We give a method for constructing dense and free subgroups in real Lie groups. In particular we show that any dense subgroup of a connected semisimple real Lie group G contains a free group on two generators which is still dense in G, and that any finitely generated dense subgroup in a connected non-solvable Lie group H contains a dense free subgroup of rank < 2 dim(H). This answer a question of Carriere and Ghys, and it gives an elementary proof of a conjecture of Connes and Sullivan on amenable actions, which was first proved by Zimmer.
We study infinite approximate subgroups of soluble Lie groups. Generalising a theorem of Fried and Goldman we show that approximate subgroups are close, in a sense to be defined, to genuine connected subgroups. Building up on this result we prove a structure theorem for approximate lattices in soluble Lie groups. This extends to soluble Lie groups a theorem about quasi-crystals due to Yves Meyer.
We classify elementary abelian 2 subgroups of compact simple Lie groups of adjoint type. This finishes the classification of elementary abelian $p$ subgroups of compact (or linear algebraic) simple groups of adjoint type.
We classify abelian subgroups of the automorphism group of any compact simple Lie algebra whose centralizer has the same dimension as the dimension of the subgroup. This leads to a classification of the maximal abelian subgroups of compact simple groups of adjoint type and a classification of the fine group gradings of complex simple Lie algebras.
Assume that a finite almost simple group with simple socle isomorphic to an exceptional group of Lie type possesses a solvable Hall subgroup. Then there exist four conjugates of the subgroup such that their intersection is trivial.
It was shown in Part I that there exist strongly dense free subgroups in any semisimple algebraic group over a large enough field. These are nonabelian free subgroups all of whose subgroups are either cyclic or Zariski-dense. Here we show that the same is true for as long as the transcendence degree of the field is at least $1$ in characteristic zero and at least $2$ in positive characteristic. We also consider related questions for surface groups.
We classify closed abelian subgroups of a compact simple Lie group of adjoint type and of type E having centralizer of the same dimension as the dimension of the subgroup and describe Weyl groups of maximal abelian subgroups.
Let G be a connected real Lie group of dimension n. Then there exists a relatively compact open neighbourhood W of e in G such that for n+1 randomly chosen elements g_0,..,g_n the generated subgroup will be dense in G with probability one.
We study properties and the structure of Cartan subgroups in a connected Lie group. We obtain a characterisation of Cartan subgroups which generalises Wüstner's structure theorem for the same. We show that Cartan subgroups are same as those of the centralizers of maximal compact subgroups of the radical. Moreover, we describe a recipe for constructing Cartan subgroups containing certain nilpotent subgroups in a connected solvable Lie group. We characterise the Cartan subgroups in the quotient group modulo a closed normal subgroup as the images of the Cartan subgroups in the ambient group. We a…
Suppose that $p$ is a prime, $G$ is a finite group and $H$ is a strongly $p$-embedded subgroup in $G$. We consider the possibility that $F^*(H)$ is a simple group of Lie rank 2 defined in characteristic $p$.
By calculating the symmetric subgroups $\Aut(\fru_0)^θ$ and their involution classes, we classify the Klein four subgroups $Γ$ of $\Aut(\fru_0)$ for each compact simple Lie algebra $\fru_0$ up to conjugation. This leads to a new approach of classification of semisimple symmetric pairs and $\bbZ_2\times \bbZ_2$-symmetric spaces. We also determine the fixed point subgroup $\Aut(\fru_0)^Γ$.
We classify closed abelian subgroups of the simple groups $G_2$, $F_4$, $Aut(so(8))$ having centralizer the same dimension as the dimension of the subgroup, as well as finite abelian subgroups of certain spin and half-spin groups having finite centralizer.
By Cartan's Theorem, every closed subgroup $H$ of a real (or $p$-adic) Lie group $G$ is a Lie subgroup. For Lie groups over a local field ${\mathbb K}$ of positive characteristic, the analogous conclusion is known to be wrong. We show more: There exists a ${\mathbb K}$-analytic Lie group $G$ and a non-discrete, compact subgroup $H$ such that, for every ${\mathbb K}$-analytic manifold $M$, every ${\mathbb K}$-analytic map $f\colon M\to G$ with $f(M)\subseteq H$ is locally constant. In particular, the set $H$ does not admit a non-discrete ${\mathbb K}$-analytic manifold structure which makes the…
We prove a general dichotomy theorem for groups of finite Morley rank with solvable local subgroups and of Prüfer p-rank at least 2, leading either to some p-strong embedding, or to the Prüfer p-rank being exactly 2.
