arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Peter A. Linnell.
We consider a two-sided Pompeiu type problem for a discrete group $G$. We give necessary and sufficient conditions for a finite set $K$ of $G$ to have the $\mathcal{F}(G)$-Pompeiu property. Using group von Neumann algebra techniques, we give necessary and sufficient conditions for $G$ to be a $\ell^2(G)$-Pompeiu group
We prove that a uniform pro-p group with no nonabelian free subgroups has a normal series with torsion-free abelian factors. We discuss this in relation to unique product groups. We also consider generalizations of Hantzsche-Wendt groups.
Let $G$ be a locally compact group. We examine the problem of determining when nonzero functions in $L^2(G)$ have linearly independent translations. In particular, we establish some results for the case when $G$ has an irreducible, square integrable, unitary representation. We apply these results to the special cases of the affine group, the shearlet group and the Weyl-Heisenberg group. We also investigate the case when $G$ has an abelian, closed subgroup of finite index.
Let G be an infinite discrete group of type FP-infinity and let p>1 be a real number. We prove that the l^p-homology and cohomology groups of G are either 0 or infinite dimensional. We also show that the cardinality of the p-harmonic boundary of a finitely generated group is either 0, 1, or infinity.
For a group $H$ and a subset $X$ of $H$, we let ${}^HX$ denote the set $\{hxh^{-1} \mid h \in H, x \in X\}$, and when $X$ is a free-generating set of $H$, we say that the set ${}^HX$ is a Whitehead subset of $H$. For a group $F$ and an element $r$ of $F$, we say that $r$ is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical in $F$ if ${}^F\{r\}$ is a Whitehead subset of the subgroup of $F$ that is generated by ${}^F\{r\}$. In 1963, D. E. Cohen and R. C. Lyndon independently showed that in each free group each non-trivial element is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical. In 1987, M. Edjvet and J. Howie showed that if $A$ and $B$ are locally indicable groups, then each cyclically reduced element of $A \ast B$ that does not lie in $A \cup B$ is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical in $A \ast B$. Using Bass-Serre Theory and the Edjvet-Howie Theorem, one can deduce the local-indicability Cohen-Lyndon Theorem: if $F$ is a locally indicable group and $T$ is an $F$-tree with trivial edge stabilizers, then each element of $F$ that fixes no vertex of $T$ is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical in $F$. Conversely, the Cohen-Lyndon Theorem and the Edjvet-Howie Theorem are immediate consequences of the local-indicability Cohen-Lyndon Theorem. In this article, we give a detailed review of Howie induction and arrange the arguments of Edjvet and Howie into a Howie-inductive proof of the local-indicability Cohen-Lyndon Theorem that does not use Magnus induction or the Cohen-Lyndon Theorem. We conclude with a review of some standard applications of Cohen-Lyndon asphericity.
Let G be a group and let O_G denote the set of left orderings on G. Then O_G can be topologized in a natural way, and we shall study this topology to show that O_G can never be countably infinite. This paper retrieves correct parts of the withdrawn paper arXiv:math/0607470.
We consider group orders and right-orders which are discrete, meaning there is a least element which is greater than the identity. We note that free groups cannot be given discrete orders, although they do have right-orders which are discrete. More generally, we give necessary and sufficient conditions that a given orderable group can be endowed with a discrete order. In particular, every orderable group G embeds in a discretely orderable group. We also consider conditions on right-orderable groups to be discretely right-orderable. Finally, we discuss a number of illustrative examples involving discrete orderability, including the Artin braid groups and Bergman's non-locally-indicable right orderable groups.
Recently Dicks-Linnell determined the $L^2$-Betti numbers of the orientable surface-plus-one-relation groups, and their arguments involved some results that were obtained topologically by Hempel and Howie. Using algebraic arguments, we now extend all these results of Hempel and Howie to a larger class of two-relator groups, and we then apply the extended results to determine the $L^2$-Betti numbers of the non-orientable surface-plus-one-relation groups.
