Professional Documents
Culture Documents
O F
Siberian Division
M A T H E M A T I C S
UNSOLVED PROBLEMS
IN GROUP THEORY
Novosibirsk
2014
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Problems from the 1st Issue (1965) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Problems from the 2nd Issue (1966) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Problems from the 3rd Issue (1969) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Problems from the 4th Issue (1973) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Problems from the 5th Issue (1976) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Problems from the 6th Issue (1978) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Problems from the 7th Issue (1980) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Problems from the 8th Issue (1982) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Problems from the 9th Issue (1984) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Problems from the 10th Issue (1986) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Problems from the 11th Issue (1990) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Problems from the 12th Issue (1992) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Problems from the 13th Issue (1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Problems from the 14th Issue (1999) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Problems from the 15th Issue (2002) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Problems from the 16th Issue (2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Problems from the 17th Issue (2010) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
New Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Archive of Solved Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
Index of Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Preface
The idea of publishing a collection of unsolved problems in Group Theory was
proposed by M. I. Kargapolov (19281976) at the Problem Day of the First AllUnion
(AllUSSR) Symposium on Group Theory which took place in Kourovka, a small
village near Sverdlovsk, on February, 16, 1965. This is why this collection acquired
the name Kourovka Notebook. Since then every 24 years a new issue has appeared
containing new problems and incorporating the problems from the previous issues with
brief comments on the solved problems.
For more than 40 years the Kourovka Notebook has served as a unique means
of communication for researchers in Group Theory and nearby fields of mathematics.
Maybe the most striking illustration of its success is the fact that more than 3/4 of the
problems from the first issue have now been solved. Having acquired international
popularity the Kourovka Notebook includes problems by more than 300 authors
from all over the world. Starting from the 12th issue it is published simultaneously
in Russian and in English.
This is the 18th issue of the Kourovka Notebook. It contains 120 new problems. Comments have been added to those problems from the previous issues that
have been recently solved. Some problems and comments from the previous issues
had to be altered or corrected. The Editors thank all those who sent their remarks
on the previous issues and helped in the preparation of the new issue. We thank
A. N. Ryaskin for assistance in dealing with the electronic publication.
The section Archive of Solved Problems contains all solved problems that have
already been commented on in one of the previous issues with a reference to a detailed
publication containing a complete answer. However, those problems that are commented on with a complete reference for the first time in this issue remain in the main
part of the Kourovka Notebook, among the unsolved problems of the corresponding
section. (An inquisitive reader may notice that some numbers of the problems appear
neither in the main part nor in the Archive; these are the few problems that were
removed at the request of the authors either as ill-conceived, or as no longer topical,
for example, due to CFSG.)
The abbreviation CFSG stands for The Classification of the Finite Simple Groups,
which means that every finite simple non-abelian group is isomorphic either to an
alternating group, or to a group of Lie type over a finite field, or to one of the twentysix sporadic groups (see D. Gorenstein, Finite Simple Groups: The Introduction to
Their Classification, Plenum Press, New York, 1982). A note mod CFSG in a
comment means that the solution uses the CFSG.
Wherever possible, references to papers published in Russian are given to their
English translations. The numbering of the problems is the same as in the Russian
original: sections correspond to issues, and within sections problems are ordered
lexicographically by the Russian names of the authors (or Russian transliterations).
The index of names may help the reader to find a particular problem.
V. D. Mazurov, E. I. Khukhro
Novosibirsk, January 2014
M. I. Kargapolov
M. I. Kargapolov
1.31. Is a residually finite group with the maximum condition for subgroups almost
polycyclic?
M. I. Kargapolov
1.33. (A. I. Malcev). Describe the automorphism group of a free solvable group.
M. I. Kargapolov
1.35. c) (A. I. Malcev, L. Fuchs). Do there exist simple pro-orderable groups?
A group is said to be pro-orderable if each of its partial orderings can be extended to
a linear ordering.
M. I. Kargapolov
1.40. Is a group a nilgroup if it is the product of two normal nilsubgroups?
By definition, a nilgroup is a group consisting of nilelements, in other words, of
(not necessarily boundedly) Engel elements.
Sh. S. Kemkhadze
1.46. What conditions ensure the normalizer of a relatively convex subgroup to be
relatively convex?
A. I. Kokorin
1.51. What conditions ensure a matrix group over a field (of complex numbers) to
be orderable?
A. I. Kokorin
1.54. Describe all linear orderings of a free metabelian group with a finite number of
generators.
A. I. Kokorin
1.55. Give an elementary classification of linearly ordered free groups with a fixed
number of generators.
A. I. Kokorin
1.65. Is the class of groups of abelian extensions of abelian groups closed under taking
direct sums (A, B) 7 A B?
L. Ya. Kulikov
1.67. Suppose that G is a finitely presented group, F a free group whose rank is
equal to the minimal number of generators of G, with a fixed homomorphism of F
onto G with kernel N . Find a complete system of invariants of the factor-group of N
by the commutator subgroup [F, N ].
L. Ya. Kulikov
1.74. Describe all minimal topological groups, that is, non-discrete groups all of whose
closed subgroups are discrete. The minimal locally compact groups can be described
without much effort. At the same time, the problem is probably complicated in the
general case.
V. P. Platonov
1.86. Is it true that the identical relations of a polycyclic group have a finite basis?
A. L. Shmelkin
1.87. The same question for matrix groups (at least over a field of characteristic 0).
A. L. Shmelkin
2.5. According to Plotkin, a group is called an N R-group if the set of its nil-elements
coincides with the locally nilpotent radical, or, which is equivalent, if every inner
automorphism of it is locally stable. Can an N R-group have a nil-automorphism that
is not locally stable?
V. G. Vilyatser
2.6. In an N R-group, the set of generalized central elements coincides with the nilkernel. Is the converse true, that is, must a group be an N R-group if the set of
generalized central elements coincides with the nil-kernel?
V. G. Vilyatser
2.9. Do there exist regular associative operations on the class of groups satisfying the
weakened Malcev condition (that is, monomorphisms of the factors of an arbitrary
product can be glued together, generally speaking, into a homomorphism of the whole
product), but not satisfying the analogous condition for epimorphisms of the factors?
O. N. Golovin
A. I. Kokorin
2.25. a) (L. Fuchs). Describe the groups which are linearly orderable in only finitely
many ways.
A. I. Kokorin
2.26. (L. Fuchs). Characterize as abstract groups the multiplicative groups of orderable skew fields.
A. I. Kokorin
2.28. Can every orderable group be embedded in a pro-orderable group? (See 1.35
for the definition of pro-orderable groups.)
A. I. Kokorin
(Russian)).
2.74. (Well-known problem). Describe the finite groups all of whose involutions have
soluble centralizers.
A. I. Starostin
2.78. Any set of all subgroups of the same given order of a finite group G that
contains at least one non-normal subgroup is called an IEn -system of G. A positive
integer k is called a soluble (non-soluble; simple; composite; absolutely simple)
group-theoretic number if every finite group having exactly k IEn -systems is soluble
(respectively, if there is at least one non-soluble finite group having k IEn -systems;
if there is at least one simple finite group having k IEn -systems; if there are no
simple finite groups having k IEn -systems; if there is at least one simple finite group
having k IEn -systems and there are no non-soluble non-simple finite groups having
k IEn -systems).
Are the sets of all soluble and of all absolutely simple group-theoretic numbers
finite or infinite? Do there exist composite, but not soluble group-theoretic numbers?
P. I. Trofimov
2.80. Does every non-trivial group satisfying the normalizer condition contain a
non-trivial abelian normal subgroup?
S. N. Chernikov
2.81. a) Does there exist an axiomatizable class of lattices K such that the lattice of
all subsemigroups of a semigroup S is isomorphic to some lattice in K if and only if
S is a free group?
b) The same question for free abelian groups.
Analogous questions have affirmative answers for torsion-free groups, for nonperiodic groups, for abelian torsion-free groups, for abelian non-periodic groups, for
orderable groups (the corresponding classes of lattices are even finitely axiomatizable).
Thus, in posed questions one may assume from the outset that the semigroup S is a
torsion-free group (respectively, a torsion-free abelian group).
L. N. Shevrin
2.82. Can the class of groups with the nth Engel condition [x, y, . . . , y] = 1 be
| {z }
n
defined by identical relations of the form u = v, where u and v are words without
negative powers of variables? This can be done for n = 1, 2, 3 (A. I. Shirshov, Algebra
i Logika, 2, no. 5 (1963), 518 (Russian)).
Editors comment: This has also been done for n = 4 (G. Traustason, J. Group
Theory, 2, no. 1 (1999), 3946). As remarked by O. Macedo
nska, this is also true
for the class of locally graded n-Engel groups because by (Y. Kim, A. Rhemtulla, in
GroupsKorea94, de Gruyter, Berlin, 1995, 189197) such a group is locally nilpotent
and then by (R. G. Burns, Yu. Medvedev, J. Austral. Math. Soc., 64 (1998), 92100)
such a group is an extension of a nilpotent group of n-bounded class by a group of nbounded exponent; then a classical result of Malcev implies that such groups satisfy
a positive law.
