On a Problem of P. Hall about Groups Isomorphic to all their Non-Trivial Normal Subgroups

A scheme of construction of infinite groups, other than simplegroups, free groups of infinite rank and the infinite cyclicgroup, which are isomorphic to all their non-trivial normalsubgroups is presented. Some results about the automorphismgroups of simple infinite groups are also obtained. In particular,it is proved that there is an infinite group G of any sufficientlylarge prime exponent p (or which is torsion-free) all of whoseproper subgroups are cyclic, and such that the groups Aut Gand Out G are isomorphic. The proofs use the technique of gradeddiagrams developed by A. Yu. Ol'shanskii. 1991 Mathematics SubjectClassification: 20F05, 20F06.