A classical theorem of R. Baer describes the nilpotent radical of a finite group G as the set of all Engel elements, i.e. elements y in G such that for any x in G the n-th commutator [x,y,...,y] equals 1 for n big enough. We obtain a characterization of the solvable radical of a finite dimensional Lie algebra defined over a field of characteristic zero in similar terms. We suggest a conjectural description of the solvable radical of a finite group as the set of Engel-like elements and reduce this conjecture to the case of a finite simple group.
Let $G$ be a group and let $x\in G$ be a left $3$-Engel element of order dividing $60$. Suppose furthermore that $\langle x\rangle^{G}$ has no elements of order $8$, $9$ and $25$. We show that $x$ is then contained in the locally nilpotent radical of $G$. In particular all the left $3$-Engel elements of a group of exponent $60$ are contained in the locally nilpotent radical.
In this paper we prove a group theoretic analogue of the well known local nilpotence theorem for sandwich Lie algebras due to Kostrikin and Zel'manov. We introduce the notion of a strong left 3-Engel element of a group G and show that these are always in the locally nilpotent radical of G. This generalises a previous result of Jabara and Traustason that showed that a left 3-Engel element a of a group G is in the locally nilpotent radical of G whenever a is of odd order.
Engel groups and Engel elements became popular in 50s. We consider in the paper the more general nil-groups and nil-elements in groups. All these notions are related to nilpotent groups and nilpotent radicals in groups. These notions generate problems which are parallel to Burnside problems for periodic groups. The first three theorems of the paper are devoted to nil-groups and Engel groups, while the other results are connected with the further generalizations. These generalizations extend the theory to solvable groups and solvable radicals in groups. The paper has two parts. The first one (s…
Relationships between certain properties of maximal subalgebras of a Lie algebra $L$ and the structure of $L$ itself have been studied by a number of authors. Amongst the maximal subalgebras, however, some exert a greater influence on particular results than others. Here we study properties of those maximal subalgebras that contain Engel subalgebras, and of those that also have codimension greater than one in $L$.
Let R be an associative ring with unity and let [R] and U(R) denote the associated Lie ring (with [a,b]=ab-ba) and the group of units of R, respectively. In 1983 Gupta and Levin proved that if [R] is a nilpotent Lie ring of class c then U(R) is a nilpotent group of class at most c. The aim of the present note is to show that, in general, a similar statement does not hold if [R] is n-Engel. We construct an algebra R over a field of characteristic different from 2 and 3 such that the Lie algebra [R] is 5-Engel but U(R) is not a 5-Engel group.
In this paper we study left 3-Engel elements in groups. In particular, we prove that for any prime $p$ and any left 3-Engel element $x$ of finite $p$-power order in a group $G$, $x^p$ is in the Baer radical of $G$. Also it is proved that $<x,y>$ is nilpotent of class 4 for every two left 3-Engel elements in a group $G$.
We give an affrmative answer to the question whether a residually finite Engel group satisfying an identity is locally nilpotent. More generally, for a residually finite group G with an identity, we prove that the set of right Engel elements of G is contained in the Hirsch-Plotkin radical of G. Given an arbitrary word w, we also show that the class of all groups G in which the w-values are right n-Engel and w(G) is locally nilpotent is a variety.
In this paper we study left and right 4-Engel elements of a group. In particular, we prove that $<a, a^b>$ is nilpotent of class at most 4, whenever $a$ is any element and $b^{\pm 1}$ are right 4-Engel elements or $a^{\pm 1}$ are left 4-Engel elements and $b$ is an arbitrary element of $G$. Furthermore we prove that for any prime $p$ and any element $a$ of finite $p$-power order in a group $G$ such that $a^{\pm 1}\in L_4(G)$, $a^4$, if $p=2$, and $a^p$, if $p$ is an odd prime number, is in the Baer radical of $G$.
The connections between the properties of associative rings that are Lie-solvable (Engel, n-Engel, locally finite, respectively) and the properties of their adjoin subgroups are investigated.
The goal of this modern presentation, followed by an English translation from the German, is to make available some parts of Lie's very systematic mathematical thought which deserve to join the contemporary literature, and above all also, to be read.
We give an infinite family of examples that generalise the construction given in arXiv:1811.12074 of a locally finite 2-group $G$ containing a left 3-Engel element $x$ where ${\langle x \rangle}^G$, the normal closure of $x$ in $G$, is not nilpotent. The construction is based on a family of Lie algebras that are of interest in their own right and make use of a classical theorem of Lucas, regarding when $\binom{m}{n}$ is even.
