arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to L. Margolis.
The Herzog-Sch\"onheim conjecture states that if $H_1, \ldots, H_k$ are subgroups of a group $G$ and $x_1, \ldots, x_k$ are elements of $G$ such that $H_1x_1, \ldots, H_kx_k$ is a partition of $G$ into cosets, then two of these subgroups must have the same index. We prove this conjecture for simple groups and for symmetric groups.
Building on previous work by Caicedo and the second author, we develop a method that decides the existence of units of finite order in blocks of $\mathbb{Z}_p G$ of defect 1. This allows us to prove that if $p$ is a prime and $G$ is a finite group whose Sylow $p$-subgroup has order $p$, then any unit $u\in \mathbb{Z} G$ of order $p$ is conjugate to an element of $\pm G$. This is a special case of the Zassenhaus conjecture. We also prove some new results on units of finite order in $\mathbb{Z} \mathrm{PSL}(2,q)$ for certain $q$, and construct a unit of order $15$ in $V(\mathbb{Z}_{(3,5)}\mathrm{PSL}(2,16))$ which is a $3$- and $5$-local counterexample to the Zassenhaus conjecture, raising the hope that our methods may lead to a global counterexample amongst simple groups.
We continue our investigation of a variation of the group ring isomorphism problem for twisted group algebras. Contrary to previous work, we include cohomology classes which do not contain any cocycle of finite order. This allows us to study the problem in particular over any field of characteristic $0$. We prove that there are finite groups $G$ and $H$ which can not be distinguished by their rational twisted group algebras, while $G$ and $H$ can be identified by their semi-simple twisted group algebras over other fields. This is in contrast with the fact that the structural information on $G$ which can obtained from all the semi-simple group algebras of $G$ is already encoded in its rational group algebra. We further show that for an odd prime $p$ there are groups of order $p^4$ which can not be distinguished by their twisted group algebras over $F$ for any field $F$ of characteristic different from $p$. On the other hand we prove that the groups constructed by E. Dade, which have isomorphic group algebras over any field, can be distinguished by their rational twisted group algebras. We also answer a question about sufficient conditions for the twisted group ring isomorphism problem to hold over the complex numbers.
We study the Modular Isomorphism Problem (MIP) for groups of small order based on an improvement of an algorithm described by B. Eick. Our improvement allows to determine quotients $I(kG)/I(kG)^m$ of the augmentation ideal without first computing the full augmentation ideal $I(kG)$. It allows us to verify that the MIP has a positive answer for groups of order $3^7$ and to significantly reduce the cases that need to be checked for groups of order $5^6$. We further provide a proof for an observation of Bagi\'nski and provide a negative answer to a question of Bleher, Kimmerle, Roggenkamp and Wursthorn.
We study the Modular Isomorphism Problem applying a combination of existing and new techniques. We make use of the small group algebra to give a positive answer for two classes of groups of nilpotency class 3. We also introduce a new approach to derive properties of the lower central series of a finite $p$-group from the structure of the associated modular group algebra. Finally, we study the class of so-called $p$-obelisks which are highlighted by recent computer-aided investigations of the problem.
Similarly to how the classical group ring isomorphism problem asks, for a commutative ring $R$, which information about a finite group $G$ is encoded in the group ring $RG$, the twisted group ring isomorphism problem asks which information about $G$ is encoded in all the twisted group rings of $G$ over $R$. We investigate this problem over fields. We start with abelian groups and show how the results depend on the roots of unity in $R$. In order to deal with non-abelian groups we construct a generalization of a Schur cover which exists also when $R$ is not an algebraically closed field, but still linearizes all projective representations of a group. We then show that groups from the celebrated example of Everett Dade which have isomorphic group algebras over any field can be distinguished by their twisted group algebras over finite fields.