A. I. Shirshov
2.84. Suppose that a locally finite group G is a product of two locally nilpotent
subgroups. Is G necessarily locally soluble?
V. P. Shunkov
10
11
3.47. (Well-known problem). Is it true that every locally nilpotent group is a homomorphic image of some torsion-free locally nilpotent group?
Editors comment: An affirmative answer is known for periodic groups (E. M. Levich, A. I. Tokarenko, Siberian Math. J., 11 (1970), 10331034) and for countable
groups (N. S. Romanovski, Preprint, 1969).
B. I. Plotkin
3.48. It can be shown that hereditary radicals form a semigroup with respect to
taking the products of classes. It is an interesting problem to find all indecomposable
elements of this semigroup. In particular, we point out the problem of finding all
indecomposable radicals contained in the class of locally finite p-groups.
B. I. Plotkin
3.49. Does the semigroup generated by all indecomposable radicals satisfy any identity?
B. I. Plotkin
3.50. Let G be a group of order p m, where p is a prime, p and m are coprime,
and let k be an algebraically closed field of characteristic p. Is it true that if the
indecomposable projective module corresponding to the 1-representation of G has
k-dimension p , then G has a Hall p -subgroup? The converse is trivially true.
A. I. Saksonov
No, not always: see Example 4.5 in (W. Willems, Math. Z., 171 (1980), 163174).
3.51. Is it true that every finite group with a group of automorphisms which acts
regularly on the set of conjugacy classes of G (that is, leaves only the identity class
fixed) is soluble? The answer is known to be affirmative in the case where is a
cyclic group generated by a regular automorphism.
A. I. Saksonov
3.55. Is every binary soluble group all of whose abelian subgroups have finite rank,
locally soluble?
S. P. Strunkov
3.57. Determine the laws of distribution of non-soluble and simple group-theoretic
numbers in the sequence of natural numbers. See 2.78.
P. I. Trofimov
3.60. The notion of the p-length of an arbitrary finite group was introduced in
(L. A. Shemetkov, Math. USSR Sbornik, 1 (1968), 8392). Investigate the relations
between the p-length of a finite group and the invariants cp , dp , ep of its Sylow
p-subgroup.
L. A. Shemetkov
12
S. I. Adian
4.5. b) Is it true that an arbitrary finitely presented group has either polynomial or
exponential growth?
S. I. Adian
4.6. (P. Hall). Are the projective groups in the variety of metabelian groups free?
V. A. Artamonov
4.7. (Well-known problem). For which ring epimorphisms R Q is the corresponding group homomorphism SLn (R) SLn (Q) an epimorphism (for a fixed n > 2)?
In particular, for what rings R does the equality SLn (R) = En (R) hold?
V. A. Artamonov
4.8. Suppose G is a finitely generated free-by-cyclic group. Is G finitely presented?
G. Baumslag
4.9. Let G be a finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent group. Are there only a finite
number of non-isomorphic groups in the sequence G, 2 G, . . . ? Here G denotes
the automorphism group of G and n+1 G = (n G) for n = 1, 2, . . . G. Baumslag
4.11. Let F be the free group of rank 2 in some variety of groups. If F is not finitely
presented, is the multiplicator of F necessarily infinitely generated?
G. Baumslag
4.13. Prove that every finite non-abelian p-group admits an automorphism of order
p which is not an inner one.
Ya. G. Berkovich
4.14. Let p be a prime number. What are necessary and sufficient conditions for
a finite group G in order that the group algebra of G over a field of characteristic p
be indecomposable as a two-sided ideal? There exist some nontrivial examples, for
instance, the group algebra of the Mathieu group M24 is indecomposable when p is 2.
R. Brauer
A necessary and sufficient condition can be extracted from (G. R. Robinson, J.
Algebra, 84 (1983), 493502); another solution, which requires considering fewer subgroups, can be extracted from (B. K
ulshammer, Arch. Math. (Basel), 56 (1991),
313319).
e the class of all finite V-groups. How
4.17. If V is a variety of groups, denote by V
e for V a variety?
to characterize the classes of finite groups of the form V
R. Baer
4.18. Characterize the classes K of groups, meeting the following requirements: subgroups, epimorphic images and groups of automorphisms of K-groups are K-groups,
but not every countable group is a K-group. Note that the class of all finite groups
and the class of all almost cyclic groups meet these requirements.
R. Baer
13
4.19. Denote by C the class of all groups G with the following property: if U and V
are maximal locally soluble subgroups of G, then U and V are conjugate in G (or at
least isomorphic). It is almost obvious that a finite group G belongs to C if and only
if G is soluble. What can be said about the locally finite groups in C?
R. Baer
4.20. a) Let F be a free group, and N a normal subgroup of it. Is it true that the
Cartesian square of N is m-reducible to N (that is, there is an algorithm that from
a pair of words w1 , w2 N constructs a word w N such that w1 N and w2 N
if and only if w N )?
b) (Well-known problem). Do there exist finitely presented groups in which the
word problem has an arbitrary pre-assigned recursively enumerable m-degree of insolubility?
M. K. Valiev
a) No, it is not true (O. V. Belegradek, Siberian Math. J., 19 (1978), 867870).
b) No, there exist m-degrees which do not contain the word problem of any recursively presented cancellation semigroup (C. G. Jockusch, jr., Z. Math. Logik Grundlag.
Math., 26, no. 1 (1980), 9395).
4.24. Suppose T is a non-abelian Sylow 2-subgroup of a finite simple group G.
a) Suppose T has nilpotency class n. The best possible bound for the exponent of
the center of T is 2n1 . This easily implies the bound 2n(n1) for the exponent of T ,
however, this is almost certainly too crude. What is the best possible bound?
d) Find a small number of subgroups T1 , . . . , Tn of T which depend only on the
isomorphism class of T such that {NG (T1 ), . . . , NG (Tn )} together control fusion in T
with respect to G (in the sense of Alperin).
D. M. Goldschmidt
4.30. Describe the groups (finite groups, abelian groups) that are the full automorphism groups of topological groups.
M. I. Kargapolov
4.31. Describe the lattice of quasivarieties of nilpotent groups of nilpotency class 2.
M. I. Kargapolov
4.33. Let Kn be the class of all groups with a single defining relation in the variety
of soluble groups of derived length n.
a) Under what conditions does a Kn -group have non-trivial center? Can a Kn group, n > 2, that cannot be generated by two elements have non-trivial centre?
Editors comment (1998): These questions were answered for n = 2 (E. I. Timoshenko,
Siberian Math. J., 14, no. 6 (1973), 954957; Math. Notes, 64, no. 6 (1998), 798803).
b) Describe the abelian subgroups of Kn -groups.
c) Investigate the periodic subgroups of Kn -groups.
M. I. Kargapolov
4.34. Let v be a group word, and let Kv be the class of groups G such that there
exists a positive integer n = n(G) such that each element of the verbal subgroup vG
can be represented as a product of n values of the word v on the group G.
a) For which v do all finitely generated soluble groups belong to the class Kv ?
b) Does the word v(x, y) = x1 y 1 xy satisfy this condition?
M. I. Kargapolov
14
For notation, see, for instance, (M. I. Kargapolov, Ju. I. Merzljakov, Fundamentals of
the Theory of Groups, Springer, New York, 1979). For given n this equality implies the affirmative solution of Minkowskis problem on the product of n linear forms
(A. M. Macbeath, Proc. Glasgow Math. Assoc., 5, no. 2 (1961), 8689), which remains
open for n > 6. It is known that the equality holds for n 6 3 (Kh. N. Narzullayev,
Math. Notes, 18 (1975), 713719); on the other hand, it does not hold for all
sufficiently large n (N. S. Akhmedov, Zapiski Nauchn. Seminarov LOMI, 67 (1977),
86107 (Russian)).
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
4.44. (Well-known problem). Describe the groups whose automorphism groups are
abelian.
V. T. Nagrebetski
4.46. a) We call a variety of groups a limit variety if it cannot be defined by finitely
many laws, while each of its proper subvarieties has a finite basis of identities. It
follows from Zorns lemma that every variety that has no finite basis of identities
contains a limit subvariety. Give explicitly (by means of identities or by a generating
group) at least one limit variety.
A. Yu. Olshanski
4.48. A locally finite group is said to be an A-group if all of its Sylow subgroups are
abelian. Does every variety of A-groups possess a finite basis of identities?
A. Yu. Olshanski
4.50. What are the soluble varieties of groups all of whose finitely generated subgroups are residually finite?
V. N. Remeslennikov
4.55. Let G be a finite group and Zp the localization at p. Does the KrullSchmidt
theorem hold for projective Zp G-modules?
K. W. Roggenkamp
4.56. Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring with 1, and an R-algebra, which is
finitely generated as R-module. Put T = {U Mod | an exact -sequence 0
(n)
P (n) U 0 for some n, with Pm
= m for every maximal ideal m of R}.
Denote by G(T ) the Grothendieck group of T relative to short exact sequences.
a) Describe G(T ), in particular, what does it mean: [U ] = [V ] in G(T )?
b) Conjecture: if dim(max(R)) = d < , and there are two epimorphisms :
(n) U , : (n) V , n > d, and [U ] = [V ] in G(T ), then Ker = Ker .
