24 pages. v2: added results on quasi-isometric diversity. v3: all groups constructed are now 2-generated. v4: accepted version, to appear in Journal de l'Ecole polytechnique
We construct continuum many infinite, simple, characteristic quotients of non-abelian free groups, answering a 1978 question of James Wiegold. The method is very flexible, allowing to impose certain properties on the quotients, to generalize the construction to large classes of groups with hyperbolic features, and to produce quasi-isometrically diverse examples.
We offer in this note a self-contained proof of the fact that a finitely generated group is not virtually nilpotent if and only if it has a quotient with the infinite conjugacy class (ICC) propoerty. This proof is a modern presentation of the original proof, by McLain (1956) and Duguid and McLain (1956).
We describe an algorithm for computing successive quotients of the Schur multiplier $M(G)$ for a group $G$ given by an invariant finite $L$-presentation. As application, we investigate the Schur multipliers of various self-similar groups such as the Grigorchuk super-group, the generalized Fabrykowski-Gupta groups, the Basilica group and the Brunner-Sidki-Vieira group.
These notes are devoted to lattices in products of trees and related topics. They provide an introduction to the construction, by M. Burger and S. Mozes, of examples of such lattices that are simple as abstract groups. Two features of that construction are emphasized: the relevance of non-discrete locally compact groups, and the two-step strategy in the proof of simplicity, addressing separately, and with completely different methods, the existence of finite and infinite quotients. A brief history of the quest for finitely generated and finitely presented infinite simple groups is also sketche…
Groups associated to surfaces isogenous to a higher product of curves can be characterised by a purely group-theoretic condition, which is the existence of a so-called ramification structure. In this paper, we prove that infinitely many quotients of the Grigorchuk groups admit ramification structures. This gives the first explicit infinite family of 3-generated finite 2-groups with ramification structures.
We construct the first infinite families of locally arc transitive graphs with the property that the automorphism group has two orbits on vertices and is quasiprimitive on exactly one orbit, of twisted wreath type. This work contributes to Giudici, Li and Praeger's program for the classification of locally arc transitive graphs by showing that the star normal quotient twisted wreath category also contains infinitely many graphs.
In this article, we construct partial periodic quotients of groups which have a non-elementary acylindrical action on a hyperbolic space. In particular, we provide infinite quotients of mapping class groups where a fixed power of every pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism is identified with a periodic or reducible element.
It is well-known that random groups with at least as many relators as generators have vanishing first betti number with high probability. In this paper we extend this question and study maps from few-relators random groups to infinite virtually abelian groups.
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 …
The main goal of this paper is to prove that every Golod-Shafarevich group has an infinite quotient with Kazhdan's property $(T)$. In particular, this gives an affirmative answer to the well-known question about non-amenability of Golod-Shafarevich groups.
The main part of this paper contains a description of a nilpotent quotient algorithm for L-presented groups and a report on applications of its implementation in the computer algebra system GAP. The appendix introduces two new infinite series of L-presented groups. Apart from being of interest in their own right, these new L-presented groups serve as examples for applications of the nilpotent quotient algorithm.
We prove a conjecture of Boston that if $p\geq 5$, all $p$-central quotients of the free group on two generators and of the free product of two cyclic groups of order $p$ are Beauville groups. In the case of the free product, we also determine Beauville structures in $p$-central quotients when $p=3$. As a consequence, we give an explicit infinite family of Beauville $3$-groups, which is different from the only one that was known up to date.
We first give a short group theoretic proof of the following result of Lackenby. If $G$ is a large group, $H$ is a finite index subgroup of $G$ admitting an epimorphism onto a non--cyclic free group, and $g$ is an element of $H$, then the quotient of $G$ by the normal subgroup generated by $g^n$ is large for all but finitely many $n\in \mathbb Z$. In the second part of this note we use similar methods to show that for every infinite sequence of primes $(p_1, p_2, ...)$, there exists an infinite finitely generated periodic group $Q$ with descending normal series $Q=Q_0\rhd Q_1\rhd ... $, such t…
We study systematically groups whose marked finite quotients form a recursive set. We give several definitions, and prove basic properties of this class of groups, and in particular emphasize the link between the growth of the depth function and solvability of the word problem. We give examples of infinitely presented groups whose finite quotients can be effectively enumerated. Finally, our main result is that a residually finite group can be even not recursively presented and still have computable finite quotients, and that, on the other hand, it can have solvable word problem while still not…
We show that every non-elementary group $G$ acting properly and cocompactly by isometries on a proper geodesic Gromov hyperbolic space $X$ is growth tight. In other words, the exponential growth rate of $G$ for the geometric (pseudo)-distance induced by $X$ is greater than the exponential growth rate of any of its quotients by an infinite normal subgroup. This result generalizes from a unified framework previous works of Arzhantseva-Lysenok and Sambusetti, and provides an answer to a question of the latter.
