,G] over ℂ is two.     

On subgroups containing non-trivial normal subgroups

We prove that ifA≠1 is a subgroup of a finite groupG and the order of an element in the centralizer ofA inG is strictly larger (larger or equal) than the index [G:A], thenA contains a non-trivial characteristic (normal) subgroup ofG. Consequently, ifA is a stabilizer in a transitive permutation group of degreem>1, thenexp(Z(A))<m. These theorems generalize some recent results of Isaacs and the authors.     

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.     

Homogeneous Riemannian manifolds of positive Ricci curvature

We prove that a homogeneous effective spaceM=G/H, whereG is a connected Lie group andH⊂G is a compact subgroup, admits aG-invariant Riemannian metric of positive Ricci curvature if and only if the spaceM is compact and its fundamental group π₁(M) is finite (in this case any normal metric onG/H is suitable). This is equivalent to the following conditions: the groupG is compact and the largest semisimple subgroupLG⊂G is transitive onG/H. Furthermore, ifG is nonsemisimple, then there exists aG-invariant fibration ofM over an effective homogeneous space of a compact semisimple Lie group with the torus as the fiber. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 58, No. 3, pp. 334–340, September, 1995.     

On products of graphs and regular groups

A graphX is called a graphical regular representation (GRR) of a groupG if the automorphism group ofX is regular and isomorphic toG. Watkins and Nowitz have shown that the direct productG×H of two finite groupsG andH has aGRR if both factors have aGRR and if at least one factor is different from the cyclic group of order two. We give a new proof of this result, thereby removing the restriction to finite groups. We further show that the complementX′ of a finite or infinite graphX is prime with respect to cartesian multiplication ifX is composite and not one of six exceptional graphs.     

Graded rings and essential ideals

LetG be a group andA aG-graded ring. A (graded) idealI ofA is (graded) essential ifI⊃J≠0 wheneverJ is a nonzero (graded) ideal ofA. In this paper we study the relationship between graded essential ideals ofA, essential ideals of the identity componentA _e and essential ideals of the smash productA#G ^*. We apply our results to prime essential rings, irredundant subdirect sums and essentially nilpotent rings.     

On finite groups whose every proper normal subgroup is a union of a given number of conjugacy classes

Let G be a finite group andA be a normal subgroup ofG. We denote by ncc(A) the number ofG-conjugacy classes ofA andA is calledn-decomposable, if ncc(A)= n. SetK _G = {ncc(A)|A ⊲ G}. LetX be a non-empty subset of positive integers. A groupG is calledX-decomposable, ifK _G =X. Ashrafi and his co-authors [1-5] have characterized theX-decomposable non-perfect finite groups forX = {1, n} andn ≤ 10. In this paper, we continue this problem and investigate the structure ofX-decomposable non-perfect finite groups, forX = {1, 2, 3}. We prove that such a group is isomorphic to Z₆, D₈, Q₈, S₄, SmallGroup(20, 3), SmallGroup(24, 3), where SmallGroup(m, n) denotes the mth group of ordern in the small group library of GAP [11].     

Group-graded algebras with polynomial identity

LetG be a finite group and letR=Σ _g∈G R _g be any associative algebra over a field such that the subspacesR _g satisfyR _g R _h ⊆R _gh . We prove that ifR ₁ satisfies a PI of degreed, thenR satisfies a PI of degree bounded by an explicit function ofd and the order ofG. This result implies the following: ifH is a finite-dimensional semisimple commutative Hopfalgebra andR is anyH-module algebra withR ^H satisfying a PI of degreed, thenR satisfies a PI of degree bounded by an explicit function ofd and the dimension ofH.     

Elementary abelian operator groups

Letp be a prime,n a positive integer. Suppose thatG is a finite solvablep'-group acted on by an elementary abelianp-groupA. We prove that ifC _G (ϕ) is of nilpotent length at mostn for every nontrivial element ϕ ofA and |A|≥p ⁿ⁺¹ thenG is of nilpotent length at mostn+1.     

Minimal presentations for certain group extensions

IfG is a finite group thend(G) denotes the minimal number of generators ofG. IfH andK are groups then the extension, 1 →H →G →K → 1, is called an outer extension ofK byH ifd(G)=d(H)+d(K). Let be the class of groups containing all finitep-groupsG which has a presentation withd(G) = dimH ¹(G,z _p ) generators andr(G)=dimH ² (G,Z _p ) relations: in this article it is shown that ifK is a non cyclic group belonging to andH is a finite abelian p-group then any outer extension ofK byH belongs to .     