K. W. Roggenkamp
pq 1
qp 1
never divides
if p, q are distinct primes. The
p1
q1
validity of this conjecture would simplify the proof of solvability of groups of odd order
(W. Feit, J. G. Thompson, Pacific J. Math., 13, no. 3 (1963), 7751029), rendering
unnecessary the detailed use of generators and relations.
J. G. Thompson
4.65. Conjecture:
15
16
5.1. b) Is every locally finite minimal non-F C-group distinct from its derived subgroup? The question has an affirmative answer for minimal non-BF C-groups.
V. V. Belyaev, N. F. Sesekin
5.15. Do there exist finitely presented residually finite groups with recursive, but not
primitive recursive, solution of the word problem?
F. B. Cannonito
5.16. Is every countable locally linear group embeddable in a finitely presented group?
In (G. Baumslag, F. B. Cannonito, C. F. Miller III, Math. Z., 153 (1977), 117134) it
is proved that every countable group which is locally linear of bounded degree can be
embedded in a finitely presented group with solvable word problem.
F. B. Cannonito, C. Miller
5.21. Can every torsion-free group with solvable word problem be embedded in a
group with solvable conjugacy problem? An example due to A. Macintyre shows that
this question has a negative answer when the condition of torsion-freeness is omitted.
D. J. Collins
5.25. Prove that the factor-group of any soluble linearly ordered group by its derived
subgroup is non-periodic.
V. M. Kopytov
17
5.26. Let G be a finite p-group with the minimal number of generators d, and let r1
(respectively, r2 ) be the minimal number of defining relations on d generators in the
sense of representing G as a factor-group of a free discrete group (pro-p-group). It is
well known that always r2 > d2 /4. For each prime number p denote by c(p) the exact
upper bound for the numbers b(p) with the property that r2 > b(p)d2 for all finite
p-groups.
a) It is obvious that r1 > r2 . Find a p-group with r1 > r2 .
b) Conjecture: lim c(p) = 1/4. It is proved (J. Wisliceny, Math. Nachr., 102
p
H. Koch
(1981), 5778) that lim r2 d2 = 1/4.
d
x + y (z + u)
X=
z u
x y
with x, y, z, u Q. Let p be a prime, p . Consider the group G of all X with
x, y, z, u Z(p) , det X = 1, where Z(p) = {m/pt | m, t Z}.
Conjecture: G has the congruence subgroup property, i. e. every non-central
normal subgroup N of G contains a full congruence subgroup N (A) = {X G | X
E (mod A)} for some A. Notice that the congruence subgroup property is independent
of the matrix representation of Q.
J. Mennicke
5.35. Let V be a vector space of dimension n over a field. A subgroup G of GLn (V )
is said to be rich in transvections if n > 2 and for every hyperplane H V and
every line L H there is at least one transvection in G with residual line L and fixed
space H. Describe the automorphisms of the subgroups of GL2 (V ) which are rich in
transvections.
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
5.36. What profinite groups satisfy the maximum condition for closed subgroups?
Yu. N. Mukhin
5.38. Is it the case that if A, B are finitely generated soluble Hopfian groups then
A B is Hopfian?
Peter M. Neumann
18
5.39. Prove that every countable group can act faithfully as a group of automorphisms
of a finitely generated soluble group (of derived length at most 4). For background to
this problem, in particular its relationship with problem 8.50, see (Peter M. Neumann,
in: GroupsKorea, Pusan, 1988 (Lect. Notes Math., 1398), Springer, Berlin, 1989,
124139).
Peter M. Neumann
5.42. Does the free group of rank 2 have an infinite ascending chain of verbal subgroups each being generated as a verbal subgroup by a single element?
A. Yu. Olshanski
S
5.44. A union A = V of varieties of groups (in the lattice of varieties) is called
S
V 6= A for each index . Is every variety an irreducible union
irreducible if
6=
5.47. Is every countable abelian group embeddable in the center of some finitely
presented group?
V. N. Remeslennikov
5.48. Suppose that G and H are finitely generated residually finite groups having
the same set of finite homomorphic images. Are G and H isomorphic if one of them
is a free (free soluble) group?
V. N. Remeslennikov
5.52. It is not hard to show that a finite perfect group is the normal closure of a
single element. Is the same true for infinite finitely generated groups?
J. Wiegold
5.54. Let p, q, r be distinct primes and u(x, y, z) a commutator word in three variables. Prove that there exist (infinitely many?) natural numbers n such that the
alternating group An can be generated by three elements , , satisfying p = q =
r = u(, , ) = 1
J. Wiegold
5.55. Find a finite p-group that cannot be embedded in a finite p-group with trivial
multiplicator. Notice that every finite group can be embedded in a group with trivial
multiplicator.
J. Wiegold
5.56. a) Let p be a prime greater than 3. Is it true that every finite group of exponent p can be embedded in the commutator subgroup of a finite group of exponent p?
J. Wiegold
5.59. Let G be a locally finite group which is the product of a p-subgroup and a
q-subgroup, where p and q are distinct primes. Is G a {p, q}-group?
B. Hartley
5.65. Is the class of all finite groups that have Hall -subgroups closed under taking
finite subdirect products?
L. A. Shemetkov
Yes, it is (D. O. Revin, E. P. Vdovin, J. Group Theory, 14, no. 1 (2011), 93101).
5.67. Is a periodic residually finite group finite if it satisfies the weak minimum
condition for subgroups?
V. P. Shunkov
19
20
6.21. G. Higman proved that, for any prime number p, there exists a natural number
(p) such that the nilpotency class of any finite group G having an automorphism
of order p without non-trivial fixed points does not exceed (p). At the same time
he showed that (p) > (p2 1)/4 for any such Higmans function . Find the best
possible Higmans function. Is it the function defined by equalities (p) = (p2 1)/4
for p > 2 and (2) = 1? This is known to be true for p 6 7.
V. D. Mazurov
6.24. The occurrence problem for the braid group on four strings. It is known
(T. A. Makanina, Math. Notes, 29, no. 1 (1981), 1617) that the occurrence problem
is undecidable for braid groups with more than four strings.
G. S. Makanin
6.26. Let D be a normal set of involutions in a finite group G and let (D) be the
graph with vertex set D and edge set {(a, b) | a, b D, ab = ba 6= 1}. Describe the
finite groups G with non-connected graph (D).
A. A. Makhnev
6.29. Suppose that a finite group A is isomorphic to the group of all topological
automorphisms of a locally compact group G. Does there always exist a discrete
group whose automorphism group is isomorphic to A? This is true if A is cyclic; the
condition of local compactness of G is essential (R. J. Wille, Indag. Math., 25, no. 2
(1963), 218224).
O. V. Melnikov
6.32. Let Fn be the free profinite group of finite rank n > 1. Is it true that for
each normal subgroup N of the free profinite group of countable rank, there exists a
normal subgroup of Fn isomorphic to N ?
O. V. Melnikov
6.38. b) Is it true that an arbitrary subgroup of GLn (k) that intersects every conjugacy class is parabolic? How far is the same statement true for subgroups of other
groups of Lie type?
Peter M. Neumann
21
V. P. Shunkov
6.56. Let G = F hai be a Frobenius group with the complement hai of prime order.
a) Is G locally finite if it is binary finite?
b) Is the kernel F locally finite if the groups ha, ag i are finite for all g G?
V. P. Shunkov
6.59. A group G is said to be (conjugacy, p-conjugacy) biprimitively finite if, for any
finite subgroup H, any two elements of prime order (any two conjugate elements of
prime order, of prime order p) in NG (H)/H generate a finite subgroup. Prove that
an arbitrary periodic (conjugacy) biprimitively finite group (in particular, having no
involutions) of finite rank is locally finite.
V. P. Shunkov
6.60. Do there exist infinite finitely generated simple periodic (conjugacy) biprimitively finite groups which contain both involutions and non-trivial elements of odd
order?
V. P. Shunkov
22
6.61. Is every infinite periodic (conjugacy) biprimitively finite group without involutions non-simple?
V. P. Shunkov
6.62. Is a (conjugacy, p-conjugacy) biprimitively finite group finite if it has a finite
maximal subgroup (p-subgroup)? There are affirmative answers for conjugacy biprimitively finite p-groups and for 2-conjugacy biprimitively finite groups (V. P. Shunkov,
Algebra and Logic, 9, no. 4 (1970), 291297; 11, no. 4 (1972), 260272; 12, no. 5
(1973), 347353), while the statement does not hold for arbitrary periodic groups, see
Archive, 3.9.
V. P. Shunkov
23
7.3. Prove that the periodic product of odd exponent n > 665 of non-trivial groups
F1 , . . . , Fk which do not contain involutions cannot be generated by less than k elements. This would imply, on the basis of (S. I. Adian, Sov. Math. Doklady, 19, (1978),
910913), the existence of k-generated simple groups which cannot be generated by
less than k elements, for any k > 0.
S. I. Adian
7.5. We say that a group is indecomposable if any two of its proper subgroups generate
a proper subgroup. Describe the indecomposable periodic metabelian groups.
