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.     

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.     

On 2-sylow intersections

Letz be an involution in the finite groupG and suppose thatz belongs to the center of a Sylow subgroup ofG. Ifz belongs to a unique Sylow subgroup ofG and ifG is not a trivial intersection group, thenG is not a simple group.     

Complementing lattice-ordered groups: The finite-valued case

A complementedl-groupG is one in which to eacha G there exists ab G so that¦a¦ ¦b¦=0, while¦a¦ ¦b¦ is a unit ofG. IfG is anl-subgroup ofH, and the latter is complemented, then we say thatH is a complementation ofG ifG ^c , the convex hull ofG inH, is a strongly rigid extension ofG andG ^c is az-subgroup ofH. This article presents necessary and sufficient conditions for a finite-valuedl-subgroup to admit a complementation.Presented by M. Henriksen.     

Remarks on the wonderful compactification of semisimple algebraic groups

We prove that ifG is a semisimple algebraic group of adjoint type over the field of complex numbers,H is the subgroup of all fixed points of an involution σ ofG that is induced by an involution σ of the simply connected coveringĜ ofG, then the wonderful compactification of the homogeneous spaceG/H is isomorphic to the G.I.T quotientG ^ss (L)//H of the wonderful compactificationG ofG for a suitable choice of a line bundleL onG. We also prove a functorial property of the wonderful compactifications of semisimple algebraic groups of adjoint type.     

Automorphisms of finite groups of bounded rank

LetG be a finite group admitting an automorphismα withm fixed points. Suppose every subgroup ofG isr-generated. It is shown that (1)G has a characteristic soluble subgroupH whose index is bounded in terms ofm andr, and (2) if the orders ofα andG are coprime, then the derived length ofH is also bounded in terms ofm andr. To Professor John Thompson, in honor of his outstanding achievements     

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.     

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].     

Homology of free Lie powers and torsion in groups

LetG be a group that is given by a free presentationG=F/R, and let_γ4 R denote the fourth term of the lower central series of R. We show that ifG has no elements of order 2, then the torsion subgroup of the free central extensionF/[_γ4 R,F] can be identified with the homology groupR _γ6(G, ℤ/2ℤ). This is a consequence of our main result which refers to the homology ofG with coefficients in Lie powers of relation modules.     

An unfeasible matching problem

LetG be a bipartite graph with natural edge weights, and letW be a function from the set of vertices ofG into natural numbers. AW-matching ofG is a subset of the set of edges ofG such that for each vertexv the total weight of edges in the subset incident tov does not exceedW(v). Letm be a natural number. We show that the problem of deciding whether there is aW-matching inG whose total weight is not less thanm is NP-complete even ifG is bipartite and its edge weights as well as theW(v)-constraints are constantly bounded.     

Variations on polynomial subgroup growth

A groupG hasweak polynomial subgroup growth (wPSG) of degree ≤α if each finite quotient Ḡ ofG contains at most │Ḡ│ ^a subgroups. The main result is that wPSG of degree α implies polynomial subgroup growth (PSG) of degree at mostf(α). It follows that wPSG is equivalent to PSG. A corollary is that if, in a profinite groupG, thek-generator subgroups have positive “density” δ, thenG is finitely generated (the number of generators being bounded by a function ofk and δ).     

Intrinsic metrics preserving maps on Abelian lattice-ordered groups

Swamy studied the natural metric ¦x–y¦ on Abelian lattice-ordered groupsG, and he proved that the stable isometries which preserve this metric have to be automorphisms ofG. Holland proved that the only intrinsic metrics on lattice-ordered groups, i.e., invariant and symmetric metrics, are the multiples n¦x –y¦ for some integern. We show that iff is an arbitrary surjection from an Abelian lattice-ordered groupG ₁ onto an Archimedean Abelian lattice-ordered groupG ₂ such that f(0)]0 and, for some non-zero intrinsic metricsD andd, D(f(x),f(y)) depends functionally on d(x,y), thenf is a homomorphism of G₁ onto G₂.Presented by R. S. Pierce.     

On products of two nilpotent subgroups of a finite group

LetG be a finite group with an abelian Sylow 2-subgroup. LetA be a nilpotent subgroup ofG of maximal order satisfying class (A)≦k, wherek is a fixed integer larger than 1. Suppose thatA normalizes a nilpotent subgroupB ofG of odd order. ThenAB is nilpotent. Consequently, ifF(G) is of odd order andA is a nilpotent subgroup ofG of maximal order, thenF(G)?A.     