We give two applications of the 2-Engel relation, classically studied in finite and Lie groups, to the 4-dimensional topological surgery conjecture. The A-B slice problem, a reformulation of the surgery conjecture for free groups, is shown to admit a homotopy solution. We also exhibit a new collection of universal surgery problems, defined using ramifications of homotopically trivial links. More generally we show how n-Engel relations arise from higher order double points of surfaces in 4-space.
Let $G$ be a connected exponential Lie group and $R$ be the solvable radical of $G$. We describe a condition on $G/R$ under which one can then conclude that $R$ is an exponential Lie group. The condition holds in particular when $G$ is a complex Lie group and this yields a stronger version of a result of Moskowitz and Sacksteder \cite{MS} on the center of a complex exponential Lie group being connected. Along the way we prove a criterion for elements from certain subsets of a solvable Lie group to be exponential, which would be of independent interest.
We show that a Lie algebra having a nilpotent radical has a fundamental set of invariants consisting of Casimir operators. We give a different proof of this fact in the special and well-known case where the radical is abelian.
We study non-degenerate involutive set-theoretic solutions (X,r) of the Yang-Baxter equation, we call them simply solutions. We show that the structure group G(X,r) of a finite non-trivial solution (X,r) cannot be an Engel group. It is known that the structure group G(X,r) of a finite multipermutation solution (X,r) is a poly-Z group, thus our result gives a rich source of examples of braided groups and left braces G(X,r) which are poly-Z groups but not Engel groups. We also show that a finite solution of the Yang-Baxter equation can be embedded in a convenient way into a finite brace and into…
This note aims to clarify what conditions on a connected Lie group G imply that its maximal connected normal solvable subgroup R intersects each lattice of G as a lattice in R.
A connected algebraic group in characteristic 0 is uniquely determined by its Lie algebra. In this paper an algorithm is given for constructing an algebraic group in characteristic 0, given its Lie algebra. Using this an algorithm is presented for finding a maximal reductive subgroup and the unipotent radical of an algebraic group.
Given an element $P(X_1,...,X_d)$ of the finitely generated free Lie algebra, for any Lie algebra $g$ we can consider the induced polynomial map $P: g^d\to g$. Assuming that $K$ is an arbitrary field of characteristic $\ne 2$, we prove that if $P$ is not an identity in $sl(2,K)$, then this map is dominant for any Chevalley algebra $g$. This result can be viewed as a weak infinitesimal counterpart of Borel's theorem on the dominancy of the word map on connected semisimple algebraic groups. We prove that for the Engel monomials $[[[X,Y],Y],...,Y]$ and, more generally, for their linear combinatio…
We prove that the solvable radical of a finite group G coincides with the set of elements y having the following property: for any x in G the subgroup of G generated by x and y is solvable. We present analogues of this result for finite dimensional Lie algebras and some classes of infinite groups. We also consider a similar problem for pairs of elements.
We give a characterization of those abelian groups which are direct sums of cyclic groups and the Jacobson radical of their endomorphism rings are closed. A complete characterization of $p$-groups $A$ for which $(EndA,\mathcal T_L)$ is locally compact, where $\mathcal T_L$ is the Liebert topology on $EndA$, is given. We prove that if $A$ is a countable elementary $p$-group then $EndA$ has a non-admissible ring topology. To every functorial topology on $A$ a right bounded ring topology on $EndA$ is attached. By using this topology we construct on $EndA$ a non-metrizable and non-admissibe ring t…
Let $\mathrm G / F$ be a reductive split $p$-adic group and let $\mathrm U$ be the unipotent radical of a Borel subgroup. We study the cohomology with trivial $\mathbb Z_p$-coefficients of the profinite nilpotent group $N = \mathrm U(\mathcal O_F)$ and its Lie algebra $\mathfrak n$, by extending a classical result of Kostant to our integral $p$-adic setup. The techniques used are a combination of results from group theory, algebraic groups and homological algebra.
