The quaternion group as a subgroup of the sphere braid groups

Let n 3. We prove that the quaternion group of order 8 is realisedas a subgroup of the sphere braid group B_n(²) if and only ifn is even. If n is divisible by 4, then the commutator subgroupof B_n(²) contains such a subgroup. Further, for all n 3, B_n(²)contains a subgroup isomorphic to the dicyclic group of order4n.     

Lie Powers of Modules for Groups of Prime Order

Let L(V) be the free Lie algebra on a finite-dimensional vectorspace V over a field K, with homogeneous components Lⁿ(V) forn 1. If G is a group and V is a KG-module, the action of Gextends naturally to L(V), and the Lⁿ(V) become finite-dimensionalKG-modules, called the Lie powers of V. In the decompositionproblem, the aim is to identify the isomorphism types of indecomposableKG-modules, with their multiplicities, in unrefinable directdecompositions of the Lie powers. This paper is concerned withthe case where G has prime order p, and K has characteristicp. As is well known, there are p indecomposables, denoted hereby J₁,...,J_p, where J_r has dimension r. A theory is developedwhich provides information about the overall module structureof LV) and gives a recursive method for finding the multiplicitiesof J₁,...,J_p in the Lie powers Lⁿ(V). For example, the theoryyields decompositions of L(V) as a direct sum of modules isomorphiceither to J₁ or to an infinite sum of the form J_r J_{p-1} J_{p-1} ... with r 2. Closed formulae are obtained for the multiplicitiesof J₁,..., J_p in Lⁿ(J_p and Lⁿ(J_{p-1). For r < p-1, the indecomposableswhich occur with non-zero multiplicity in Lⁿ(J_r) are identifiedfor all sufficiently large n. 2000 Mathematical Subject Classification:17B01, 20C20.     

Relation Modules of Infinite Groups

Let F_n be the free group of rank n with basis x₁, x₂, ..., x_n,and let d(G) denote the minimal number of generators of thefinitely generated group G. Suppose that n d(G). There existsan exact sequence and wemay view the free abelian group as a right ZG-module by defining (rR')^g = r^g–1R' for allg G, where g^–1 is any preimage of g under , and = (g^–1)^–1 r(g^–1),the conjugate of r by g^–1. We call the relation module of G associated with the presentation(1), and say that has ambient rank n. Furthermore, we call the group F_n/R' the free abelianizedextension of G associated with (1). 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 20F05, 20C07.     

A Characterization of Finite Soluble Groups by Laws in Two Variables

Define a sequence (s_n) of two-variable words in variables x,y as follows: s₀(x, y) = x, s_n+1(x,y)=[s_n(x, y]^–y, s_n(x,y)for n 0. It is shown that a finite group G is soluble if andonly if s_n is a law of G for all but finitely many values ofn. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20D10, 20D06.     

The finite images of finitely generated groups

Given any sequence of non-abelian finite simple primitive permutationgroups S_n, we construct a finitely generated group G whose profinitecompletion is the infinite permutational wreath product ...S_n S_n–1 ... S₀. It follows that the upper compositionfactors of G are exactly the groups S_n. By suitably choosingthe sequence S_n we can arrange that G has any one of a continuousrange of slow, non-polynomial subgroup growth types. We alsoconstruct a 61-generator perfect group that has every non-abelianfinite simple group as a quotient. 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification: 20E07, 20E08, 20E18, 20E32.     

The Decomposition of Lie Powers

Let G be a group, F a field of prime characteristic p and Va finite-dimensional FG-module. Let L(V) denote the free Liealgebra on V regarded as an FG-submodule of the free associativealgebra (or tensor algebra) T(V). For each positive integerr, let L^r (V) and T^r (V) be the rth homogeneous components ofL(V) and T(V), respectively. Here L^r (V) is called the rth Liepower of V. Our main result is that there are submodules B₁,B₂, ... of L(V) such that, for all r, B_r is a direct summandof T^r(V) and, whenever m 0 and k is not divisible by p, themodule is the direct sum of , . Thus every Lie power is a direct sum of Lie powers of p-powerdegree. The approach builds on an analysis of T^r (V) as a bimodulefor G and the Solomon descent algebra. 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification 17B01 (primary), 20C07, 20C20 (secondary).     