V. V. Belyaev
7.17. Is the number of maximal subgroups of the finite group G at most |G| 1?
Editors remarks: This is proved for G soluble (G. E. Wall, J. Austral. Math.
Soc., 2 (196162), 3559) and for symmetric groups Sn for sufficiently large n
(M. Liebeck, A. Shalev, J. Combin. Theory, Ser. A, 75 (1996), 341352); it is also
proved (M. W. Liebeck, L. Pyber, A. Shalev, J. Algebra, 317 (2007), 184197) that
any finite group G has at most 2C|G|3/2 maximal subgroups, where C is an absolute
constant.
R. Griess
No, not always (R. Guralnick, F. L
ubeck, L. Scott, T. Sprowl;
see arxiv.org/pdf/1303.2752).
7.19. Construct an explicit example of a finitely presented simple group with word
problem not solvable by a primitive recursive function.
F. B. Cannonito
7.23. Does there exist an algorithm which decides, for a given list of group identities,
whether the elementary theory of the variety given by this list is soluble, that is, by
(A. P. Zamyatin, Algebra and Logic, 17, no. 1 (1978), 1317), whether this variety is
abelian?
A. V. Kuznetsov
24
7.26. The ordinal height of a variety of groups is, by definition, the supremum of
order types (ordinals) of all well-ordered by inclusion chains of its proper subvarieties.
It is clear that its cardinality is either finite or countably infinite, or equal to 1 . Is
every countable ordinal number the ordinal height of some variety?
A. V. Kuznetsov
7.27. Is it true that the group SLn (q) contains, for sufficiently large q, a diagonal
matrix which is not contained in any proper irreducible subgroup of SLn (q) with the
exception of block-monomial ones? For n = 2, 3 the answer is known to be affirmative
(V. M. Levchuk, in: Some problems of the theory of groups and rings, Inst. of Physics
SO AN SSSR, Krasnoyarsk, 1973 (Russian)). Similar problems are interesting for
other Chevalley groups.
V. M. Levchuk
7.28. Let G(K) be the Chevalley group over a commutative ring K associated with
the root system as defined in (R. Steinberg, Lectures on Chevalley groups, Yale
Univ., New Haven, Conn., 1967). This group is generated by the root subgroups
xr (K), r . We define an elementary carpet of type over K to be any collection
of additive subgroups {Ar | r } of K satisfying the condition
cij,rs Air Ajs Air+js
where cij,rs are constants defined by the Chevalley commutator formula and Air =
{ai | a Ar }. What are necessary and sufficient conditions (in terms of the Ar ) on
the elementary carpet to ensure that the subgroup hxr (Ar ) | r i of G(K) intersects
with xr (K) in xr (Ar )? See also 15.46.
V. M. Levchuk
25
7.39. Let G = a, b | ap = (ab)3 = b2 = (a ba2/ b)2 = 1 , where p is a prime, is
an integer not divisible by p. The group P SL2 (p) is a factor-group of G so that there
is a short exact sequence 1 N G P SL2 (p) 1. For each p > 2 there is
such that N = 1, for example, = 4. Let N ab denote the factor-group of N by its
commutator subgroup. It is known that for some p there is such that N ab is infinite
(for example, for p = 41 one can take 2 2 (mod 41)), whereas for some other p (for
example, for p = 43) the group N ab is finite for every .
a) Is the set of primes p for which N ab is finite for every infinite?
b) Is there an arithmetic condition on which ensures that N ab is finite?
J. Mennicke
7.40. Describe the (lattice of) subgroups of a given classical matrix group over a ring
which contain the subgroup consisting of all matrices in that group with coefficients
in some subring (see Ju. I. Merzljakov, J. Soviet Math., 1 (1973), 571593).
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
7.41. (J. S. Wilson). Is every linear SI-group an SN -group?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
7.45. Does the Q-theory of the class of all finite groups (in the sense of 2.40) coincide
with the Q-theory of a single finitely presented group?
D. M. Smirnov
26
27
8.8. b) (D. V. Anosov). Does there exist a non-cyclic finitely presented group G which
contains an element a such that each element of G is conjugate to some power of a?
R. I. Grigorchuk
8.9. (C. Chou). We say that a group G has property P if for every finite subset F
of G, there is a finite subset S F and S
a subset X G such that x1 S x2 S is empty
Sx. Does every group have property P ?
for any x1 , x2 X, x1 6= x2 , and G =
xX
R. I. Grigorchuk
8.10. a) Is the group G = a, b | an = 1, ab = b3 a3 finite or infinite for n = 7? All
other cases known. See Archive, 7.7 and 8.10 b.
D. L. Johnson
28
29
8.29. Do there exist locally nilpotent groups with trivial centre satisfying the weak
maximal condition for normal subgroups?
L. A. Kurdachenko
8.30. Let X, Y be Fitting classes of soluble groups which satisfy the Lockett condition,
i. e. X S = X , Y S = Y where S denotes the Fitting class of all soluble
groups and the lower star the bottom group of the Lockett section determined by the
given Fitting class. Does X Y satisfy the Lockett condition?
Editors comment (2001): The answer is affirmative if X and Y are local (A. Grytczuk, N. T. Vorobev, Tsukuba J. Math., 18, no. 1 (1994), 6367).
H. Lausch
8.31. Is it true that P SL2 (7) is the only finite simple group in which every proper
subgroup has a complement in some larger subgroup?
V. M. Levchuk
8.33. Let a, b be two elements
T of a group, a having infinite order. Find a necessary
and sufficient condition for n=1 han , bi = hbi .
F. N. Liman
8.34. Let G be a finite group. Is it true that indecomposable projective ZG-modules
are finitely generated (and hence locally free)?
P. A. Linnell
Yes, it is; see Remark 2.13 and Corollary 4.2 in (P. Prhoda, Rend. Semin. Mat.
Univ. Padova, 123 (2010), 141167).
8.35. c) Determine the conjugacy classes of maximal subgroups in the sporadic
simple group F1 . See the current status in Atlas of Finite Group Representations
(http://brauer.maths.qmul.ac.uk/Atlas/spor/M/).
V. D. Mazurov
8.40. Describe the finite groups generated by a conjugacy class D of involutions
which satisfies the following property: if a, b D and |ab| = 4, then [a, b] D.
This condition is satisfied, for example, in the case where D is a conjugacy class of
involutions of a known finite simple group such that hCD (a)i is a 2-group for every
a D.
A. A. Makhnev
8.41. What finite groups G contain a normal set of involutions D which contains a
non-empty proper subset T satisfying the following properties:
1) CD (a) T for any a T ;
2) if a, b T and ab = ba 6= 1, then CD (ab) T ?
A. A. Makhnev
8.42. Describe the finite groups all of whose soluble subgroups of odd indices have
2-length 1. For example, the groups Ln (2m ) are known to satisfy this condition.
A. A. Makhnev
8.43. (F. Timmesfeld). Let T be a Sylow 2-subgroup of a finite group G. Suppose that
hN (B) | B is a non-trivial characteristic subgroup of T i is a proper subgroup of G.
Describe the group G if F (M ) = O2 (M ) for any 2-local subgroup M containing T .
A. A. Makhnev
30
8.44. Prove or disprove that for all, but finitely many, primes p the group
Gp = a, b | a2 = bp = (ab)3 = (br ab2r a)2 = 1 ,
where r2 +1 0 (mod p), is infinite. A solution of this problem would have interesting
topological applications. It was proved with the aid of computer that Gp is finite for
p 6 17.
J. Mennicke
31
8.62. Describe the locally compact locally pronilpotent groups for which the space of
closed normal subgroups is compact in the E-topology. The corresponding problem
has been solved for discrete groups.
I. V. Protasov
8.64. Does the class of all finite groups possess an independent basis of quasiidentities?
A. K. Rumyantsev, D. M. Smirnov
8.67. Do there exist Golod groups all of whose abelian subgroups have finite ranks?
Here a Golod group means a finitely generated non-nilpotent subgroup of the adjoint
group of a nil-ring. The answer is negative for the whole adjoint group of a nil-ring
(Ya. P. Sysak, Abstracts of the 17th AllUnion Algebraic Conf., part 1, Minsk, 1983,
p. 180 (Russian)).
A. I. Sozutov
8.68. Let G = ha, b | r = 1i where r is a cyclically reduced word that is not a proper
power of any word in a, b. If G is residually finite, is Gt = ha, b | rt = 1i, t > 1,
residually finite?
Editors comment: An analogous fact was proved for relative one-relator groups
(S. J. Pride, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 136, no. 2 (2008), 377386).
C. Y. Tang
Yes, it is (D. T. Wise, The structure of groups with a quasiconvex hierarchy,
Preprint, 2011, http://www.math.mcgill.ca/wise/papers.html).
8.69. Is every 1-relator group with non-trivial torsion conjugacy separable?
Yes, it is (A. Minasyan, P. Zalesskii, J. Algebra, 382 (2013), 3945).
C. Y. Tang
8.72. Does there exist a finitely presented group G which is not free or cyclic of prime
order, having the property that every proper subgroup of G is free?
C. Y. Tang
8.74. A subnormal subgroup H G of a group G is said to be good if and only if
hH, Ji G whenever J G. Is it true that when H and K are good subnormal
subgroups of G, then H K is good?
