Abstract: | Abstract For an element a of a group G,let S(a) denote the semigroup generated by all conjugates of a in G. We prove that if G is solvable of finite rank and 1 ? S(a) for all 1 ≠ a ∈ G,then ?a G ?/?b G ? is a periodic group for every b ∈ S(a). Conversely if every two generator subgroup of a finitely generated torsion-free solvable group G has this property then G has finite rank,and if every finitely generated subgroup has this property then every partial order on G can be extended to a total order. |