On torsion-free nilpotent loops

We know quite a lot about the general structure of ω-stable solvable centerless groups of finite Morley rank. Abelian groups of finite Morley rank are also well-understood. By comparison, nonabelian nilpotent groups are a mystery except for the following general results:• An ω1-categorical torsion-free nonabelian nilpotent group is an algebraic group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0 [Z3].• A nilpotent group of finite Morley rank is the central product of a definable subgroup of finite exponent and of a definable divisible subgroup [N3].• A divisible nilpotent group of finite Morley rank is the direct product of its torsion part (which is central) and of a torsion-free subgroup [N3].However, we do not understand nilpotent groups of bounded exponent. It seems that the classification of nilpotent (but nonabelian) p-groups of finite Morley rank is impossible. Even the nilpotent groups of Morley rank 2 contain insurmountable difficulties [C], [T] . At first glance, this may seem to be an obstacle to proving the Cherlin-Zil'ber conjecture (“simple groups of finite Morley rank are algebraic groups”). Our purpose in this article is to show that if such a group is a definable subgroup of a nonnilpotent group, then it is possible to obtain a classification within the boundaries of our present knowledge. In this respect, our article may be considered as a relief to those who are trying to classify simple groups of finite Morley rank.Before explicitly stating our result, we need the following definition.

1. Introduction. This paper is concerned with proving identities in commutative Moufang loops. Many such identities were derived in chapter VIII of (1) in the course of demonstrating the local nilpotence of commutative Moufang loops. The results there are regarded as constituting the ‘first grammar of associators’: the reader is assumed to have a good knowledge of them. The current paper develops additional material required for the determination in (5) of the precise nilpotence class of the free commutative Moufang loop on any given finite number of generators. It is called a ‘grammar’ because it lists formal ways in which the language of associators works, and is merely meant to serve a reader of ‘literature’ in the language such as (5). However, it may be of interest for other purposes, such as answering Manin's question ((3), Vopros 10·3; (4), problem 10·2) on the 3-rank of the free commutative Moufang loop of exponent 3. There is also the problem raised below as to whether the Triple Argument Hypothesis is a consequence of the commutative Moufang loop laws. Finally, the Möbius function in Section 9 may tempt someone to look at lattice-theoretical aspects of associators.

Automorphism groups of nilpotent groups and spaces

A polynomial automorphism of a group G is an automorphism of the form . When G is polycyclic, we prove that the set PAut(G) of all polynomial automorphisms forms a polycyclic subgroup of the automorphism group Aut(G). When G is soluble, PAut(G) is not necessarily a subgroup, but we show that the subgroup generated by PAut(G) is soluble. We also give the general form of an element of PAut(G) when G is a torsion-free non-abelian metabelian nilpotent group.

We prove that every subnormal subgroup of p -power index in a right-angled Artin group is conjugacy p -separable. As an application, we prove that every right-angled Artin group is conjugacy separable in the class of torsion-free nilpotent groups. As another application, we prove that the outer automorphism group of a right-angled Artin group is virtually residually p -finite. We also prove that the Torelli group of a right-angled Artin group is residually torsion-free nilpotent, hence residually p -finite and bi-orderable.

Let [Formula: see text] be a division ring with center [Formula: see text] and multiplicative group [Formula: see text], of char [Formula: see text], and with an involution *. Let [Formula: see text] be the group of unitary units of [Formula: see text], namely [Formula: see text]. We investigate various instances where the dimension [Formula: see text], and in which every non-central normal subgroup [Formula: see text] contains a free non cyclic subgroup. Among them, we consider the cases where [Formula: see text] is either generated over its center of characteristic 0 by a torsion free nilpotent group, or [Formula: see text] is the field of fractions of a group algebra [Formula: see text] of the residually torsion free nilpotent group [Formula: see text] over the field [Formula: see text] of characteristic 0 , or the field of fractions of the enveloping algebra of a locally solvable residually nilpotent Lie [Formula: see text]-algebra [Formula: see text].

For partially commutative metabelian groups, annihilators of elements of commutator subgroups are described; canonical representations of elements are defined; approximability by torsion-free nilpotent groups is proved; centralizers of elements are described. Also, it is proved that two partially commutative metabelian groups have equal elementary theories iff their defining graphs are isomorphic, and that every partially commutative metabelian group is embeddable in a metabelian group with decidable universal theory.

The ‘degree of k-step nilpotence’ of a finite group G is the proportion of the tuples (x1,…, xk+1 ∈ Gk+1 for which the simple commutator [x1, …, xk+1] is equal to the identity. In this paper we study versions of this for an infinite group G, with the degree of nilpotence defined by sampling G in various natural ways, such as with a random walk, or with a Følner sequence if G is amenable. In our first main result we show that if G is finitely generated, then the degree of k-step nilpotence is positive if and only if G is virtually k-step nilpotent (Theorem 1.5). This generalises both an earlier result of the second author treating the case k = 1 and a result of Shalev for finite groups, and uses techniques from both of these earlier results. We also show, using the notion of polynomial mappings of groups developed by Leibman and others, that to a large extent the degree of nilpotence does not depend on the method of sampling (Theorem 1.12). As part of our argument we generalise a result of Leibman by showing that if ϕ is a polynomial mapping into a torsion-free nilpotent group, then the set of roots of ϕ is sparse in a certain sense (Theorem 5.1). In our second main result we consider the case where G is residually finite but not necessarily finitely generated. Here we show that if the degree of k-step nilpotence of the finite quotients of G is uniformly bounded from below, then G is virtually k-step nilpotent (Theorem 1.19), answering a question of Shalev. As part of our proof we show that degree of nilpotence of finite groups is sub-multiplicative with respect to quotients (Theorem 1.21), generalising a result of Gallagher.

This is equivalent to the coefficients apn(G) satisfing a linear recurrence relation with constant coefficients for sufficiently large n. These Poincare series were first studied in the case when G is a finitely generated, torsion-free nilpotent group in a paper by Grunewald, Segal and Smith [GSSm]. There the authors established that, for such a group, (G,p(s) is a rational function in p8s. In that setting the functions (G,p(S) are the local factors associated with the Dirichlet series

Homotopy decompositions of polyhedra into products with the second factor [formula omitted

Fitting subgroups of profinite completions of soluble minimax groups

It is well known that any polycyclic group, and hence any finitely generated nilpotent group, can be embedded into $GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z})$ for an appropriate $n\in \mathbb{N}$; that is, each element in the group has a unique matrix representation. An algorithm to determine this embedding was presented in Nickel. In this paper, we determine the complexity of the crux of the algorithm and the dimension of the matrices produced as well as provide a modification of the algorithm presented by Nickel.

We describe the “Deep Thought” algorithm, which can, among other things, take a commutator presentation for a finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent group G, and produce explicit polynomials for the multiplication of elements of G. These polynomials were first shown to exist by Philip Hall, and allow for “symbolic collection” in finitely generated nilpotent groups. We discuss various practicalissues in calculations in such groups, including the construction of a hybrid collector, making use of both the polynomials and ordinary collection from the left.

Zeta functions enumerating normal subgroups of [formula omitted]-groups and their behavior on residue classes

We show that, even under very favourable hypotheses, a polygonal product of finitely generated torsion free nilpotent groups amalgamating infinite cyclic subgroups is, in general, not residually finite, thus answering negatively a question of C. Y. Tang. A second example shows similar kinds of limitations apply even when the factors of the product are free abelian groups.