J. G. Thompson
8.75. (A known problem). Suppose G is a finite primitive permutation group on ,
and , are distinct points of . Does there exist an element g G such that g =
and g fixes no point of ?
J. G. Thompson
8.77. Do there exist strongly regular graphs with parameters = 0, = 2 of degree
k > 10? Such graphs are known for k = 5 and k = 10, their automorphism groups
are primitive permutation groups of rank 3.
D. G. Fon-Der-Flaass
8.78. It is known that there exists a countable locally finite group that contains a
copy of every other countable locally finite group. For which other classes of countable
groups does a similar largest group exist? In particular, what about periodic locally
soluble groups? periodic locally nilpotent groups?
B. Hartley
32
8.79. Does there exist a countable infinite locally finite group G that is complete,
in the sense that G has trivial centre and no outer automorphisms? An uncountable
one exists (K. K. Hickin, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 239 (1978), 213227).
B. Hartley
8.82. Let H = C R = {(z, r) | z C, r > 0} be the three-dimensional Poincare
space which admits the following action of the group SL2 (C):
(az + b)(cz + d) + acr2
r
(z, r)
=
.
,
|cz + d|2 + |c|2 r2
|cz + d|2 + |c|2 r2
b
d
8.83. In the notation of 8.82, for r() > 0, one can define via Hecke algebras a
formal Dirichlet series with Euler multiplication (see G. Shimura, Introduction to the
arithmetic theory of automorphic functions, Princeton Univ. Press, 1971). Does there
exist an algebraic HasseWeil variety whose -function is this Dirichlet series? There
are several conjectures.
H. Helling
8.85. Construct a finite p-group G whose Hughes subgroup Hp (G) = hx G |
|x| 6= pi is non-trivial and has index p3 .
E. I. Khukhro
8.86. (Well-known problem). Suppose that all proper closed subgroups of a locally
compact locally nilpotent group G are compact. Is G abelian if it is non-compact?
V. S. Charin
33
34
9.15. Describe, without using CFSG, all subgroups L of a finite Chevalley group G
such that G = P L for some parabolic subgroup P of G.
A. S. Kondratiev
9.17. b) Let G be a locally normal residually finite group. Does there exist a normal
subgroup H of G which is embeddable in a direct product of finite groups and is such
that G/H is a divisible abelian group?
L. A. Kurdachenko
9.19. a) Let n(X) denote the minimum of the indices of proper subgroups of a
group X. A subgroup A of a finite group G is called wide if A is a maximal element
by inclusion of the set {X | X is a proper subgroup of G and n(X) = n(G)}. Find all
wide subgroups in finite projective special linear, symplectic, orthogonal, and unitary
groups.
V. D. Mazurov
9.23. Let G be a finite group, B a block of characters of G, D(B) its defect group
and k(B) (respectively, k0 (B)) the number of all irreducible complex characters (of
height 0) lying in B. Conjectures:
a) (R. Brauer) k(B) 6 |D(B)|; this has been proved for p-soluble groups
(D. Gluck, K. Magaard, U. Riese, P. Schmid, J. Algebra, 279 (2004), 694719);
b) (J. B. Olsson) k0 (B) 6 |D(B) : D(B) |, where D(B) is the derived subgroup
of D(B);
c) (R. Brauer) D(B) is abelian if and only if k0 (B) = k(B).
V. D. Mazurov
9.24. (J. G. Thompson). Conjecture: every finite simple non-abelian group G can be
represented in the form G = CC, where C is some conjugacy class of G.
V. D. Mazurov
9.25. Find an algorithm which recognizes, by an equation w(x , . . . , x ) = 1 in a
1
n
free group F and by a list of finitely generated subgroups H1 , . . . , Hn of F , whether
there is a solution of this equation satisfying the condition x1 H1 , . . . , xn Hn .
G. S. Makanin
Such an algorithm is found in (V. Diekert, C. Gutierrez, C. Hagenah, Inf. Comput.,
202, no. 2 (2005), 105140).
9.26. b) Describe the finite groups of 2-local 3-rank 1 which have non-cyclic Sylow
3-subgroups.
A. A. Makhnev
9.28. Suppose that a finite group G is generated by a conjugacy class D of involutions
and let Di = {d1 di | d1 , . . . , di are different pairwise commuting elements of D}.
What is G, if D1 , . . . , Dn are all its different conjugacy classes of involutions? For
example, the Fischer groups F22 and F23 satisfy this condition with n = 3.
A. A. Makhnev
9.29. (Well-known problem). According to a classical theorem of Magnus, the word
problem is soluble in 1-relator groups. Do there exist 2-relator groups with insoluble
word problem?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
35
9.31. Let k be a field of characteristic 0. According to (Yu. I. Merzlyakov, Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., 167 (1986), 263266), the family Repk (G) of all canonical matrix
representations of a k-powered group G over k may be regarded as an affine k-variety.
Find an explicit form of equations defining this variety.
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
9.32. What locally compact groups satisfy the following condition: the product of
any two closed subgroups is also a closed subgroup? Abelian groups with this property
were described in (Yu. N. Mukhin, Math. Notes, 8 (1970), 755760). Yu. N. Mukhin
9.35. A topological group is said to be inductively compact if any finite set of its
elements is contained in a compact subgroup. Is this property preserved under lattice
isomorphisms in the class of locally compact groups?
Yu. N. Mukhin
9.36. Characterize the lattices of closed subgroups in locally compact groups. In the
discrete case this was done in (B. V. Yakovlev, Algebra and Logic, 13, no. 6 (1974),
400412).
Yu. N. Mukhin
9.37. Is a compactly generated inductively prosoluble locally compact group prosoluble?
Yu. N. Mukhin
9.38. A group is said to be compactly covered if it is the union of its compact subgroups. In a null-dimensional locally compact group, are maximal compactly covered
subgroups closed?
Yu. N. Mukhin
9.39. Let be a countable set and m a cardinal number such that 0 6 m 6 20
(we assume Axiom of Choice but not Continuum Hypothesis). Does there exist a
permutation group G on that has exactly m orbits on the power set P()?
Comment of 2001: It is proved (S. Shelah, S. Thomas, Bull. London Math. Soc.,
20, no. 4 (1988), 313318) that the answer is positive in set theory with Martins
Axiom. The question is still open in ZFC.
Peter M. Neumann
9.40. Let be a countably infinite set. Define a moiety of to be a subset such
that both and \ are infinite. Which permutation groups on are transitive on
moieties?
Peter M. Neumann
9.41. Let be a countably infinite set. For k > 2 define a k-section of to be a
partition of as union of k infinite sets.
b) Does there exist a group that is transitive on k-sections but not on (k + 1)sections?
c) Does there exist a transitive permutation group on that is transitive on
0 -sections but which is a proper subgroup of Sym()?
Peter M. Neumann
9.42. Let be a countable set and let D be the set of total order relations on for
which is order-isomorphic with Q. Does there exist a transitive proper subgroup G
of Sym() which is transitive on D?
Peter M. Neumann
36
9.43. b) The group G indicated in (N. D. Podufalov, Abstracts of the 9th AllUnion
Symp. on Group Theory, Moscow, 1984, 113114 (Russian)) allows us to construct
a projective plane of order 3: one can take as lines any class of subgroups of order
2 5 11 17 conjugate under S and add four more lines in a natural way. In a similar
way, one can construct projective planes of order pn for any prime p and any natural n.
Could this method be adapted for constructing new planes?
N. D. Podufalov
9.44. A topological group is said to be layer compact if the full inverse images of all
of its compacts under mappings x xn , n = 1, 2, . . . , are compacts. Describe the
locally compact locally soluble layer compact groups.
V. M. Poletskikh
9.45. Let a be a vector in Rn with rational coordinates and set
S(a) = {ka + b | k Z, b Zn }.
K. W. Roggenkamp
9.56. Find all finite groups with the property that the tensor square of any ordinary
irreducible character is multiplicity free.
J. Saxl
Such groups are shown to be soluble (L. S. Kazarin, E. I. Chankov, Sb. Math., 201,
no. 5 (2010), 655668), and abundance of examples shows that a classification of such
soluble groups is not feasible.
37
458).
9.60. Let F and H be local formations of finite groups and suppose that F is not
contained in H. Does F necessarily have at least one minimal local non-H-subformation?
A. N. Skiba, L. A. Shemetkov
No, not necessarily (V. P. Burichenko, Trudy Inst. Math. National Akad. Sci.
Belarus, 21, no. 1 (2013), 1524 (Russian)).
9.61. Two varieties are said to be S-equivalent if they have the same Malcev theory
(D. M. Smirnov, Algebra and Logic, 22, no. 6 (1983), 492501). What is the cardinality
of the set of S-equivalent varieties of groups?
D. M. Smirnov
9.64. Is it true that, in a group of the form G = AB, every subgroup N of A B
which is subnormal both in A and in B is subnormal in G? The answer is affirmative
in the case of finite groups (H. Wielandt).
Ya. P. Sysak
No, not always (C. Casolo, U. Dardano, J. Group Theory, 7 (2004), 507520).