The rank rk(G) of a profinite group G is the supremum of d(H), where H ranges over all closed subgroups of G and d(H) denotes the minimal cardinality of a topological generating set for H. A compact topological group G admits the structure of a p-adic Lie group if and only if it contains an open pro-p subgroup of finite rank. For every compact p-adic Lie group G the rank rk(G) is greater than or equal to dim(G), where dim(G) denotes the dimension of G as a p-adic manifold. In this paper we consider the converse problem, bounding rk(G) in terms of dim(G). Every profinite group G of finite rank …
We compute the covering dimension the asymptotic cone of a connected Lie group. For simply connected solvable Lie groups, this is the codimension of the exponential radical. As an application of the proof, we give a characterization of connected Lie groups that quasi-isometrically embed into a non-positively curved metric space.
We show that each integral Borel cohomology class of a connected Lie group G can be represented by a Borel bounded cocycle if and only if the radical of G is linear. This leads to a generalization of Gromov's boundedness theorem on characteristic classes of flat bundles.
It has been known since \cite{Pgroupchunk} that any group definable in an $o$-minimal expansion of the real field can be equipped with a Lie group structure. It is therefore natural to ask when is a Lie group Lie isomorphic to a group definable in such an expansion. Conversano, Starchenko and the first author answered this question in \cite{COSsolvable} in the case when the group is solvable. This paper answers similar questions in more general contexts. We first give a complete classification in the case when the group is linear. Specifically, a linear Lie group $G$ is Lie isomorphic to a gro…
In this paper we study the lengths of certain chains of subalgebras of a Lie algebra L: namely, a chief series, a maximal chain of minimal length, a chain of maximal length in which each subalgebra is modular in L, and a chain of maximal length in which each subalgebra is a quasi-ideal of L. In particular we show that, over a field of characteristic zero, a Lie algebra L with radical R has a maximal chain of subalgebras and a chain of subalgebras all of which are modular in L of the same length if and only if L = R, or $\sqrt{F} \not \subseteq F$ and L/R is a direct sum of isomorphic three-dim…
Given a Lie algebra \s, we call Lie \s-algebra a Lie algebra endowed with a reductive action of \s. We characterize the minimal \s-Lie algebras with a nontrivial action of \s, in terms of irreducible representations of \s and invariant alternating forms. As a first application, we show that if \g is a Lie algebra over a field of characteristic zero whose amenable radical is not a direct factor, then \g contains a subalgebra which is isomorphic to the semidirect product of sl_2 by either a nontrivial irreducible representation or a Heisenberg group (this was essentially due to Cowling, Dorofaef…
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）
Let $G$ be a connected reductive algebraic group defined over the finite field $\FF_q$, where $q$ is a power of a good prime for $G$. We write $F$ for the Frobenius morphism of $G$ corresponding to the $\FF_q$-structure, so that $G^F$ is a finite group of Lie type. Let $P$ be an $F$-stable parabolic subgroup of $G$ and $U$ the unipotent radical of $P$. In this paper, we prove that the number of $U^F$-conjugacy classes in $G^F$ is given by a polynomial in $q$, under the assumption that the centre of $G$ is connected. This answers a question of J. Alperin in \cite{alperin}. In order to prove the…
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…
We study the reduced Lefschetz module of the complex of p-radical and p-centric subgroups. We assume that the underlying group G has parabolic characteristic p and the centralizer of a certain noncentral p-element has a component with central quotient H a finite group of Lie type in characteristic p. A non-projective indecomposable summand of the associated Lefschetz module lies in a non-principal block of G and it is a Green correspondent of an inflated, extended Steinberg module for a Lie subgroup of H. The vertex of this summand is the defect group of the block in which it lies.
Let $\bfG$ be a connected reductive algebraic group defined over $\F_q$, where $q$ is a power of a prime $p$ that is good for $\bfG$. Let $F$ be the Frobenius morphism associated with the $\FF_q$-structure on $\bfG$ and set $G = \bfG^F$, the fixed point subgroup of $F$. Let $\bfP$ be an $F$-stable parabolic subgroup of $\bfG$ and let $\bfU$ be the unipotent radical of $\bfP$; set $P = \bfP^F$ and $U = \bfU^F$. Let $G_\uni$ be the set of unipotent elements in $G$. In this note we show that the number of conjugacy classes of $U$ in $G_\uni$ is given by a polynomial in $q$ with integer coefficien…
We study analogues of the notions from Lie theory of Levi subgroup and Levi decomposition, in the case of groups G definable in an o-minimal expansion of a real closed field. With suitable definitions, we prove that G has a unique maximal ind-definable semisimple subgroup S, up to conjugacy, and that G = RS where R is the solvable radical of G. We also prove that any semisimple subalgebra of the Lie algebra of G corresponds to a unique ind-definable semisimple subgroup of G.
