arXiv subjects

Colin Reid

Publications and source records attributed to Colin Reid.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Lattices determined by their commensurator

Let $\Gamma$ be a finitely generated cocompact lattice of a totally disconnected locally compact group $G$, and $C$ a dense subgroup of $G$ that contains and commensurates $\Gamma$. We study the problem of describing all finitely generated commensurated subgroups of $C$. We establish general rigidity results ensuring every finitely generated commensurated subgroup of $C$ is virtually contained in $\Gamma$. In more concrete situations, in fact we conclude that up to commensurability, $\Gamma$ is the only infinite finitely generated commensurated subgroup of $C$. For instance this last conclusion holds when $G$ is the automorphism group of a tree. This settles in particular the problem whether two non-commensurable cocompact tree lattices may have the same commensurator. Further applications include commensurators of cocompact lattices in other groups of automorphisms of trees, as well as commensurators of graph product of finite groups in automorphism groups of right-angled building.

math.GR↗

arXiv2025

OpenAI GPT-5 System Card

This is the system card published alongside the OpenAI GPT-5 launch, August 2025. GPT-5 is a unified system with a smart and fast model that answers most questions, a deeper reasoning model for harder problems, and a real-time router that quickly decides which model to use based on conversation type, complexity, tool needs, and explicit intent (for example, if you say 'think hard about this' in the prompt). The router is continuously trained on real signals, including when users switch models, preference rates for responses, and measured correctness, improving over time. Once usage limits are reached, a mini version of each model handles remaining queries. This system card focuses primarily on gpt-5-thinking and gpt-5-main, while evaluations for other models are available in the appendix. The GPT-5 system not only outperforms previous models on benchmarks and answers questions more quickly, but -- more importantly -- is more useful for real-world queries. We've made significant advances in reducing hallucinations, improving instruction following, and minimizing sycophancy, and have leveled up GPT-5's performance in three of ChatGPT's most common uses: writing, coding, and health. All of the GPT-5 models additionally feature safe-completions, our latest approach to safety training to prevent disallowed content. Similarly to ChatGPT agent, we have decided to treat gpt-5-thinking as High capability in the Biological and Chemical domain under our Preparedness Framework, activating the associated safeguards. While we do not have definitive evidence that this model could meaningfully help a novice to create severe biological harm -- our defined threshold for High capability -- we have chosen to take a precautionary approach.

cs.CL↗

arXiv2010

Finiteness properties of profinite groups

Broadly speaking, a finiteness property of groups is any generalisation of the property of having finite order. A large part of infinite group theory is concerned with finiteness properties and the relationships between them. Profinite groups are an important case of this, being compact topological groups that possess an intimate connection with their finite images. This thesis investigates the relationship between several finiteness properties that a profinite group may have, with consequences for the structure of finite and profinite groups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2009

On the structure of just infinite profinite groups

A profinite group $G$ is just infinite if every closed normal subgroup of $G$ is of finite index. We prove that an infinite profinite group is just infinite if and only if, for every open subgroup $H$ of $G$, there are only finitely many open normal subgroups of $G$ not contained in $H$. This extends a result recently established by Barnea, Gavioli, Jaikin-Zapirain, Monti and Scoppola, who proved the same characterisation in the case of pro-$p$ groups. We also use this result to establish a number of features of the general structure of profinite groups with regard to the just infinite property.

math.GR↗

arXiv2009

Subgroups of finite index and the just infinite property

A residually finite (profinite) group $G$ is just infinite if every non-trivial (closed) normal subgroup of $G$ is of finite index. This paper considers the problem of determining whether a (closed) subgroup $H$ of a just infinite group is itself just infinite. If $G$ is not virtually abelian, we give a description of the just infinite property for normal subgroups in terms of maximal subgroups. In particular, we show that such a group $G$ is hereditarily just infinite if and only if all maximal subgroups of finite index are just infinite. We also obtain results for certain families of virtually abelian groups, including all virtually abelian pro-$p$ groups and their discrete analogues.

math.GR↗

arXiv2009

The generalised Fitting subgroup of a profinite group

The generalised Fitting subgroup of a finite group is the group generated by all subnormal subgroups that are either nilpotent or quasisimple. The importance of this subgroup in finite group theory stems from the fact that it always contains its own centraliser, so that any finite group is an abelian extension of a group of automorphisms of its generalised Fitting subgroup. We define a class of profinite groups which generalises this phenomenon, and explore some consequences for the structure of profinite groups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2008

A problem in the Kourovka notebook concerning the number of conjugacy classes of a finite group

In this paper, we consider Problem 14.44 in the Kourovka notebook, which is a conjecture about the number of conjugacy classes of a finite group. While elementary, this conjecture is still open and appears to elude any straightforward proof, even in the soluble case. However, we do prove that a minimal soluble counterexample must have certain properties, in particular that it must have Fitting height at least 3 and order at least 2000.

math.GR↗