9.65. Is a locally soluble group periodic if it is a product of two periodic subgroups?
Ya. P. Sysak
9.66. a) B. Jonssons Conjecture: elementary equivalence is preserved under taking
free products in the class of all groups, that is, if T h(G1 ) = T h(G2 ) and T h(H1 ) =
T h(H2 ) for groups G1 , G2 , H1 , H2 , then T h(G1 H1 ) = T h(G2 H2 ).
b) It may be interesting to consider also the following weakened conjecture: if
T h(G1 ) = T h(G2 ) and T h(H1 ) = T h(H2 ) for countable groups G1 , G2 , H1 , H2 , then
for any numerations of the groups Gi , Hi there are m-reducibility T1 T2 and Turing
m
38
9.70. Prove or disprove the conjecture of P. Cameron (Bull. London Math. Soc., 13,
no. 1 (1981), 122): if G is a finite primitive permutation group of subrank m, then
either the rank of G is bounded by a function of m or the order of a point stabilizer
is at most m. The subrank of a transitive permutation group is defined to be the
maximum rank of the transitive constituents of a point stabilizer.
A. N. Fomin
9.71. Is it true that every infinite 2-transitive permutation groups with locally soluble
point stabilizer has a non-trivial irreducible finite-dimensional representation over
some field?
A. N. Fomin
9.72. Let G1 and G2 be Lie groups with the following property: each Gi contains
a nilpotent simply connected normal Lie subgroup Bi such that Gi /Bi
= SL2 (K),
where K = R or C. Assume that G1 and G2 are contained as closed subgroups in a
topological group G, that G1 G2 > B1 B2 , and that no non-identity Lie subgroup
of B1 B2 is normal in G. Can it then be shown (perhaps by using the method
of amalgams from the theory of finite groups) that the nilpotency class and the
dimension of B1 B2 is bounded?
A. L. Chermak
9.75. Find all local formations F of finite groups such that, in every finite group, the
set of F-subnormal subgroups forms a lattice.
L. A. Shemetkov
9.76. We define a Golod group to be the r-generated, r > 2, subgroup h1 + x1 + I,
1 + x2 + I, . . . , 1 + xr + Ii of the adjoint group 1 + F/I of the factor-algebra F/I,
where F is a free algebra of polynomials without constant terms in non-commuting
variables x1 , x2 , . . . , xr over a field of characteristic p > 0, and I is an ideal of F such
that F/I is a non-nilpotent nil-algebra (see E. S. Golod, Amer. Math. Soc. Transl.
(2), 48 (1965), 103106). Prove that in Golod groups the centralizer of every element
is infinite.
Note that Golod groups with infinite centre were constructed by A. V. Timofeenko
(Math. Notes, 39, no. 5 (1986), 353355); independently by other methods the same
result was obtained in the 90s by L. Hammoudi.
V. P. Shunkov
9.77. Does there exist an infinite finitely generated residually finite binary finite
group all of whose Sylow subgroups are finite? A. V. Rozhkov (Dr. of Sci. Disser.,
1997) showed that such a group does exist if the condition of finiteness of the Sylow
subgroups is weakened to local finiteness.
V. P. Shunkov
9.78. Does there exist a periodic residually finite F -group (see Archive, 7.42) all of
whose Sylow subgroups are finite and which is not binary finite?
V. P. Shunkov
9.83. Suppose that G is a (periodic) p-conjugacy biprimitively finite group (see 6.59)
which has a finite Sylow p-subgroup. Is it then true that all Sylow p-subgroups of G
are conjugate?
V. P. Shunkov
9.84. a) Is every binary finite 2-group of finite exponent locally finite?
b) The same question for p-groups for p > 2.
V. P. Shunkov
39
40
10.15. For every (known) finite quasisimple group and every prime p, find the faithful
p-modular absolutely irreducible linear representations of minimal degree.
A. S. Kondratiev
10.16. A class of groups is called a direct variety if it is closed under taking subgroups, factor-groups, and direct products (Yu. M. Gorchakov, Groups with Finite
Classes of Conjugate Elements, Moscow, Nauka, 1978 (Russian)). It is obvious that
the class of F C-groups is a direct variety. P. Hall (J. London Math. Soc., 34, no. 3
(1959), 289304) showed that the class of finite groups and the class of abelian groups
taken together do not generate the class of F C-groups as a direct variety, and it was
shown in (L. A. Kurdachenko, Ukrain. Math. J., 39, no. 3 (1987), 255259) that the
direct variety of F C-groups is also not generated by the class of groups with finite
derived subgroups. Is the direct variety of F C-groups generated by the class of groups
with finite derived subgroups together with the class of F C-groups having quasicyclic
derived subgroups?
L. A. Kurdachenko
10.17. (M. J. Tomkinson). Let G be an F C-group whose derived subgroup is embeddable in a direct product of finite groups. Must G/Z(G) be embeddable in a direct
product of finite groups?
L. A. Kurdachenko
10.18. (M. J. Tomkinson). Let G be an F C-group which is residually in the class
of groups with finite derived subgroups. Must G/Z(G) be embeddable in a direct
product of finite groups?
L. A. Kurdachenko
10.19. Characterize the radical associative rings such that the set of all normal
subgroups of the adjoint group coincides with the set of all ideals of the associated
Lie ring.
V. M. Levchuk
10.20. In a Chevalley group of rank 6 6 over a finite field of order 6 9, describe
all subgroups of the form H = hH U, H V i that are not contained in any proper
parabolic subgroup, where U and V are opposite unipotent subgroups.
V. M. Levchuk
10.23. Is it true that extraction of roots in braid groups is unique up to conjugation?
G. S. Makanin
Yes, it is true (J. Gonz
alez-Meneses, Algebr. Geom. Topology, 3 (2003), 1103
1118).
10.25. (Well-known problem). Does there exist an algorithm which decides for
a given automorphism of a free group whether this automorphism has a non-trivial
fixed point?
G. S. Makanin
Yes,
it
does
(O. Bogopolski,
O. Maslakova,
A
basis
of
the
fixed
point
subgroup
of
an
automorphism
of
a
free
group,
\protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/1204.6728}{arXiv:1204.6728}).
41
10.26. a) Does there exist an algorithm which decides, for given elements a, b and
an automorphism of a free group, whether the equation ax = xb is soluble in this
group? This question seems to be useful for solving the problem of equivalence of two
knots.
b) More generally: Does there exist an algorithm which decides whether the equan
1
tion of the form w(x
i1 , . . . , xin ) = 1 is soluble in a free group where 1 , . . . , n are
automorphisms of this group?
G. S. Makanin
a) Yes, it does (O. Bogopolskii, A. Martino, O. Maslakova, E. Ventura, Bull. London Math. Soc., 38, no. 5 (2006), 787794).
10.27. a) Let t be an involution of a finite group G and suppose that the set D =
tG {tx ty | x, y G, |tx ty | = 2} does not intersect O2 (G). Prove that if t O2 (C(d))
for any involution d from CD (t), then D = tG (and in this case the structure of the
group hDi is known).
b) A significantly more general question. Let t be an involution of a finite group G
and suppose that t Z (N (X)) for every non-trivial subgroup
X
of odd order which
is normalized, but not centralized, by t. What is the group tG ?
A. A. Makhnev
10.28. Is it true that finite strongly regular graphs with = 1 have rank 3?
A. A. Makhnev
No, not always (A. Cossidente, T. Penttila, J. London Math. Soc., 72 (2005),
731741).
10.29. Describe the finite groups which contain a set of involutions D such that, for
any subset D0 of D generating a 2-subgroup, the normalizer ND (D0 ) also generates
a 2-subgroup.
A. A. Makhnev
10.31. Suppose that G is an algebraic group, H is a closed normal subgroup of G
and f : G G/H is the canonical homomorphism. What conditions ensure that
there exists a rational section s : G/H G such that sf = 1? For partial results, see
(Yu. I. Merzlyakov, Rational Groups, Nauka, Moscow, 1987, 37 (Russian)).
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
42
10.34. Does there exist a non-soluble finite group which coincides with the product
of any two of its non-conjugate maximal subgroups?
Editors comment: the answer is negative for almost simple groups (T. V. Tikhonenko, V. N. Tyutyanov, Siberian Math. J., 51, no. 1 (2010), 174177).
V. S. Monakhov
10.35. Is it true that every finitely generated torsion-free subgroup of GLn (C) is
residually in the class of torsion-free subgroups of GLn (Q)?
G. A. Noskov
10.36. Is it true that SLn (Z[x1 , . . . , xr ]), for n sufficiently large, is a group of type
(F P )m (which is defined in the same way as (F P ) was defined in 6.3, but with that
weakening that the condition of being finitely generated is not imposed on the terms
of the resolution with numbers > m). An affirmative answer is known for m = 0,
n > 3 (A. A. Suslin, Math. USSR Izvestiya, 11 (1977), 221238) and for m = 1, n > 5
(M. S. Tulenbayev, Math. USSR Sbornik, 45 (1983), 139154; U. Rehmann, C. Soule,
in: Algebraic K-theory, Proc. Conf., Northwestern Univ., Evanston, Ill., 1976, (Lect.
Notes Math., 551), Springer, Berlin, 1976, 164169).