Beardon's Diophantine Equations and Non-Free Mobius Groups

Let µ be a real number. The Möbius group G_µis the matrix group generated by It is known that G_µ is free if |µ| 2 (see [1])or if µ is transcendental (see [3, 8]). Moreover, thereis a set of irrational algebraic numbers µ which is densein (–2, 2) and for which G_µ is non-free [2, p. 528].We may assume that µ > 0, and in this paper we considerrational µ in (0, 2). The following problem is difficult. Let G^nf denote the set of all rational numbers µ in (0,2) for which G_µ is non-free. In 1969 Lyndon and Ullman[8] proved that G^nf contains the elements of the forms p/(p²+ 1) and 1/(p + 1), where p = 1, 2, ..., and that if µ₀ G^nf, then µ₀/p G^nf for p = 1, 2, .... In 1993 Beardon[2] studied problem (P) by means of the words of the form A^rB^s A^t and A^r B^s A^t B^u A^v, and he obtained a sufficient conditionfor solvability of (P), included implicitly in [2, pp. 530–531],by means of the following Diophantine equations: 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification 20E05, 20H20, 11D09.     

The Dimension Subgroup Conjecture

For each n 4 there exists a finite 2-group G_n such that itsnth dimension subgroup does not coincide with its nth lowercentral subgroup. This settles the dimension subgroup conjecturenegatively for all n4.     

Residual Finiteness of Quasi-Positive One-Relator Groups

A criterion is given for showing that certain one-relator groupsare residually finite. This is applied to a one-relator groupwith torsion G = a₁,...,a_r|Wⁿ. It is shown that G is residuallyfinite provided that W is outside the commutator subgroup andn is sufficiently large. An important ingredient in the proofis a criterion which implies that a subgroup of a group is malnormal.A graded small-cancellation criterion is developed which detectswhether a map A B between graphs induces a ₁-injection, andwhether ₁A maps to a malnormal subgroup of ₁B.     

Profinite Groups with Multiplicative Probabilistic Zeta Function

To a finitely generated profinite group G, a formal Dirichletseries P_G(s)=_na_n/n^s is associated, where a_n = _|G:H|=n µ_G(H).It is proved that G is prosoluble if and only if the sequence{a_n}_nN is multiplicative, that is, a_rs = a_ra_s for any pairof coprime positive integers r and s. This extends the analogousresult on the probabilistic zeta function of finite groups.     

Automorphisms of Relatively Free Groups in the Variety N2A {wedge} AN2 {wedge} Nc

For positive integers n and c, with n 2, let G_{n, c} be a relativelyfree group of finite rank n in the variety N₂A AN₂ N_c. Itis shown that the subgroup of the automorphism group Aut(G_n,c) of G_{n, c} generated by the tame automorphisms and an explicitlydescribed finite set of IA-automorphisms of G_{n, c} has finiteindex in Aut(G_{n, c}). Furthermore, it is proved that there areno non-trivial elements of G_{n, c} fixed by every tame automorphismof G_{n, c}.     

Homomorphisms from Automorphism Groups of Free Groups

The automorphism group of a finitely generated free group isthe normal closure of a single element of order 2. If m <n, then a homomorphism Aut(F_n)Aut(F_m) can have image of cardinalityat most 2. More generally, this is true of homomorphisms fromAut(F_n) to any group that does not contain an isomorphic imageof the symmetric group S_n+1. Strong restrictions are also obtainedon maps to groups that do not contain a copy of W_n = (Z/2)ⁿ S_n, or of Z^n–1. These results place constraints on howAut(F_n) can act. For example, if n 3, any action of Aut(F_n)on the circle (by homeomorphisms) factors through det : Aut(F_n)Z₂.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20F65, 20F28 (primary).     

Binomial Sums and Functions of Exponential Type

Let (a_n)_n0 be a sequence of complex numbers, and, for n0, let A number of results are proved relating the growth of the sequences(b_n) and (c_n) to that of (a_n). For example, given p0, if b_n= O(n^p and for all > 0,then a_n=0 for all n > p. Also, given 0 < p < 1, then for all > 0 if and onlyif . It is further shown that, given rß > 1, if b_n,c_n=O(rßⁿ), then a_n=O(ⁿ),where , thereby proving a conjecture of Chalendar, Kellay and Ransford. The principal ingredientsof the proogs are a Phragmén-Lindelöf theorem forentire functions of exponential type zero, and an estimate forthe expected value of e^(X), where X is a Poisson random variable.2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 05A10 (primary), 30D15,46H05, 60E15 (secondary).     

