arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Dan Segal.
The Profinite Isomorphism Problem for a class of groups \mathcal{C} asks for an algorithm that decides for any two groups in \mathcal{C} whether they have isomorphic profinite completions. We present the positive solution to this problem for the class of virtually polycyclic groups.
It is shown that the relatively free centre-by-metabelian and (class-2 nilpotent)-by-abelian pro-p groups on 2 generators are each finitely axiomatizable in the class of all profinite groups.
A soluble pro-p group of finite rank is finitely axiomatizable in the class of all profinite groups if and only if for each open subgroup H, the image of Z(H) in the abelianization of H is finite, subject to some suitable hypothesis of finite presentability.
Finitely generated (non-abelian) free metabelian pro-p groups, and wreath products of f.g. free abelian pro-p groups, are all finitely axiomatizable in the class of all profinite groups.
Commensurable groups are bi-interpretable, under suitable definability conditions.
We present two uncountable families of finitely generated residually finite groups all having the same profinite completion. One consists of soluble groups, the other of branch groups.
A group is $\textit{finitely axiomatizable}$ (FA) in a class $\mathcal{C}$ if it can be determined up to isomorphism within $\mathcal{C}$ by a sentence in the first-order language of group theory. We show that profinite groups of various kinds are FA in the class of profinite groups. Reasons why certain groups cannot be FA are also discussed.
The `upper rank' of a group is the supremum of the (Prüfer) ranks of its finite quotients, and for a prime $p$, the `upper $p$-rank' is the supremum of the sectional $p$-ranks of those quotients. The former is finite if and only if the latter are finitely bounded as $p$ ranges over all primes (a deep fact). Here we discuss the question: if the upper $p$-ranks of a finitely generated group $G$ are all finite, are they necessarily bounded? The case where $G$ is a soluble group is still an open problem.
We show that for Chevalley groups G(R) of rank at least 2 over a ring R the root subgroups are essentially (nearly always) the double centralizers of corresponding root elements. In very many cases this implies that R and G(R) are bi-interpretable, yielding a new approach to bi-interpretability for algebraic groups over a wide range of rings and fields. For such groups it then follows that the group G(R) is finitely axiomatizable in the appropriate class of groups provided R is finitely axiomatizable in the corresponding class of rings.
If $G$ is a Chevalley group and $R$ is an adele ring, or a product of local factors in an adele ring, then $R$ is bi-interpretable with $G(R)$.
We address the question: for which collections of finite simple groups does there exist an algorithm that determines the images of an arbitrary finitely presented group that lie in the collection? We prove both positive and negative results. For a collection of finite simple groups that contains infinitely many alternating groups, or contains classical groups of unbounded dimensions, we prove that there is no such algorithm. On the other hand, for families of simple groups of Lie type of bounded rank, we obtain positive results. For example, given any fixed untwisted Lie type $X$ there is an algorithm that determines whether or not an arbitrary finitely presented group has infinitely many simple images isomorphic to $X(q)$ for some $q$, and if there are finitely many, the algorithm determines them.
Examples are given of profinite groups that are not strongly complete, and have other `bad' properties, yet have only finitely many open subgroups of each finite index. It is shown that a profinite group with the latter property must be finite if it has finite exponent. The problem of characterizing strongly complete groups in terms of their power subgroups is discussed.
Among compact Hausdorff groups G whose maximal profinite quotient is finitely generated, we characterize those that possess a proper dense normal subgroup. We also prove that the abstract commutator subgroup [H,G] is closed for every closed normal subgroup H of G.
Let N be a normal subgroup of a finite group G. We prove that under certain (unavoidable) conditions the subgroup [N,G] is a product of commutators [N,y] (with prescribed values of y from a given set Y) of length bounded by a function of d(G) and |Y| only. This has several applications: 1. A new proof that G^n is closed (and hence open) in any finitely generated profinite group G. 2. A finitely generated abstract quotient of a compact Hausdorff group must be finite. 3. Let G be a topologically finitely generated compact Hausdorff group. Then G has a countably infinite abstract quotient if and only if G has an infinite virtually abelian continuous quotient.
In this note we prove that if $G$ is a finitely generated profinite group then the verbal subgroup $G^{q}$ is open. Equivalently in a $d$-generator finite group every product of $q$th powers is a product of $f(d,q)$ $q$th powers.
We prove that a finitely generated soluble residually finite group has polynomial index growth if and only if it is a minimax group. We also show that if a finitely generated group with PIG is residually finite-soluble then it is a linear group. These results apply in particular to boundedly generated groups; they imply that every infinite BG residually finite group has an infinite linear quotient.
A survey of recent results about profinite groups, and results about infinite and finite groups where the theory of profinite groups plays a leading role.
We prove that in every finitely generated profinite group, every subgroup of finite index is open; this implies that the topology on such groups is determined by the algebraic structure. This is deduced from the main result about finite groups: let $w$ be a `locally finite' group word and $d\in\mathbb{N}$. Then there exists $f=f(w,d)$ such that in every $d$-generator finite group $G$, every element of the verbal subgroup $w(G)$ is equal to a product of $f$ $w$-values. An analogous theorem is proved for commutators; this implies that in every finitely generated profinite group, each term of the lower central series is closed. The proofs rely on some properties of the finite simple groups, to be established in Part II.