G. A. Noskov
10.38. (W. van der Kallen). Does En+3 (Z[x1 , . . . , xn ]), n > 1, have finite breadth
with respect to the set of transvections?
G. A. Noskov
10.39. a) Is the occurrence problem soluble for the subgroup En (R) of SLn (R) where
R is a commutative ring?
b) Is the word problem soluble for the groups Ki (R) where Ki are the Quillen
K-functors and R is a commutative ring?
G. A. Noskov
10.40. P(H. Bass). Let G be a group, e an idempotent matrix over ZG and let
eg g, eg Z. Strong conjecture: for any non-trivial x G, the equation
tr e =
gG
P
P
eg = 0. The
eg = 0 holds where denotes conjugacy in G. Weak conjecture:
gx
gG
strong conjecture has been proved for finite, abelian and linear groups and the weak
conjecture has been proved for residually finite groups.
H. Bass Comment of 2005: Significant progress has been made; a good up-to-date
account is in the paper (A. J. Berrick, I. Chatterji, G. Mislin, Math. Ann., 329 (2004),
597621).
G. A. Noskov
10.42. (J. T. Stafford). Let G be a poly-Z-group and let k be a field. Is it true that
every finitely generated projective kG-module is either a free module or an ideal?
G. A. Noskov
43
10.43. Let R and S be associative rings with identity such that 2 is invertible in S.
Let I : GLn (R) GLn (R/I) be the homomorphism corresponding to an ideal I of
R and let En (R) be the subgroup of GLn (R) generated by elementary transvections
tij (x). Let aij = tij (1)tji (1)tij (1), let the bar denote images in the factor-group of
GLn (R) by the centre and let P G = G for G 6 GLn (R). A homomorphism
: En (R) GL(W ) = GLm (S)
where : GLn (R) GLn (End P ) is the homomorphism induced by a ring homomorphism : R End P taking identity to identity, g is an isomorphism of the
module W onto S m , : GLn (End P ) GL(gW ) is an embedding, f is a central
idempotent of R, t denotes transposition and is an antiisomorphism of R. Let
n > 3, m > 2. One can show that the homomorphism
0 : P En (R) GL(W ) = GLm (S)
44
and
G = Z /Z< .
6 G1 .
a) Find a non-zero direct summand D of G1 such that D
=
b) Investigate the structure of G (the structure of G0 is well known).
S. V. Rychkov
10.55. (A. Mader). Standard B, that is, B = Z(p) Z(p2 ) , is slender as
a module over its endomorphism ring (A. Mader, in: Abelian Groups and Modules,
Proc., Udine, 1984, Springer, 1984, 315327). Which abelian p-groups are slender as
modules over their endomorphism rings?
S. V. Rychkov
10.57. What are the minimal non-A-formations? An A-formation is, by definition,
the formation of the finite groups all of whose Sylow subgroups are abelian.
A. N. Skiba
10.58. Is the subsemigroup generated by the undecomposable formations in the
semigroup of formations of finite groups free?
A. N. Skiba
10.59. Is a p -group G locally nilpotent if it admits a splitting automorphism of
p1
prime order p such that all subgroups of the form hg, g , . . . , g i are nilpotent? An
2
p1
automorphism of order p is called splitting if gg g g
= 1 for all g G.
A. I. Sozutov
45
46
10.73. Enumerate all formations of finite groups all of whose subformations are
Sn -closed.
L. A. Shemetkov
10.74. Suppose that a group G contains an element a of prime order such that its
centralizer CG (a) is finite and all subgroups ha, ag i, g G, are finite and almost all
of them are soluble. Is G locally finite? This problem is closely connected with 6.56.
The question was solved in the positive for a number of very important partial cases
by the author (Abstracts on Group Theory of the Malcev Int. Conf. on Algebra,
Novosibirsk, 1989, p. 145 (Russian)).
V. P. Shunkov
10.75. Suppose that a group G contains an element a of prime order p such that
the normalizer of every finite subgroup containing a has finite periodic part and all
subgroups ha, ag i, g G, are finite and almost all of them are soluble. Does G possess
a periodic part if p > 2? It was proved in (V. P. Shunkov, Groups with involutions,
Preprints no. 4, 5, 12 of the Comput. centre of SO AN SSSR, Krasnoyarsk, 1986
(Russian)) that if a is a point, then the answer is affirmative; on the other hand, a
group with a point a of order 2 satisfying the given hypothesis, which has no periodic
part, was exhibited in the same works. For the definition of a point see (V. I. Senashov,
V. P. Shunkov, Algebra and Logic, 22, no. 1 (1983), 6681).
V. P. Shunkov
10.77. Suppose that G is a periodic group containing an elementary abelian subgroup
R of order 4. Must G be locally finite
a) if CG (R) is finite?
b) if the centralizer of every involution of R in G is a Chernikov group?
Remark of 1999: P. V. Shumyatsky (Quart. J. Math. Oxford (2), 49, no. 196
(1998), 491499) gave a positive answer to the question a) in the case where G is
residually finite.
V. P. Shunkov
10.78. Does there exist a non-Chernikov group which is a product of two Chernikov
subgroups?
V. P. Shunkov
47
11.9. (I. I. Pyatetski-Shapiro). Does there exist a finite non-soluble group G such
that the set of characters induced by the trivial characters of representatives of all
conjugacy classes of subgroups of G is linearly independent?
Ya. G. Berkovich
11.10. (R. C. Lyndon). a) Does there exist an algorithm that, given a group
word w(a, x), recognizes whether a is equal to the identity element in the group
ha, x | an = 1, w(a, x) = 1i?
V. V. Bludov
11.11. a) The well-known BaerSuzuki theorem states that if every two conjugates
of an element a of a finite group G generate a finite p-subgroup, then a is contained
in a normal p-subgroup. Does such a theorem hold in the class of periodic groups?
The case p = 2 is of particular interest.
Editors comment: A counterexample for p = 2 was announced by A. I. Sozutov
at Malcev Meeting2014, 1014 November, 2014, Novosibirsk.
A. V. Borovik
48
11.12. a) Suppose that G is a simple locally finite group in which the centralizer of
some element is a linear group, that is, a group admitting a faithful matrix representation over a field. Is G itself a linear group?
b) The same question with replacement of the word linear by finitary linear.
A group H is finitary linear if it admits a faithful representation on an infinitedimensional vector space V such that the residue subspaces V (1 h) have finite
dimensions for all h H.
A. V. Borovik
11.13. Suppose that G is a periodic group with an involution i such that ig i has
odd order for any g G. Is it true that the image of i in G/O(G) belongs to the
centre of G/O(G)?
A. V. Borovik
No, not always (E. B. Durakov, A. I. Sozutov, Abstracts of Int. Conf. Algebra
and Logic, 2127 July 2013, Siberian Federal Univ., Krasnoyarsk, 2013, 119120
(Russian)).
11.14. Is every finite simple group characterized by its Cartan matrix over an algebraically closed field of characteristic 2? In (R. Brandl, Arch. Math., 38 (1982),
322323) it is shown that for any given finite group there exist only finitely many
finite groups with the same Cartan matrix.
R. Brandl
11.15. It is known that for each prime number p there exists a series a1 , a2 , . . . of
words in two variables such that the finite group G has abelian Sylow p-subgroups if
and only if ak (G) = 1 for almost all k. For p = 2 such a series is known explicitly
(R. Brandl, J. Austral. Math. Soc., 31 (1981), 464469). What about p > 2?
R. Brandl
11.16. Let Vr be the class of all finite groups G satisfying a law [x, r y] = [x, s y] for
some s = s(G) > r. Here [x, 1 y] = [x, y] and [x, i+1 y] = [[x, i y], y].
a) Is there a function f such that every soluble group in Vr has Fitting length
< f (r)? For r < 3 see (R. Brandl, Bull. Austral. Math. Soc., 28 (1983), 101110).
b) Is it true that Vr contains only finitely many nonabelian simple groups? This
is true for r < 4.
R. Brandl
11.17. Let G be a finite group and let d = d(G) be the least positive integer such
that G satisfies a law [x, r y] = [x, r+d y] for some nonnegative integer r = r(G).
a) Let e = 1 if d(G) is even and e = 2 otherwise. Is it true that the exponent of
G/F (G) divides e d(G)?
b) If G is a nonabelian simple group, does the exponent of G divide d(G)?
Part a) is true for soluble groups (N. D. Gupta, H. Heineken, Math. Z., 95 (1967),
276287). I have checked part b) for An , P SL(2, q), and a number of sporadic groups.
R. Brandl
11.18. Let G(a, b) = hx, y | x = [x, a y], y = [y, b x]i. Is G(a, b) finite?
It is easy to show that G(1, b) = 1 and one can show that G(2, 2) = 1. Nothing is
known about G(2, 3). If one could show that every minimal simple group is a quotient
of some G(a, b), then this would yield a very nice sequence of words in two variables
to characterize soluble groups, see (R. Brandl, J. S. Wilson, J. Algebra, 116 (1988),
334341.)
R. Brandl
49
11.19. (C. Sims). Is the nth term of the lower central series of an absolutely free group
the normal closure of the set of basic commutators (in some fixed free generators) of
weight exactly n?