On the direct product conjecture for sigma invariants

We show that the direct product conjecture for ⁿ(G; ), whereG is the direct product of two groups of type FP_n, holds forn = 3 and give counterexamples for n 4. Previously, counter-exampleswere known only for a related conjecture involving the homotopical-invariants, where the conjecture already fails for n 3.     

Finiteness Properties of Certain Metabelian Arithmetic Groups in the Function Field Case

Consider the group scheme where R is an arbitrary commutative ring with 1 0 and a unitx R* acts on R by multiplication. We will study the finiteness properties of subgroups of G(O_S)where O_S is an S-arithmetic subring of a global function field.The subgroups we are interested in are of the form where Q is a subgroup of O_S*. The finiteness propertiesof these metabelian groups can be expressed in terms of the-invariant due to R. Bieri and R. Strebel. Theorem A. Let S be a finite set of places of a global functionfield (regarded as normalized discrete valuations) and O_S thecorresponding S-arithmetic ring. Let Q be a subgroup of O_S*.Then Q is finitely generated and for all integers n 1 the followingare equivalent:

(1) O_S Q is of type FP_n;

(2) O_S is n-tameas a ZQ-module;

(3) each p S restricts to a non-trivial homomorphism and the set is n-tame.

If these conditions hold for at least one n 1 then the identity holds.} Theorem B. Let r denote the rank of Q. Then the followinghold:

(1) the group O_S Q is not of type FP_r+1};

(2) if Qhas maximum rank r = |S| –1 then the group O_S Q is oftype FP_r.

In particular, is of type FP_{|S| –1} but not of type FP_|S|. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification: 20E08, 20F16, 20G30, 52A20.     

The Coherence of One-Relator Groups with Torsion and the Hanna Neumann Conjecture

A conjecture is proposed, bounding the number of cycles withlabel Wⁿ in a labeled directed graph. Some partial results towardsthis conjecture are established. As a consequence, it is provedthat a₁, a₂,...|Wⁿ is coherent for n 4. Furthermore, it iscoherent for n 2, provided that the strengthened Hanna Neumannconjecture holds. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20F06,05C38.     

There is a Group of Every Strong Symmetric Genus

Let G be a finite group. The strong symmetric genus ⁰(G) isthe minimum genus of any Riemann surface on which G acts, preservingorientation. For any non-negative integer g, there is at leastone group of strong symmetric genus g. For g2, one such grouphas the form Z_k x D_n for some k and n. 2000 Mathematics SubjectClassification 57M60 (primary), 20H10, 30F99 (secondary).     

The Natural Morphisms between Toeplitz Algebras on Discrete Groups

Let G be a discrete group and (G, G₊) be a quasi-ordered group.Set G₊(G₊)^–1 and G₁= (G₊\){e}. Let F^G₁(G) andF^G₊(G) be the corresponding Toeplitz algebras. In the paper,a necessary and sufficient condition for a representation ofF^G₊(G) to be faithful is given. It is proved that when G isabelian, there exists a natural C*-algebra morphism from F^G₁(G)to F^G₊(G). As an application, it is shown that when G = Z² andG₊ = Z₊ x Z, the K-groups K₀(F^G₁(G)) Z², K₁(F^G₁(G)) Z andall Fredholm operators in F^G₁(G) are of index zero.     

Long Snakes in Powers of the Complete Graph with an Odd Number of Vertices

In [5] Abbott and Katchalski ask if there exists a constantc < 0 such that for every d 2 there is a snake (cycle withoutchords) of length at least c3^d in the product of d copies ofthe complete graph K₃. We show that the answer to the abovequestion is positive, and that in general for any odd integern there is a constant c_n such that for every d 2 there is asnake of length at least c_n n^d in the product of d copies ofthe complete graph K_n.     

Hurwitz Groups with Given Centre

A Hurwitz group is any non-trivial finite group that can be(2,3,7)-generated; that is, generated by elements x and y satisfyingthe relations x² = y³ = (xy)⁷ = 1. In this short paper a completeanswer is given to a 1965 question by John Leech, showing thatthe centre of a Hurwitz group can be any given finite abeliangroup. The proof is based on a recent theorem of Lucchini, Tamburiniand Wilson, which states that the special linear group SL_n(q)is a Hurwitz group for every integer n 287 and every prime-powerq. 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification 20F05 (primary);57M05 (secondary).