This note is devoted to the theory of projective limits of finite-dimensional Lie groups, as developed in the recent monograph ``The Lie Theory of Connected Pro-Lie Groups'' by K.H. Hofmann and S.A. Morris. We replace the original, highly non-trivial proof of the One-Parameter Subgroup Lifting Lemma given in the monograph by a shorter and more elementary argument. Furthermore, we shorten (and correct) the proof of the so-called Pro-Lie Group Theorem, which asserts that pro-Lie groups and projective limits of Lie groups coincide.
Let G be a p-adic Lie group and Ad be the adjoint representation of G on its Lie algebra. It was claimed in the literature that the kernel K of Ad always has an abelian open normal subgroup. We show by means of a counterexample that this assertion is false; it can even happen that K=G but G has no abelian subnormal subgroup except for the trivial group. The arguments are based on auxiliary results on subgroups of free products with central amalgamation.
In this paper we examine embeddings of alternating groups and symmetric groups into almost simple groups of exceptional type. In particular, we prove that unless the alternating or symmetric group has degree 6 or 7, there is no maximal subgroup of any almost simple group with socle an exceptional group of Lie type that is an alternating or symmetric group. Furthermore, in the remaining open cases we give considerable information about the possible embeddings. Note that no maximal alternating or symmetric subgroups are known in the remaining cases. This is the first in a sequence of papers aimi…
A subgroup $H$ of a group $G$ is said to be pronormal in $G$ if $H$ and $H^g$ are conjugate in $\langle H, H^g \rangle$ for every $g \in G$. In this paper we classify finite simple groups $E_6(q)$ and ${}^2E_6(q)$ in which all the subgroups of odd index are pronormal. Thus, we complete a classification of finite simple exceptional groups of Lie type in which all the subgroups of odd index are pronormal.
We give very precise bounds for the congruence subgroup growth of arithmetic groups. This allows us to determine the subgroup growth of irreducible lattices of semisimple Lie groups. In the most general case our results depend on the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis for number fields but we can state the following unconditional theorem: Let $G$ be a simple Lie group of real rank at least 2, different than $D_4(\bbc)$, and let $Γ$ be any non-uniform lattice of $G$. Let $s_n(Γ)$ denote the number of subgroups of index at most $n$ in $Γ$. Then the limit $\lim\limits_{n\to \infty} \frac{\log s_n(Γ)}…
The study of finite subgroups of a simple algebraic group $G$ reduces in a sense to those which are almost simple. If an almost simple subgroup of $G$ has a socle which is not isomorphic to a group of Lie type in the underlying characteristic of $G$, then the subgroup is called non-generic. This paper considers non-generic subgroups of simple algebraic groups of exceptional type in arbitrary characteristic. A finite subgroup is called Lie primitive if it lies in no proper subgroup of positive dimension. We prove here that many non-generic subgroup types, including the alternating and symmetric…
The class, denoted by $\mathscr{S}$, of totally disconnected locally compact groups which are non-discrete, compactly generated, and topologically simple contains many compelling examples. In recent years, a general theory for these groups, which studies the interaction between the compact open subgroups and the global structure, has emerged. In this article, we study the non-discrete totally disconnected locally compact groups $H$ that admit a continuous embedding with dense image into some $G\in \mathscr{S}$; that is, we consider the dense locally compact subgroups of groups $G\in \mathscr{S…
Let $T$ be a finite simple group of Lie type in characteristic $p$, and let $S$ be a Sylow subgroup of $T$ with maximal order. It is well known that $S$ is a Sylow $p$-subgroup except in an explicit list of exceptions, and that $S$ is always `large' in the sense that $|T|^{1/3} < |S| \leqslant |T|^{1/2}$. One might anticipate that, moreover, the Sylow $r$-subgroups of $T$ with $r \neq p$ are usually significantly smaller than $S$. We verify this hypothesis by proving that for every $T$ and every prime divisor $r$ of $|T|$ with $r \neq p$, the order of the Sylow $r$-subgroup of $T$ at most $|T|…
We show that, in a weakly regular $p$-adic Lie group $G$, the subgroup $G_u$ spanned by the one-parameter subgroups of $G$ admits a Levi decomposition. As a consequence, there exists a regular open subgroup of $G$ which contains $G_u$.
An almost Abelian Lie group is a non-Abelian Lie group with a codimension 1 Abelian normal subgroup. The majority of 3-dimensional real Lie groups are almost Abelian, and they appear in all parts of physics that deal with anisotropic media - cosmology, crystallography etc. In theoretical physics and differential geometry, almost Abelian Lie groups and their homogeneous spaces provide some of the simplest solvmanifolds on which a variety of geometric structures such as symplectic, Kähler, spin etc., are currently studied in explicit terms. Recently, almost Abelian Lie algebras were classified a…
We give a method to describe all congruence images of a finitely generated Zariski dense group $H \leq \mathrm{SL}(n, \mathbb{Z})$. The method is applied to obtain efficient algorithms for solving this problem in odd prime degree $n$; if $n=2$ then we compute all congruence images only modulo primes. We propose a separate method that works for all $n$ as long as $H$ contains a known transvection. The algorithms have been implemented in GAP, enabling computer experiments with important classes of linear groups that have recently emerged.
