arXiv subjects

Iker de las Heras

Publications and source records attributed to Iker de las Heras.

18 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Engel probability in wreath products of $p$-groups

We give upper and lower bounds for the number of solutions of the equation $e_n(x,y) = g$ in the group $W_k=(C_p\wr C_{p^k})^2$, where $e_n(x,y)$ is the $n$-th Engel word and $g\in W_k$. We obtain several corollaries from this. First, we prove a stronger version of the Amit-Ashurst conjecture for Engel words in $W_k$. We also prove that Engel words are not probabilistic identities in profinite groups with arbitrarily large wreath product quotients $W_k$. To conclude, we construct closed subsets of $(C_p\wr\Z_p)^2$ with positive Haar measure, empty-interior, and which are the preimage of an Engel word map.

math.GR↗

arXiv2025

The lower $p$-series of analytic pro-$p$ groups and Hausdorff dimension

Let $G$ be a $p$-adic analytic pro-$p$ group of dimension $d$. We produce an approximate series which descends regularly in strata and whose terms deviate from the lower $p$-series in a uniformly bounded way. This brings to light a new set of rational invariants, canonically associated to $G$, that yield the aforementioned uniform bound and that restrict the possible values for the Hausdorff dimensions of closed subgroups of $G$ with respect to the lower $p$-series. In particular, the Hausdorff spectrum of $G$ with respect to the lower $p$-series is discrete and consists of at most $2^d$ rational numbers.

math.GR↗

arXiv2025

On the Hausdorff spectra of free pro-$p$ groups and certain $p$-adic analytic groups

We establish that finitely generated non-abelian direct products $G$ of free pro-$p$ groups have full Hausdorff spectrum with respect to the lower $p$-series $\mathcal{L}$. This complements similar results with respect to other standard filtration series and a recent theorem showing that the Hausdorff spectrum $\text{hspec}^\mathcal{L}(G)$ of a $p$-adic analytic pro-$p$ group $G$ is discrete and consists of at most $2^{\dim(G)}$ rational numbers. The latter also left some room for improvement regarding the upper bound. Indeed, for finitely generated nilpotent pro-$p$ groups $G$ we obtain the stronger assertion that the cardinality of the Hausdorff spectrum is at most the analytic dimension of $G$. Moreover, we produce a corresponding result when the $p$-adic analytic pro-$p$ group $G$ is just infinite, which holds not just for the lower $p$-series but for arbitrary filtration series. Finally, we show that, if $G$ is a countably based pro-$p$ group with an open subgroup mapping onto the free abelian pro-$p$ group $\mathbb{Z}_p \oplus \mathbb{Z}_p$, then for every prescribed finite set $\{0,1\} \subseteq X \subseteq [0,1]$ there is a filtration series $\mathcal{S}$ such that $\text{hspec}^\mathcal{S}(G) = X$; in particular, $|\text{hspec}^{\mathcal{S}}(G)|$ is unbounded, as $\mathcal{S}$ runs through all filtration series of $G$ with $|\text{hspec}^{\mathcal{S}}(G)| < \infty$.

math.GR↗

arXiv2025

Groups with finitely many long commutators of maximal order

Given a group $G$ and elements $x_1,x_2,\dots, x_\ell\in G$, the commutator of the form $[x_1,x_2,\dots, x_\ell]$ is called a commutator of length $\ell$. The present paper deals with groups having only finitely many commutators of length $\ell$ of maximal order. We establish the following results. Let $G$ be a residually finite group with finitely many commutators of length $\ell$ of maximal order. Then $G$ contains a subgroup $M$ of finite index such that $γ_\ell(M)=1$. Moreover, if $G$ is finitely generated, then $γ_\ell(G)$ is finite. Let $\ell,m,n,r$ be positive integers and $G$ an $r$-generator group with at most $m$ commutators of length $\ell$ of maximal order $n$. Suppose that either $n$ is a prime power, or $n=p^αq^β$, where $p$ and $q$ are odd primes, or $G$ is nilpotent. Then $γ_\ell(G)$ is finite of $(m,\ell,r)$-bounded order and there is a subgroup $M\le G$ of $(m,\ell,r)$-bounded index such that $γ_\ell(M)=1$.