We show that for a large class $\mathcal{W}$ of Coxeter groups the following holds: Given a group $W_Γ$ in $\mathcal{W}$, the automorphism group ${\rm Aut}(W_Γ)$ virtually surjects onto some infinite Coxeter group. In particular, the group ${\rm Aut}(W_Γ)$ is virtually indicable and therefore does not have Kazhdan's property (T).
Let O(f,Z) be the integral orthogonal group of an integral quadratic form f of signature (n,1). Let R(f,Z) be the subgroup of O(f,Z) generated by all hyperbolic reflections. Vinberg proved that if n > 29 then the reflective quotient O(f,Z)/R(f,Z) is infinite. In this note we generalize Vinberg's theorem and prove that if n > 91 then O(f,Z)/R(f,Z) contains a non-abelian free group (and thus it is not amenable).
A group $G$ has the $R_{\infty}$--property if the number $R(φ)$ of twisted conjugacy classes is infinite for any automorphism $φ$ of $G$. For such a group $G$, the $R_{\infty}$--nilpotency index is the least integer $c$ such that $G/γ_{c+1}(G)$ still has the $R_\infty$--property. In this paper, we determine the $R_{\infty}$--nilpotency degree of all Baumslag--Solitar groups.
We show that the smallest non-abelian quotient of $\mathrm{Aut}(F_n)$ is $\mathrm{PSL}_n(\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}) = \mathrm{L}_n(2)$, thus confirming a conjecture of Mecchia--Zimmermann. In the course of the proof we give an exponential (in $n$) lower bound for the cardinality of a set on which $\mathrm{SAut}(F_n)$, the unique index $2$ subgroup of $\mathrm{Aut}(F_n)$, can act non-trivially. We also offer new results on the representation theory of $\mathrm{SAut(F_n)}$ in small dimensions over small, positive characteristics, and on rigidity of maps from $\mathrm{SAut}(F_n)$ to finite groups of…
Using quantum representations of mapping class groups we prove that profinite completions of Burnside-type surface group quotients are not virtually prosolvable, in general. Further, we construct infinitely many finite simple characteristic quotients of surface groups.
We consider the fundamental group $π$ of a surface of finite type equipped with the infinite generating set consisting of all simple closed curves. We show that every nilpotent quotient of $π$ has finite diameter with respect to the word metric given by this set. This is in contrast with a result of Danny Calegari that shows that $π$ has infinite diameter with respect to this set. Furthermore, we give a general criterion for a finitely generated group equipped with a generating set to have this property.
In the first part of this paper we prove that the mapping class subgroups generated by the $D$-th powers of Dehn twists (with $D\geq 2$) along a sparse collection of simple closed curves on an orientable surface are right angled Artin groups. The second part is devoted to power quotients, i.e. quotients by the normal subgroup generated by the $D$-th powers of all elements of the mapping class groups. We show first that for infinitely many $D$ the power quotient groups are non-trivial. On the other hand, if $4g+2$ does not divide $D$ then the associated power quotient of the mapping class group…
We present new infinite families of expander graphs of vertex degree 4, which is the minimal possible degree for Cayley graph expanders. Our first family defines a tower of coverings (with covering indices equals 2) and our second family is given as Cayley graphs of finite groups with very short presentations with only 2 generators and 4 relations. Both families are based on particular finite quotients of a group G of infinite upper triangular matrices over the ring M(3,F2). We present explicit vector space bases for the finite abelian quotients of the lower exponent-2 groups of G by upper tri…
We present a contribution to the structure theory of locally compact groups. The emphasis is on compactly generated locally compact groups which admit no infinite discrete quotient. It is shown that such a group possesses a characteristic cocompact subgroup which is either connected or admits a non-compact non-discrete topologically simple quotient. We also provide a description of characteristically simple groups and of groups all of whose proper quotients are compact. We show that Noetherian locally compact groups without infinite discrete quotient admit a subnormal series with all subquotie…
We determine all generalized Baumslag-Solitar groups (finitely generated groups acting on a tree with all stabilizers infinite cyclic) which are quotients of a given Baumslag-Solitar group BS(m,n), and (when BS(m,n) is not Hopfian) which of them also admit BS(m,n) as a quotient. We determine for which values of r,s one may embed BS(r,s) into a given BS(m,n), and we characterize finitely generated groups which embed into some BS(n,n).