Let G be a real Lie group and H a lattice or, more generally, a closed subgroup of finite covolume in G. We show that the unitary representation lambda_{G/H} of G on L^2(G/H) has a spectral gap, that is, the restriction of lambda_{G/H} to the orthogonal of the constants in L^2(G/H) does not have almost invariant vectors. This answers a question of G. Margulis. We give an application to the spectral geometry of locally symmetric Riemannian spaces of infinite volume.
We show that countable direct limits of finite-dimensional Lie groups do not have small subgroups. The same conclusion is obtained for suitable direct limits of infinite-dimensional Lie groups.
Weizmann Institute of Science（魏茨曼科学研究所）；Paderborn University, Institute of Mathematics（帕德博恩大学）；University of California at San Diego（加州大学圣地亚哥分校）；Bielefeld University（比勒费尔德大学）
For a prime $p$, a $p$-subgroup of a finite group $G$ is said to be large if and only if $Q= F^*(N_G(Q))$ and, for all $1 \neq U \le Z(Q)$, $N_G(U) \le N_G(Q)$. In this article we determine those groups $G$ which have a large subgroup and which in addition have a proper subgroup $H$ containing a Sylow $p$-subgroup of $G$ with $F^*(H)$ a group of Lie type in characteristic $p$ and rank at least 2 (excluding $\PSL_3(p^a)$) and $C_H(z)$ soluble for some $z \in Z(S)$. This work is part of a project to determine the groups $G$ which contain a large $p$-subgroup.
We study embeddings of $\mathrm{PSL}_2(p^a)$ into exceptional groups $G(p^b)$ for $G=F_4,E_6,{}^2\!E_6,E_7$, and $p$ a prime with $a,b$ positive integers. With a few possible exceptions, we prove that any almost simple group with socle $\mathrm{PSL}_2(p^a)$, that is maximal inside an almost simple exceptional group of Lie type $F_4$, $E_6$, ${}^2\!E_6$ and $E_7$, is the fixed points under the Frobenius map of a corresponding maximal closed subgroup of type $A_1$ inside the algebraic group. Together with a recent result of Burness and Testerman for $p$ the Coxeter number plus one, this proves t…
We address two questions of Simon Thomas. First, we show that for any n>2 one can find a four generated free subgroup of SLn(Z) which is profinitely dense. More generally, we show that an arithmetic group Γwhich admits the congruence subgroup property, has a profinitely dense free subgroup with an explicit bound of its rank. Next, we show that the set of profinitely dense, locally free subgroups of such an arithmetic group Γis uncountable.
The discrete cocompact subgroups of the five-dimensional connected, simply connected nilpotent Lie groups are determined up to isomorphism. Moreover, we prove if $G=N\times A$ is a connected, simply connected, nilpotent Lie group with an Abelian factor $A$, then every uniform subgroup of $G$ is the direct product of a uniform subgroup of $N$ and ${\mathbb Z}^r$ where $r=\dim A$.
We reduce the classification of finite subgroups in compact Lie groups to that of quasi-simple ones, prove the number of conjugacy classes is finite and each cojugacy class is Zariski closed in mapping space, and classify "strongly controlling fusions" symmetric pairs.
Let $G$ be a group and let $K$ be a commensurated subgroup of $G$. Then there is a totally disconnected, locally compact (t.d.l.c.) group $\hat{G}_K$ that contains the profinite completion of $K$ as an open compact subgroup and also contains $G$ (modulo the finite residual of $K$) as a dense subgroup. Moreover, given an arbitrary group $G$, then every t.d.l.c. group containing an image of $G$ as a dense subgroup can be realised as a quotient of $\hat{G}_K$ for some commensurated subgroup $K$.
For any prime $p$ and $S$ a $p$-group isomorphic to a Sylow $p$-subgroup of a rank $2$ simple group of Lie type in characteristic $p$, we determine all saturated fusion systems supported on $S$ up to isomorphism.
In this note, we formulate an observation that "almost all" irreducible ordinary characters of finite groups of Lie type remain irreducible when restricted to the derived subgroups. To see this, key ingredients are some asymptotic results for conjugacy classes of finite groups of Lie type and strongly regular semisimple elements in dual groups.