math.GR↗

arXiv2025

Strong conciseness and equationally Noetherian groups

A word $w$ is said to be concise in a class of groups if, for every $G$ in that class such that the set of $w$-values $w\{G\}$ is finite, the verbal subgroup $w(G)$ is also finite. In the context of profinite groups, the notion of strong conciseness imposes a more demanding condition on $w$, requiring that $w(G)$ is finite whenever $|w\{G\}|< 2^{\aleph_0}$. We investigate the relation between these two properties and the notion of equationally Noetherian groups, by proving that in a profinite group $G$ with a dense equationally Noetherian subgroup, $w\{G\}$ is finite whenever $|w\{G\}|< 2^{\aleph_0}$. Consequently, we conclude that every word is strongly concise in the classes of profinite linear groups, pro-$\mathcal{C}$ completions of residually $\mathcal{C}$ linear groups and pro-$\mathcal{C}$ completions of virtually abelian-by-polycyclic groups, thereby extending well-known conciseness properties of these classes of groups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2024

On the lattice of closed subgroups of a profinite group

The subgroup lattice of a group is a great source of information about the structure of the group itself. The aim of this paper is to use a similar tool for studying profinite groups. In more detail, we study the lattices of closed or open subgroups of a profinite group and its relation with the whole group. We show, for example, that procyclic groups are the only profinite groups with a distributive lattice of closed or open subgroups, and we give a sharp characterization of profinite groups whose lattice of closed (or open) subgroups satisfies the Dedekind modular law; we actually give a precise description of the behaviour of modular elements of the lattice of closed subgroups. We also deal with the problem of carrying some structural information from a profinite group to another one having an isomorphic lattice of closed (or open) subgroups. Some interesting consequences and related results concerning decomposability and the number of profinite groups with a given lattice of closed (or open) subgroups are also obtained.

math.GR↗

arXiv2023

The degree of commutativity of wreath products with infinite cyclic top group

The degree of commutativity of a finite group is the probability that two uniformly and randomly chosen elements commute. This notion extends naturally to finitely generated groups $G$: the degree of commutativity $\text{dc}_S(G)$, with respect to a given finite generating set $S$, results from considering the fractions of commuting pairs of elements in increasing balls around $1_G$ in the Cayley graph $\mathcal{C}(G,S)$. We focus on restricted wreath products the form $G = H \wr \langle t \rangle$, where $H \ne 1$ is finitely generated and the top group $\langle t \rangle$ is infinite cyclic. In accordance with a more general conjecture, we show that $\text{dc}_S(G) = 0$ for such groups $G$, regardless of the choice of $S$. This extends results of Cox who considered lamplighter groups with respect to certain kinds of generating sets. We also derive a generalisation of Cox's main auxiliary result: in `reasonably large' homomorphic images of wreath products $G$ as above, the image of the base group has density zero, with respect to certain types of generating sets.

math.GR↗

arXiv2023

Strong conciseness of coprime commutators in profinite groups

Let $G$ be a profinite group. The coprime commutators $γ_j^*$ and $δ_j^*$ are defined as follows. Every element of $G$ is both a $γ_1^*$-value and a $δ_0^*$-value. For $j\geq 2$, let $X$ be the set of all elements of $G$ that are powers of $γ_{j-1}^*$-values. An element $a$ is a $γ_j^*$-value if there exist $x\in X$ and $g\in G$ such that $a=[x,g]$ and $(|x|,|g|)=1$. For $j\geq 1$, let $Y$ be the set of all elements of $G$ that are powers of $δ_{j-1}^*$-values. The element $a$ is a $δ_j^*$-value if there exist $x,y\in Y$ such that $a=[x,y]$ and $(|x|,|y|)=1$. In this paper we establish the following results. A profinite group $G$ is finite-by-pronilpotent if and only if there is $k$ such that the set of $γ_k^*$-values in $G$ has cardinality less than $2^{\aleph_0}$. A profinite group $G$ is finite-by-(prosoluble of Fitting height at most $k$) if and only if there is $k$ such that the set of $δ_k^*$-values in $G$ has cardinality less than $2^{\aleph_0}$.

math.GR↗

arXiv2023

Powerful 3-Engel groups

In this paper we study powerful 3-Engel groups. In particular, we find sharp upper bounds for the nilpotency class of powerful 3-Engel groups and the subclass of powerful metabelian 3-Engel groups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2022

A pro-2 group with full normal Hausdorff spectra

We construct a $2$-generated pro-$2$ group with full normal Hausdorff spectrum $[0,1]$, with respect to each of the four standard filtration series: the $2$-power series, the lower $2$-series, the Frattini series, and the dimension subgroup series. This answers a question of Klopsch and the second author, for the even prime case; the odd prime case was settled by the first author and Klopsch. Also, our construction gives the first example of a finitely generated pro-$2$ group with full Hausdorff spectrum with respect to the lower $2$-series.

