On automorphism groups of some finite groups

We show that if n > 1 is odd and has no divisor p4 for any prime p, then there is no finite group G such that│Aut(G)│ = n.     

On decomposability of finite groups

Let G be a finite group. A normal subgroup N of G is a union of several G-conjugacy classes, and it is called n-decomposable in G if it is a union of n distinct G-conjugacy classes. In this paper, we first classify finite non-perfect groups satisfying the condition that the numbers of conjugacy classes contained in its non-trivial normal subgroups are two consecutive positive integers, and we later prove that there is no non-perfect group such that the numbers of conjugacy classes contained in its non-trivial normal subgroups are 2, 3, 4 and 5.     

On element-centralizers in finite groups

For any group G, let |Cent(G)| denote the number of centralizers of its elements. A group G is called n-centralizer if |Cent(G)| = n. In this paper, we find |Cent(G)| for all minimal simple groups. Using these results we prove that there exist finite simple groups G and H with the property that |Cent(G)| = |Cent(H)| but ${G\not\cong H}$ . This result gives a negative answer to a question raised by A. Ashrafi and B. Taeri. We also characterize all finite semi-simple groups G with |Cent(G)| ≤  73.     

On universal locally finite groups

We deal with the question of existence of a universal object in the category of universal locally finite groups; the answer is negative for many uncountable cardinalities; for example, for 2^ℵ ₀, and assuming G.C.H. for every cardinal whose confinality is >ℵ₀. However, if λ>κ when κ is strongly compact and of λ=ℵ₀, then there exists a universal locally finite group of cardinality λ. The idea is to use the failure of the amalgamation property in a strong sense. We shall also prove the failure of the amalgamation property for universal locally finite groups by transferring the kind of failure of the amalgamation property from LF into ULF. We would like to thank Simon Thomas for reading carefully a preliminary version of this paper, proving Lemma 20 and making valuable remarks. Also we thank the United States—Israel Binational Science Foundation for partially supporting this work.     

On finite minimal non-nilpotent groups

A critical group for a class of groups is a minimal non- -group. The critical groups are determined for various classes of finite groups. As a consequence, a classification of the minimal non-nilpotent groups (also called Schmidt groups) is given, together with a complete proof of Gol'fand's theorem on maximal Schmidt groups.

     

On certain residually finite groups

In this paper we will give necessary and sufficient conditions under which A ⊕ B = A ⊕ C implies B and C are comparable relative to ≤ for all finitely generated projective modules A, B and C over a regular ring     

On semi-rational finite simple groups

An element of a group G is called semi-rational if all generators of \(\langle x\rangle \) lie in the union of two conjugacy classes of G. If all elements of G are semi-rational, then G is called a semi-rational group. In this paper, we determine all semi-rational simple groups. Our study in this article generalises Feit and Seitz’s result (Ill J Math 33(1):103–131, 1989) to semi-rational groups.     

On coleman outer automorphism groups of finite groups

Let G be a finite group and Out _Col(G) the Coleman outer automorphism group of G(for the definition, see below). The question whether Out_Col(G) is a p′-group naturally arises from the study of the normalizer problem for integral group rings, where p is a prime. In this article, some sufficient conditions for Out_Col(G) to be a p′-group are obtained. Our results generalize some well-known theorems.     

On residually finite groups of finite general rank

Following A. I.Mal’tsev, we say that a group G has finite general rank if there is a positive integer r such that every finite set of elements of G is contained in some r-generated subgroup. Several known theorems concerning finitely generated residually finite groups are generalized here to the case of residually finite groups of finite general rank. For example, it is proved that the families of all finite homomorphic images of a residually finite group of finite general rank and of the quotient of the group by a nonidentity normal subgroup are different. Special cases of this result are a similar result of Moldavanskii on finitely generated residually finite groups and the following assertion: every residually finite group of finite general rank is Hopfian. This assertion generalizes a similarMal’tsev result on the Hopf property of every finitely generated residually finite group.