Topological prime radical of a group

In this paper, we consider two approaches toward the definition of a topological prime radical of a topological group. In the first approach, the prime quasi-radical η(G) is defined as the intersection of all closed prime normal subgroups of a topological group G. Its properties are investigated. In the second approach, we consider the set η′(G) of all topologically strictly Engel elements of a topological group G. Its properties are investigated. It is proved that η′(G) is a radical in the class of all topological groups possessing a basis of neighborhoods of the identity element consisting of normal subgroups. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 15–22, 2004.