Semigroup actions on homogeneous spaces

LetG be a connected semi-simple Lie group with finite center andS⊄G a subsemigroup with interior points. LetG/L be a homogeneous space. There is a natural action ofS onG/L. The relationx≤y ify ∈Sx, x, y ∈G/L, is transitive but not reflexive nor symmetric. Roughly, a control set is a subsetD ⊄G/L, inside of which reflexivity and symmetry for ≤ hold. Control sets are studied inG/L whenL is the minimal parabolic subgroup. They are characterized by means of the Weyl chambers inG meeting intS. Thus, for eachw ∈W, the Weyl group ofG, there is a control setD _w .D ₁ is the only invariant control set, and the subsetW(S)={w:D _w =D ₁} turns out to be a subgroup. The control sets are determined byW(S)/W. The following consequences are derived: i)S=G ifS is transitive onG/H, i.e.Sx=G/H for allx ∈G/H. HereH is a non discrete closed subgroup different fromG andG is simple. ii)S is neither left nor right reversible ifS #G iii)S is maximal only if it is the semigroup of compressions of a subset of some minimal flag manifold. Research partially supported by CNPq grant n^o 50.13.73/91-8     

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.     

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 closures of orbits and arithmetic of quaternions

ForG=PGL₂(ℚ _p )×PGL₂ ℚ we study the closures of orbits under the maximal split Cartan subgroup ofG in homogeneous spacesΓ\G. We show that if a closure of an orbit contains a closed orbit then the orbit is either dense or closed. We show the relation of this to divisibility properties of integral quaternions and other lattices. Sponsored in part by the Edmund Landau Center for Research in Mathematical Analysis supported by the Minerva Foundation (Germany). Research at MSRI supported by NSF grant DMS8505550.     

Reality properties of conjugacy classes in<Emphasis Type="Italic">G</Emphasis><Subscript>2</Subscript>

LetG be an algebraic group over a fieldk. We callg εG(k) real ifg is conjugate tog ⁻¹ inG(k). In this paper we study reality for groups of typeG ₂ over fields of characteristic different from 2. LetG be such a group overk. We discuss reality for both semisimple and unipotent elements. We show that a semisimple element inG(k) is real if and only if it is a product of two involutions inG(k). Every unipotent element inG(k) is a product of two involutions inG(k). We discuss reality forG ₂ over special fields and construct examples to show that reality fails for semisimple elements inG ₂ over ℚ and ℚ_p. We show that semisimple elements are real forG ₂ overk withcd(k) ≤ 1. We conclude with examples of nonreal elements inG ₂ overk finite, with characteristick not 2 or 3, which are not semisimple or unipotent.     

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).     

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).     

Divergent torus orbits in homogeneous spaces of ℚ-rank two

LetG be a semisimple algebraic ℚ-group, let Γ be an arithmetic subgroup ofG, and letT be an ℝ-split torus inG. We prove that if there is a divergentT _ℝ-orbit in Γ\G _ℝ, and ℚ-rankG≤2, then dimT≤ℚ-rankG. This provides a partial answer to a question of G. Tomanov and B. Weiss.     

p-Pseudomeasures and closed subgroups

LetPM _p (G) be the space of allp-pseudomeasures on a locally compact groupG. We show the existence of a conditional expectation fromPM _p (G) ontoPM _p (H) whereH is a closed normal subgroup ofG. As an application we give a new proof of the fact thatH is a set ofp-synthesis inG; we also get an inequality involving the operator norm of bounded measures onG. Moreover, in analogy with a theorem of Reiter, we obtain a result concerning the closed ideals of the Figà-Talamanca Herz algebra ofG.     

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.     

Divergent trajectories and ℚ-rank

The author proves a conjecture of the author: IfG is a semisimple real algebraic defined over ℚ, Γ is an arithmetic subgroup (with respect to the given ℚ-structure) andA is a diagonalizable subgroup admitting a divergent trajectory inG/Γ, then dimA≤ rank_ℚ G.     

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].     

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.     

Polar actions on Hilbert space

An isometricH-action on a Riemannian manifoldX is calledpolar if there exists a closed submanifoldS ofX that meets everyH-orbit and always meets orbits orthogonally (S is called a section). LetG be a compact Lie group equipped with a biinvariant metric,H a closed subgroup ofG ×G, and letH act onG isometrically by (h ₁,h ₂) ·x = h ₁ xh ₂ ⁻¹ · LetP(G, H) denote the group ofH ¹-pathsg: [0, 1] →G such that (g(0),g (1)) ∈H, and letP(G, H) act on the Hilbert spaceV = H ⁰([0, 1], g) isometrically byg * u = gug ⁻¹ −g′g ⁻¹. We prove that if the action ofH onG is polar with a flat section then the action ofP(G, H) onV is polar. Principal orbits of polar actions onV are isoparametric submanifolds ofV and are infinite-dimensional generalized real or complex flag manifolds. We also note that the adjoint actions of affine Kac-Moody groups and the isotropy action corresponding to an involution of an affine Kac-Moody group are special examples ofP(G, H)-actions for suitable choice ofH andG. Work supported partially by NSF Grant DMS 8903237 and by The Max-Planck-Institut für Mathematik in Bonn.     

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.     

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     

Minimality and unique ergodicity of homogeneous actions

Consider a connected Lie groupG, a lattice Γ inG, a connected subgroupH ofG, and the adjoint representation Ad ofG on its Lie algebra g. Suppose that Ad(H) splits into a semidirect product of a reductive subgroup and the unipotent radical. We prove that the minimality of the leftH-action onG/Γ then implies its unique ergodicity. Simultaneously, we suggest a reduction of the study of finite ergodic measures for an arbitrary action (G/Γ,H), where the subgroupH∈G is connected and Γ∈G is discrete, to the case of an Abelian subgroupH. Translated fromMatematicheskie Zametki, Vol. 66, No. 2, pp. 293–301, August, 1999.     

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.     

On J. H. C. Whitehead's aspherical question I

A connected, finite two-dimensional CW-complex with fundamental group isomorphic toG is called a [G, 2] _f -complex. LetL⊲G be a normal subgroup ofG. L has weightk if and only ifk is the smallest integer such that there exists {l ₁,…,l _k}⊆L such thatL is the normal closure inG of {l ₁,…,l _k}. We prove that a [G, 2] _f -complexX may be embedded as a subcomplex of an aspherical complexY=X∪{e ₁ ² ,…,e _k ² } if and only ifG has a normal subgroupL of weightk such thatH=G/L is at most two-dimensional and defG=defH+k. Also, ifX is anon-aspherical [G, 2] _f -subcomplex of an aspherical 2-complex, then there exists a non-trivial superperfect normal subgroupP such thatG/P has cohomological dimension ≤2. In this case, any torsion inG must be inP.     

Nearly prime subsemigroups ofβℕ

We show that there exist relatively small subsemigroupsM ofβℕ with the property that ifp+q andq+p are inM then bothp andq are inM + ℤ. We also show that it is consistent with the usual axioms of set theory that there is some idempotent e inβℕ such that ifp+q=e, then bothp andq are ine + ℤ. The first author acknowledges support received from the National Science Foundation (USA) via grant DMS90-25025.