Nilpotent injectors in alternating groups

AnN-Injector in an arbitrary finite group is defined as a maximal nilpotent subgroup ofG containing a subgroupA ofG of maximal order, satisfying class (A)≦2. In a previous paper theN-Injectors of Sym(n) were determined. In this paper we determine theN-Injectors of Alt(n), after having determined the set of all nilpotent subgroups,A, of Sym(n) of maximal order satisfying class(A)≦2. It is shown that the set ofN-Injectors of Alt(n) consists of a unique conjugacy class, and ifn≠9, it coincides with the set of the nilpotent subgroups of Alt(n) of maximal order.     

Crossed products over prime rings

In this paper we obtain necessary and sufficient conditions for the crossed productR *G to be prime or semiprime under the assumption thatR is prime. The main techniques used are the Δ-methods which reduce these questions to the finite normal subgroups ofG and a study of theX-inner automorphisms ofR which enables us to handle these finite groups. In particular we show thatR *G is semiprime ifR has characteristic 0. Furthermore, ifR has characteristicp>0, thenR *G is semiprime if and only ifR *P is semiprime for all elementary abelianp-subgroupsP of Δ⁺(G) ∩G _inn.     

Groups whose subgroups have small automizers

IfH is a subgroup of a groupG, theautomizer ofH inG is the group of all automorphisms ofH induced by elements of its normalizerN _G (H). the subgroupH is said to havesmall automizer ifAut _G (H)=Inn(H), i.e. ifN _G (H)=HC _G (H). This article is devoted to the study of groups for which many subgroups have small automizer. In Memoriam Valeria Fedri R. Brandl wishes to express his sincerest thanks for the warm hospitality offered by the Department of Mathematics of the University of Napoli “Federico II” for the time of writing this paper.     

Some embeddings of infinite-dimensional spaces

It is shown that ifA is a weakly infinite-dimensional subset of a metric spaceR then aG _δ setB ofR exists such thatA⊆B andB is weakly infinite-dimensional. A similar result holds for a set having strong transfinite inductive dimension. As a consequence each weakly infinite-dimensional metric space possesses a weakly infinite-dimensional complete metric extension. A similar result holds also for a space having strong transfinite inductive dimension.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis>-covering subgroup systems for the classes of supersoluble and nilpotent groups

LetF be a class of groups andG a group. We call a set Σ of subgroups ofG aG-covering subgroup system for the classF (or directly aF-covering subgroup system ofG) ifG ∈F whenever every subgroup in Σ is inF. In this paper, we provide some nontrivial sets of subgroups of a finite groupG which are simultaneouslyG-covering subgroup systems for the classes of supersoluble and nilpotent groups. Research of the first author is supported by the NNSF of China (Grant No. 10171086) and QLGCF of Jiangsu Province and a Croucher Fellowship of Hong Kong. Research of the second author is partially supported by a UGC (HK) grant #2060176 (2001/2002).     

A problem of Dyer,Porcelli, and Rosenfeld

In this paper, we will demonstrate that a conjecture of Dyer, Porcelli, and Rosenfeld is correct. In fact, we will show that ifM is any finite von Neumann factor andA is any non-zero element ofM, then there exists aT inM such that the spectrum ofT+A is disjoint from the spectrum ofT, i.e. such thatσ(T+A) ∩ σ(T)=φ.     

On galois groups and their maximal 2-subgroups

LetG be a finite group of even order, having a central element of order 2 which we denote by −1. IfG is a 2-group, letG be a maximal subgroup ofG containing −1, otherwise letG be a 2-Sylow subgroup ofG. LetH=G/{±1} andH=G/{±1}. Suppose there exists a regular extensionL ₁ of ℚ(T) with Galois groupG. LetL be the subfield ofL ₁ fixed byH. We make the hypothesis thatL ₁ admits a quadratic extensionL ₂ which is Galois overL of Galois groupG. IfG is not a 2-group we show thatL ₁ then admits a quadratic extension which is Galois over ℚ(T) of Galois groupG and which can be given explicitly in terms ofL ₂. IfG is a 2-group, we show that there exists an element α ε ℚ(T) such thatL ₁ admits a quadratic extension which is Galois over ℚ(T) of Galois groupG if and only if the cyclic algebra (L/ℚ(T).a) splits. As an application of these results we explicitly construct several 2-groups as Galois groups of regular extensions of ℚ(T).     

Farrell cohomology and Brown theorems for profinite groups

LetG be a profinite group which has an open subgroupH such that the cohomologicalp-dimensiond≔cd_p(H) is finite (p is a fixed prime). The main result of this paper expresses thep-primary part of high degree cohomology ofG in terms of the elementary abelianp-subgroups ofG: From the latter one constructs a natural profinite simplicial setA G, on whichG acts by conjugation. ThenH ⁿ(G,M)≅H _G ⁿ (AG,M) holds forn≧d+r and everyp-primary discreteG-moduleM (r≔p-rank ofG). If one uses profinite Farrell cohomology, which is introduced in this paper, the analogous fact holds in all degrees. These results are the profinite analogues of theorems by K.S. Brown for discrete groups.