Groups containing a strongly embedded subgroup

An involution v of a group G is said to be finite (in G) if vv ^g has finite order for any g ∈ G. A subgroup B of G is called a strongly embedded (in G) subgroup if B and G\B contain involutions, but B ∩ B ^g does not, for any g ∈ G\B. We prove the following results. Let a group G contain a finite involution and an involution whose centralizer in G is periodic. If every finite subgroup of G of even order is contained in a simple subgroup isomorphic, for some m, to L ₂(2 ^m ) or Sz(2 ^m ), then G is isomorphic to L ₂(Q) or Sz(Q) for some locally finite field Q of characteristic two. In particular, G is locally finite (Thm. 1). Let a group G contain a finite involution and a strongly embedded subgroup. If the centralizer of some involution in G is a 2-group, and every finite subgroup of even order in G is contained in a finite non-Abelian simple subgroup of G, then G is isomorphic to L ₂(Q) or Sz(Q) for some locally finite field Q of characteristic two (Thm. 2). Supported by RFBR (project No. 08-01-00322), by the Council for Grants (under RF President) and State Aid of Leading Scientific Schools (grant NSh-334.2008.1), and by the Russian Ministry of Education through the Analytical Departmental Target Program (ADTP) “Development of Scientific Potential of the Higher School of Learning” (project Nos. 2.1.1.419 and 2.1.1./3023). (D. V. Lytkina and V. D. Mazurov) Translated from Algebra i Logika, Vol. 48, No. 2, pp. 190–202, March–April, 2009.     

Growth of homogenous spaces,density of discrete subgroups and Kazhdan's property (T)

Summary LetG be a semisimple Lie group with finite center and no compact factors. We show that ifH is a closed unimodular subgroup ofG such thatG/H has subexponential volume growth, thenH is Zariski dense inG. Moreover, ifG has Kazhdan's property (T) thenG/H must have finite volume. We extend these results to semisimple groups over a local field.Oblatum 5-VII-1991 & 2-I-1992This work was supported by an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship     

Flows with periodic factors on homogeneous spaces

We show that ifG is a connected Lie group andH is a closed subgroup such that the dimension ofG/H is at least 2, then there exists a nontrivial oneparameter subgroup ofG whose action onG/H has no dense orbits. This strengthens a result ofC. Scheiderer [10].     

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.     

On Isomorphisms of Finite Cayley Graphs

A Cayley graph Cay(G,S) of a groupGis called a CI-graph if wheneverTis another subset ofGfor which Cay(G,S) Cay(G,T), there exists an automorphism σ ofGsuch thatS^σ = T. For a positive integerm, the groupGis said to have them-CI property if all Cayley graphs ofGof valencymare CI-graphs; further, ifGhas thek-CI property for allk ≤ m, thenGis called anm-CI-group, and a |G|-CI-groupGis called a CI-group. In this paper, we prove that Ais not a 5-CI-group, that SL(2,5) is not a 6-CI-group, and that all finite 6-CI-groups are soluble. Then we show that a nonabelian simple group has the 4-CI property if and only if it is A₅, and that no nonabelian simple group has the 5-CI property. Also we give nine new examples of CI-groups of small order, which were found to be CI-groups with the assistance of a computer.     

Finite hereditary near-field groups

A group (G,·) is said to be a near-field group ifG is the multiplicative group of a near-field. A near-field groupG is called hereditary if every subgroup ofG is a near-field group. This paper presents a complete characterization of finite hereditary near-field groups.     

Permutability of minimal subgroups and<Emphasis Type="Italic">p</Emphasis>-nilpotency of finite groups

In this paper it is proved that ifp is a prime dividing the order of a groupG with (|G|,p − 1) = 1 andP a Sylowp-subgroup ofG, thenG isp-nilpotent if every subgroup ofP ∩G ^N of orderp is permutable inN _G (P) and whenp = 2 either every cyclic subgroup ofP ∩G ^N of order 4 is permutable inN _G (P) orP is quaternion-free. Some applications of this result are given. The research of the first author is supported by a grant of Shanxi University and a research grant of Shanxi Province, PR China. The research of the second author is partially supported by a UGC(HK) grant #2160126 (1999/2000).