This paper investigates conditions under which a given automorphism of a residually torsion-free nilpotent group respects some ordering of the group. For free groups and surface groups, this has relevance to ordering the fundamental groups of three-dimensional manifolds which fibre over the circle.
Let G be a group of the form G_1* ... *G_n, the free product of n subgroups, and let M be a ZG-module of the form $\bigoplus_{i=1}^n M_i \otimes_{\mathbb{Z}G_i} \mathbb{Z}G$. We shall give formulae in various situations for $d_{ZG}(M)$, the minimum number of elements required to generate M. In particular if C_1,C_2 are non-trivial finite cyclic groups of coprime orders, $G = (C_1 \times Z) * (C_2 \times Z)$ and $F/R \cong G$ is the free presentation obtained from the natural free presentations of the two factors, then the number of generators of the relation module, $d_{\mathbb{Z}G}(R/R')$ is three. It seems plausible that the minimum number of relators of G should be 4, and this would give a finitely presented group with positive relation gap. However we cannot prove this last statement.
Let G be a group and let K be a field of characteristic zero. We shall prove that KG can be embedded into a von Neumann unit-regular ring. In the course of the proof, we shall obtain a result relevant to the Atiyah conjecture.
We determine the L^2-Betti numbers of all one-relator groups and all surface-plus-one-relation groups (surface-plus-one-relation groups were introduced by Hempel who called them one-relator surface groups). In particular we show that for all such groups G, the L^2-Betti numbers b_n^{(2)}(G) are 0 for all n>1. We also obtain some information about the L^2-cohomology of left-orderable groups, and deduce the non-L^2 result that, in any left-orderable group of homological dimension one, all two-generator subgroups are free.
Let G be a group and let O_G denote the set of left orderings on G. Then O_G can be topologized in a natural way, and we shall study this topology to answer three conjectures. In particular we shall show that O_G can never be countably infinite. Furthermore in the case G is a countable nonabelian free group, we shall show that O_G is homeomorphic to the Cantor set and that the positive cone of a left order on G is not finitely generated. Generalizations to locally indicable groups will also be considered.
Let A denote the algebraic closure of the rationals Q in the complex numbers C. Suppose G is a torsion-free group which contains a congruence subgroup as a normal subgroup of finite index and denote by U(G) the C-algebra of closed densely defined unbounded operators affiliated to the group von Neumann algebra. We prove that there exists a division ring D(G) such that A[G] < D(G) < U(G). This establishes some versions of the Atiyah conjecture for the group G.
We prove that every non-finitely generated projective module over the integral group ring of a polycyclic-by-finite group G is free if and only if G is polycyclic.
This paper will briefly survey some recent methods of localization in group rings, which work in more general contexts than the classical Ore localization. In particular the Cohn localization using matrices will be described, but other methods will also be considered.
A. H. Rhemtulla proved that if a group is a residually finite p-group for infinitely many primes p, then it is two-sided orderable. In problem 10.30 of the Kourovka notebook 14th. edition, N. Ya. Medvedev asked if there is a non-right-orderable group which is a residually finite p-group for at least two different primes p. Using a result of Dave Witte, we will show that many subgroups of finite index in GL_3(Z) give examples of such groups. On the other hand we will show that no such example can exist among solvable by finite groups.
There has been interest recently concerning when a left ordered group is locally indicable. Bergman and Tararin have shown that not all left ordered groups are locally indicable, but all known examples contain a nonabelian free subgroup. We shall show for a large class of groups not containing a nonabelian free subgroup, that any left ordered group in this class is locally indicable. Specifically this class is the smallest class of groups containing NS and Thompson's group of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the unit interval, and is closed under taking subgroups, quotient groups, extensions and directed unions; here NS is the class of groups which do not contain a nonabelian subsemigroup. We shall also show that certain free products with an amalgamated cyclic subgroup are left orderable.