More than 70 years ago, P. Hall showed that if $G$ is a finite $p$-group such that a term $\der G{d+1}$ of the derived series is non-trivial, then the order of the quotient $\der Gd/\der G{d+1}$ is at least $p^{2^d+1}$. Recently Mann proved that, in a finite $p$-group, Hall's lower bound can be taken for at most two distinct $d$. We improve this result and show that if $p$ is odd, then it can only be taken for two distinct $d$ in a group with order $p^6$.
For odd primes we prove some structure theorems for finite $p$-groups $G$, such that $G''\neq 1$ and $|G'/G''|=p^3$. Building on results of Blackburn and Hall, it is shown that $\lcs G3$ is a maximal subgroup of $G'$, the group $G$ has a central decomposition into two simpler subgroups, and, moreover, $G'$ has one of two isomorphism types.
We prove that the smallest non-trivial quotient of the mapping class group of a connected orientable surface of genus at least 3 without punctures is $\mathrm{Sp}_{2g}(2)$, thus confirming a conjecture of Zimmermann. In the process, we generalise Korkmaz's results on $\mathbb{C}$-linear representations of mapping class groups to projective representations over any field.
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…
This paper studies the set of finite groups appearing as $π_1(M)/π_1(M)^{(n)}$, where $M$ is a closed, orientable 3-manifold and $π_1(M)^{(n)}$ denotes the $n$-th term of the derived series of $π_1(M)$. Our main result is that if $M$ is a closed, orientable 3-manifold, $n\ge 2$, and $G\cong π_1(M)/π_1(M)^{(n)}$ is finite, then the cup product pairing $H^2(G)\otimes H^2(G)\to H^4(G)$ has cyclic image $C$, and the pairing $H^2(G)\otimes H^2(G)\stackrel{\smile}{\longrightarrow} C$ is isomorphic to the linking pairing $H_1(M)_{\textrm{Tors}}\otimes H_1(M)_{\textrm{Tors}}\to \mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z}$.
We prove that the smallest non-trivial quotients of the commutator subgroups of the braid groups are the alternating groups, proving a conjecture of Chudnovsky-Kordek-Li-Partin. Furthermore, we show that any minimal quotient map is the standard projection, composed with an automorphism of the alternating group.
We give an new, elementary proof of the result that the smallest non-cyclic quotients of automorphism group of free group is the linear group over the field of two elements, and moreover all minimal quotients are obtained by the standard projection composed with an automorphism of the image. This result, originally due to Baumeister-Kielak-Pierro, proves a conjecture of Mecchia-Zimmermann.
In this paper, we arrive at the structure for $G^{ab}(= G/G')$ from a presentation for $G$. We also prove that the frattini subgroup of the abelianization is $G^p$ or the quotient of $G^p$ by the derived subgroup $G'$.
Let $p>3$ be a prime. For each maximal subgroup $H\leqslant\mathrm{GL}(d,p)$ with $|H| \geqslant p^{3d+1}$, we construct a $d$-generator finite $p$-group $G$ with the property that $\mathrm{Aut}(G)$ induces $H$ on the Frattini quotient $G/Φ(G)$ and $|G| \leqslant p^{\frac{d^4}{2}}$. A significant feature of this construction is that $|G|$ is very small compared to $|H|$, shedding new light upon a celebrated result of Bryant and Kovács. The groups $G$ that we exhibit have exponent $p$, and of all such groups $G$ with the desired action of $H$ on $G/Φ(G)$, the construction yields groups with sma…
We show that the smallest non-cyclic quotients of braid groups are symmetric groups, proving a conjecture of Margalit. Moreover we recover results of Artin and Lin about the classification of homomorphisms from braid groups on n strands to symmetric groups on k letters, where k is at most n. Unlike the original proofs, our method does not use the Bertrand-Chebyshev theorem, answering a question of Artin. Similarly for mapping class group of closed orientable surfaces, the smallest non-cyclic quotient is given by the mod two reduction of the symplectic representation. We provide an elementary p…
We construct a natural map from the set [BG,BU(n)] into a set of characters of the Sylow p-subgroups of G and prove that this natural map is a surjection for all finite groups G of rank two. We show, furthermore, that this same natural map is in fact a bijection for two types of finite groups G: those with periodic cohomology and those of rank two with odd order.
We study some special systems of generators on finite groups, introduced in previous work by the first author and called "diagonal double Kodaira structures", in order to investigate non-abelian, finite quotients of the pure braid group on two strands $\mathsf{P}_2(Σ_b)$, where $Σ_b$ is a closed Riemann surface of genus $b$. In particular, we prove that, if a finite group $G$ admits a diagonal double Kodaira structure, then $|G|\geq 32$, and equality holds if and only if $G$ is extra-special. In the last section, as a geometrical application of our algebraic results, we construct two $3$-dimen…
This article extends the works of Gonçalves, Guaschi, Ocampo [GGO] and Marin [MAR2] on finite subgroups of the quotients of generalized braid groups by the derived subgroup of their pure braid group. We get explicit criteria for subgroups of the (complex) reflection group to lift to subgroups of this quotient. In the specific case of the classical braid group, this enables us to describe all its finite subgroups : we show that every odd-order finite group can be embedded in it, when the number of strands goes to infinity. We also determine a complete list of the irreducible reflection groups f…
We show that for any positive integer $m\ge 1$, $m$-relator quotients of the modular group $M = PSL(2,\mathbb{Z})$ generically satisfy a very strong Mostow-type \emph{isomorphism rigidity}. We also prove that such quotients are generically "essentially incompressible". By this we mean that their "absolute $T$-invariant", measuring the smallest size of any possible finite presentation of the group, is bounded below by a function which is almost linear in terms of the length of the given presentation. We compute the precise asymptotics of the number $I_m(n)$ of \emph{isomorphism types} of $m$-re…
We prove that groups that are mod-p-homology equivalent are isomorphic modulo any term of their derived p-series, in precise analogy to Stallings' 1963 result for the lower-central p-series. Similarly spaces that are mod-p-homology equivalent have fundamental groups that are isomorphic modulo any term of their p-derived series. Various authors have related the ranks of the successive quotients of the lower central p-series and of the derived p-series of the fundamental group of a 3-manifold M to the volume of M, to whether certain subgroups of the fundamental group of M are free, whether finit…