math.GR↗

arXiv2021

The finitely generated Hausdorff spectra of a family of pro-$p$ groups

Recently the first example of a family of pro-$p$ groups, for $p$ a prime, with full normal Hausdorff spectrum was constructed. In this paper we further investigate this family by computing their finitely generated Hausdorff spectrum with respect to each of the five standard filtration series: the $p$-power series, the iterated $p$-power series, the lower $p$-series, the Frattini series and the dimension subgroup series. Here the finitely generated Hausdorff spectra of these groups consist of infinitely many rational numbers, and their computation requires a rather technical approach. This result also gives further evidence to the non-existence of a finitely generated pro-$p$ group with uncountable finitely generated Hausdorff spectrum.

math.GR↗

arXiv2021

Hausdorff dimension of closed subsets in profinite groups

A countably based profinite group can be naturally seen as a metric space with respect to a given filtration, and thus, it has a well defined Hausdorff dimension function. Barnea and Shalev found a group theoretical expression for the Hausdorff dimension of the closed subgroups of a profinite group $G$, opening, in this way, a bunch of possibilities to explore. In this paper we generalize Barnea's and Shalev's result to arbitrary closed subsets of $G$.

math.GR↗

arXiv2020

Powerfully solvable and powerfully simple groups

We introduce the notion of a powerfully solvable group. These are powerful groups possessing an abelian series of a special kind. These groups include in particular the class of powerfully nilpotent groups. We will also see that for a certain rich class of powerful groups we can naturally introduce the term powerfully simple group and prove a Jordan-Hölder type theorem that justifies the term.

math.GR↗

arXiv2020

A pro-$p$ group with full normal Hausdorff spectra

For each odd prime $p$, we produce a $2$-generated pro-$p$ group $G$ whose normal Hausdorff spectra \[ \mathrm{hspec}_{\trianglelefteq}^{\mathcal{S}}(G) = \{ \mathrm{hdim}_{G}^{\mathcal{S}}(H)\mid H\trianglelefteq_\mathrm{c} G \} \] with respect to five standard filtration series $\mathcal{S}$ - namely the lower $p$-series, the dimension subgroup series, the $p$-power series, the iterated $p$-power series and the Frattini series - are all equal to the full unit interval $[0,1]$. Here $\mathrm{hdim}_G^{\mathcal{S}} \colon \{ X\mid X \subseteq G \} \to[0,1]$ denotes the Hausdorff dimension function associated to the natural translation-invariant metric induced by the filtration series $\mathcal{S}$.

math.GR↗

arXiv2019

Lower central words in finite $p$-groups

It is well known that the set of values of a lower central word in a group $G$ need not be a subgroup. For a fixed lower central word $γ_r$ and for $p\ge 5$, Guralnick showed that if $G$ is a finite $p$-group such that the verbal subgroup $γ_r(G)$ is abelian and 2-generator, then $γ_r(G)$ consists only of $γ_r$-values. In this paper we extend this result, showing that the assumption that $γ_r(G)$ is abelian can be dropped. Moreover, we show that the result remains true even if $p=3$. Finally, we prove that the analogous result for pro-$p$ groups is true.

math.GR↗

arXiv2019

Commutators in finite p-groups with 3-generator derived subgroup

It is well known that, in general, the set of commutators of a group $G$ may not be a subgroup. Guralnick showed that if $G$ is a finite $p$-group with $p\ge 5$ such that $G'$ is abelian and $3$-generator, then all the elements of the derived subgroup are commutators. In this paper, we extend Guralnick's result by showing that the condition of $G'$ to be abelian is not needed. In this way, we complete the study of this property in finite $p$-groups in terms of the number of generators of the derived subgroup. We will also see that the same result is true when the action of $G$ on $G'$ is uniserial modulo $(G')^p$ and $|G':(G')^p|$ does not exceed $p^{p-1}$. Finally, we will prove that analogous results are satisfied when working with pro-$p$ groups.

math.GR↗

arXiv2018

Commutators in finite $p$-groups with $2$-generator derived subgroup

Let $G$ be a finite $p$-group whose derived subgroup $G'$ can be generated by $2$ elements. If $G'$ is abelian, Guralnick proved that every element of $G'$ is a commutator. In this paper, we prove that the condition that $G'$ should be abelian is not needed. Even more, we prove that every element of $G'$ is a commutator of the form $[x,g]$ for a fixed $x\in G$.

math.GR↗

arXiv2017

Intersection of maximal subgroups in prosolvable groups

Let $H$ be an open subgroup of a profinite group that can be expressed as intersection of maximal subgroups of $G.$ Given a positive real number $η,$ we say that $H$ is an $η$-intersection if there exists a family of maximal subgroups $M_1,\ldots,M_t$ such that $H=M_1\cap\ldots\cap M_t$ and $|G:M_1|\cdots|G:M_t|\le |G:H|^η$. We investigate the meaning of this property and its influence on the group structure.

math.GR↗