Let $\boldsymbol{G}$ be an algebraic group of exceptional Lie type in characteristic $p$, $G=\boldsymbol{G}^σ$ its fixed-point subgroup under the action of a Steinberg endomorphism $σ$, and $\overline{G}$ an almost simple group with socle $G$. A maximal subgroup $M<\overline{G}$ is called non-generic if it is almost simple and its socle is not isomorphic to a group of Lie type in characteristic $p$. A finite subgroup $H$ of $\boldsymbol{G}$ is Lie primitive if it does not lie in any proper closed positive-dimensional subgroup of $\boldsymbol{G}$; it is Lie imprimitive if it lies in a positive-…
According to Comfort, Raczkowski and Trigos-Arrieta, a dense subgroup D of a compact abelian group G determines G if the restriction homomorphism G^ --> D^ of the dual groups is a topological isomorphism. We introduce four conditions on D that are necessary for it to determine G and we resolve the following question: If one of these conditions holds for every dense (or G_δ-dense) subgroup D of G, must G be metrizable? In particular, we prove (in ZFC) that a compact abelian group determined by all its G_δ-dense subgroups is metrizable, thereby resolving a question by Hernandez, Macario and Trig…
We provide characterizations of Lie groups as compact-like groups in which all closed zero-dimensional metric (compact) subgroups are discrete. The "compact-like" properties we consider include (local) compactness, (local) omega-boundedness, (local) countable compactness, (local) precompactness, (local) minimality and sequential completeness. Below is a sample of our characterizations: (i) A topological group is a Lie group if and only if it is locally compact and has no infinite compact metric zero-dimensional subgroups. (ii) An abelian topological group G is a Lie group if and only if G is l…
First let $G$ be a completely solvable Lie group. We recall the proof of the following result: Any closed subgroup of $G$ possesses a unique syndetic hull in $G$. As a consequence we conclude that any uniform subgroup $Γ$ of $G$ is strongly rigid in the sense of G. D. Mostow: If $α:Γ\to G$ is a homomorphism of Lie groups such that $α(Γ)$ is uniform in $G$, then there is an automorphism $φ$ of $G$ such that $φ\,|\,Γ=α$. Now let $G$ be an arbitrary (exponential) solvable Lie group. We discuss certain conditions on closed subgroups of $G$ which are sufficient for the existence of a syndetic hull.
In this paper, we investigate boundaries of parabolic subgroups of Coxeter groups. Let $(W,S)$ be a Coxeter system and let $T$ be a subset of $S$ such that the parabolic subgroup $W_T$ is infinite. Then we show that if a certain set is quasi-dense in $W$, then $W \partialΣ(W_T,T)$ is dense in the boundary $\partialΣ(W,S)$ of the Coxeter system $(W,S)$, where $\partialΣ(W_T,T)$ is the boundary of $(W_T,T)$.
The existence of closed orbits of real algebraic groups on real algebraic varieties is established. As an application, it is shown that if G is a real reductive linear group with Iwasawa decomposition G= KAN, then every unipotent subgroup of G is conjugate to a subgroup of N.
Let $Γ$ be a dense subgroup of a simply connected nilpotent Lie group $G$ generated by a finite symmetric set $S$. We consider the $n$-ball $S_n$ for the word metric induced by $S$ on $Γ$. We show that $S_n$ (with uniform measure) becomes equidistributed on $G$ with respect to the Haar measure as n tends to infinity. We give rates and also prove the analogous result for random walk averages (i.e. the local limit theorem).
The first main result of this paper is that a finite transitive nonabelian characteristically simple subgroup of a wreath product in product action must lie in the base group of the wreath product. This allows us to characterize nonabelian transitive characteristically simple subgroups $H$ of finite quasiprimitive permutation groups $G$. If the socle of $G$, denoted by $\mbox{soc}(G)$, is nonabelian, then $H$ lies in $\mbox{soc}(G)$. An explicit description is given for the possibilities of $H$ under the condition that $H$ does not contain a nontrivial normal subgroup of $\mbox{soc}(G)$.
A classification of maximal subgroups of odd index in finite simple groups was given by Liebeck and Saxl and, independently, Kantor in 1980s. In the cases of alternating groups or classical groups of Lie type over fields of odd characteristics, the classification was not complete. The classification was completed by the author in 2008. In the cases of finite simple classical groups of Lie type we used results obtained in Kleidman's PhD thesis. However there is a number of flaws in this PhD thesis. The flaws were corrected by Bray, Holt, and Roney-Dougal in 2013. In this note we provide a revis…
We prove the existence and uniqueness of a new maximal subgroup of the algebraic group of type $E_8$ in characteristic $3$. This has type $F_4$, and was missing from previous lists of maximal subgroups produced by Seitz and Liebeck--Seitz. We also prove a result about the finite group $H={}^3\!D_4(2)$, that if $H$ embeds in $E_8$ (in any characteristic $p$) and has two composition factors on the adjoint module then $p=3$ and $H$ lies in this new maximal $F_4$ subgroup.