We give a new proof that free Burnside groups of sufficiently large even exponents are infinite. The method is very flexible and can also be used to study (partially) periodic quotients of any group which admits an action on a hyperbolic space satisfying a weak form of acylindricity.
Axial algebras are a class of non-associative algebra with a strong link to finite (especially simple) groups which have recently received much attention. Of primary interest are the axial algebras of Monster type $(α, β)$, of which the Griess algebra (with the Monster as its automorphism group) is an important motivating example. In this paper, we complete the classification of the symmetric $2$-generated primitive axial algebras of Monster type $(α, β)$. By previous work of Yabe, and Franchi and Mainardis, any such algebra is either explicitly known, or is a quotient of the infinite-dimensio…
In this paper we show that the normal closure of the mth power of a half-twist has infinite index in the mapping class group of a punctured sphere. Furthermore, in some cases we prove that the quotient of the mapping class group of the punctured sphere by the normal closure of a power of a half-twist contains a free abelian subgroup. As a corollary we prove that the quotient of the hyperelliptic mapping class group of a surface of genus at least two by the normal closure of the mth power of a Dehn twist has infinite order, and for some integers m the quotient contains a free nonabelian subgrou…
We strengthen Marshall Hall's Theorem to show that free groups are locally extended residually alternating. Let F be any free group of rank at least two, let H be a finitely generated subgroup of infinite index in F and let {g_1,...,g_n} be a finite subset of F-H. Then there is a surjection f from F to a finite alternating group such that f(g_i) is not in f(H) for any i. The techniques of this paper can also provide symmetric quotients.
We prove that the group of birational transformations of a Del Pezzo fibration of degree 3 over a curve is not simple, by giving a surjective group homomorphism to a free product of infinitely many groups of order 2. As a consequence we also obtain that the Cremona group of rank 3 is not generated by birational maps preserving a rational fibration. Besides, its subgroup generated by all connected algebraic subgroups is a proper normal subgroup.
We study the problem of deciding whether or not the image of an irreducible representation of the braid group $\B_3$ of degree $\leq 5$ has finite image if we are only given the eigenvalues of a generator. We provide a partial algorithm that determines when the images are finite or infinite in all but finitely many cases, and use these results to study examples coming from quantum groups. Our technique uses two classification theorems and the computational group theory package GAP.
We show that infinitely many Gorenstein weakly-exceptional quotient singularities exist in all dimensions, we prove a weak-exceptionality criterion for five-dimensional quotient singularities, and we find a sufficient condition for being weakly-exceptional for six-dimensional quotient singularities. The proof is naturally linked to various classical geometrical constructions related to subvarieties of small degree in projective spaces, in particular Bordiga surfaces and Bordiga threefolds.
Let $n\geq 3$. In this paper we deal with the conjugacy problem in the Artin braid group quotient $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$. To solve it we use systems of equations over the integers arising from the action of $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$ over the abelianization of the pure Artin braid group $P_n/[P_n,P_n]$. Using this technique we also realize explicitly infinite virtually cyclic subgroups in $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$.
We investigate symmetric quotient algebras of symmetric algebras, with an emphasis on finite group algebras over a complete discrete valuation ring ${\mathcal O}$. Using elementary methods, we show that if an ordinary irreducible character $χ$ of a finite group $G$ gives rise to a symmetric quotient over ${\mathcal O}$ which is not a matrix algebra, then the decomposition numbers of the row labelled by $χ$ are all divisible by the characteristic $p$ of the residue field of ${\mathcal O}$.