D. Jackson announced a positive answer for n 6 5.
A. Gaglione, D. Spellman
11.22. Characterize all p-groups, p a prime, that can be faithfully represented as
n n triangular matrices over a division ring of characteristic p.
If p > n the solution is given in (B. A. F. Wehrfritz, Bull. London Math. Soc., 19
(1987), 320324). The corresponding question with p = 0 was solved by B. Hartley
and P. Menal (Bull. London Math. Soc., 15 (1983), 378383), but see above reference
for a second proof.
B. A. F. Wehrfritz
11.23. An automorphism of a group G is called a nil-automorphism if, for every
a G, there exists n such that [a, n ] = 1. Here [x, 1 y] = [x, y] and [x, i+1 y] =
[[x, i y], y]. An automorphism is called an e-automorphism if, for any two -invariant subgroups A and B such that A 6 B, there exists a A \ B such that [a, ] B.
Is every e-automorphism of a group a nil-automorphism?
V. G. Vilyatser
11.25. b) Do there exist local Fitting classes which are decomposable into a nontrivial product of Fitting classes and in every such a decomposition all factors are
non-local? For the definition of the product of Fitting classes see (N. T. Vorobev,
Math. Notes, 43, no. 2 (1988), 9194).
N. T. Vorobev
11.28. Suppose the prime graph of the finite group G is disconnected. (This means
that the set of prime divisors of the order of G is the disjoint union of non-empty
subsets and such that G contains no element of order pq where p , q .)
Then P. A. Linnell (Proc. London Math. Soc., 47, no. 1 (1983), 83127) has proved
mod CFSG that there is a decomposition of ZG-modules Z ZG = A B with A
and B non-projective. Find a proof independent of CFSG.
K. Gruenberg
11.29. Let F be a free group and f = ZF (F 1) the augmentation ideal of the integral
group ring ZF . For any normal subgroup R of F define the corresponding ideal
r = ZF (R 1) = id (r 1 | r R). One may identify, for instance, F (1 + rf) = R ,
where F is naturally imbedded into ZF and 1 + rf = {1 + a | a rf}.
Identify in an analogous way in terms of corresponding subgroups of F
a) F (1 + r1 r2 rn ), where Ri are normal subgroups of F , i = 1, 2, . . . , n;
b) F (1 + r1 r2 r3 );
c) F (1 + fs + fn ), where F/S is finitely generated nilpotent;
d) F (1 + fsf + fn );
e) F (1 + r(k) + fn ), n > k > 2, where r(k) = rfk1 + frfk2 + + fk1 r.
N. D. Gupta
11.30. Is it true that the rank of a torsion-free soluble group is equal to the rank
of any of its subgroups of finite index? The answer is affirmative for groups having
a rational series (D. I. Zaitsev, in: Groups with restrictions on subgroups, Naukova
dumka, Kiev, 1971, 115130 (Russian)). We note also that every torsion-free soluble
group of finite rank contains a subgroup of finite index which has a rational series.
D. I. Zaitsev
50
51
11.39. (Well-known problem). Does there exist a group which is not almost polycyclic and whose integral group ring is Noetherian?
S. V. Ivanov
11.40. Prove or disprove that a torsion-free group G with the small cancellation
condition C () where 1 necessarily has the U P -property (and therefore KG
has no zero divisors).
S. V. Ivanov
11.44. For a finite group X, we denote by r(X) its sectional rank. Is it true that the
sectional rank of a finite p-group, which is a product AB of its subgroups A and B,
is bounded by some linear function of r(A) and r(B)?
L. S. Kazarin
11.45. A t-(v, k, ) design D = (X, B) contains a set X of v points and a set B of
k-element subsets of X called blocks such that each t-element subset of X is contained
in blocks. Prove that there are no nontrivial block-transitive 6-designs. (We have
shown that there are no nontrivial block-transitive 8-designs and there are certainly
some block-transitive, even flag-transitive, 5-designs.)
Comment of 2009: In (Finite Geometry and Combinatorics (Deinze 1992), Cambridge Univ. Press, 1993, 103119) we showed that a block-transitive group G on a
nontrivial 6-design is either an affine group AGL(d, 2) or is between P SL(2, q) and
P L(2, q); in (M. Huber, J. Combin. Theory Ser. A, 117, no. 2 (2010), 196203) it
is shown that for the case = 1 the group G may only be P L(2, pe ), where p is 2
or 3 and e is an odd prime power. Comment of 2013: In the case = 1 there are no
block-transitive 7-designs (M. Huber, Discrete Math. Theor. Comput. Sci., 12, no. 1
(2010), 123132).
P. J. Cameron, C. E. Praeger
11.46. a) Does there exist a finite 3-group G of nilpotency class 3 with the property
[a, a ] = 1 for all a G and all endomorphisms of G? (See A. Caranti, J. Algebra,
97, no. 1 (1985), 113.)
c) Does there exist a 2-Engel finite p-group G of nilpotency class greater than 2
such that Aut G = Autc GInn G, where Autc G is the group of central automorphisms
of G?
A. Caranti
c) Yes, it does (A. Abdollahi, A. Faghihi, S. A. Linton, E. A. OBrien, Arch. Math.
(Basel), 95, no. 1 (2010), 17).
11.48. Is the commutator [x, y, y, y, y, y, y] a product of fifth powers in the free
group hx, yi? If not, then the Burnside group B(2, 5) is infinite.
A. I. Kostrikin
11.49. B. Hartley (Proc. London Math. Soc., 35, no. 1 (1977), 5575) constructed
an example of a non-countable Artinian ZG-module where G is a metabelian group
with the minimum condition for normal subgroups. It follows that there exists a
non-countable soluble group (of derived length 3) satisfying Min-n. The following
question arises in connection with this result and with the study of some classes of
soluble groups with the weak minimum condition for normal subgroups. Is an Artinian
ZG-module countable if G is a soluble group of finite rank (in particular, a minimax
group)?
L. A. Kurdachenko
52
Xf
C
.
A
A A
nA
Use this scheme to classify certain extensions of A by C. The case nC = 0, A being
torsion-free is interesting. Here Ext (C, A)[n] = Ext (C, A). (See E. L. Lady, A. Mader,
J. Algebra, 140 (1991), 3664.)
A. Mader
11.51. Are there (large, non-trivial) classes X of torsion-free abelian groups such that
for A, C X the group Ext (C, A) is torsion-free? It is a fact (E. L. Lady, A. Mader,
J. Algebra, 140 (1991), 3664) that two groups of such a class are nearly isomorphic
if and only if they have equal p-ranks for all p.
A. Mader
11.52. (Well-known problem). A permutation group on a set is called sharply
doubly transitive if for any two pairs (, ) and (, ) of elements of such that 6=
and 6= , there is exactly one element of the group taking to and to . Does
every sharply doubly transitive group possess a non-trivial abelian normal subgroup?
A positive answer is well known for finite groups.
V. D. Mazurov
Not,
not
every
(E. Rips,
Y. Segev,
K. Tent,
\protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/1406.0382}{arXiv:1406.0382}v3;
K. Tent, M. Ziegler, \protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/1408.5612}{arXiv:1408
11.56. a) Does every infinite residually finite group contain an infinite abelian subgroup? This is equivalent to the following: does every infinite residually finite group
contain a non-identity element with an infinite centralizer?
By a famous theorem of Shunkov a torsion group with an involution having a finite
centralizer is a virtually soluble group. Therefore we may assume that in our group
all elements have odd order. One should start, perhaps, with the following:
b) Does every infinite residually p-group contain an infinite abelian subgroup?
A. Mann
11.58. Describe the finite groups which contain a tightly embedded subgroup H such
that a Sylow 2-subgroup of H is a direct product of a quaternion group of order 8
and a non-trivial elementary group.
A. A. Makhnev
11.59. A T I-subgroup A of a group G is called a subgroup of root type if [A, Ag ] = 1
whenever NA (Ag ) 6= 1. Describe the finite groups containing a cyclic subgroup of
order 4 as a subgroup of root type.
A. A. Makhnev
11.60. Is it true that the hypothetical Moore graph with 3250 vertices of valence
57 has no automorphisms of order 2? M. Aschbacher (J. Algebra, 19, no. 4 (1971),
538540) proved that this graph is not a graph of rank 3.
A. A. Makhnev
53
such that whenever U < H < A, where A is a finite group, H is a normal subgroup
of A of index n, and U is an A-covering subgroup of H, the index |H : U | 6 f (n)?
(We have shown that the answer is yes if U is a maximal subgroup of H.)
Peter M. Neumann, C. E. Praeger
54
11.72. Suppose that a variety of groups V is non-regular, that is, the free group
Fn+1 (V) is embeddable in Fn (V) for some n. Is it true that then every countable
group in V is embeddable in an n-generated group in V?
A. Yu. Olshanski
11.73. If a relatively free group is finitely presented, is it almost nilpotent?
A. Yu. Olshanski
11.76. (Well-known problem). Is the group of collineations of a finite non-Desarguasian projective plane defined over a semi-field soluble? (The hypothesis on the
plane means that the corresponding regular set, see Archive, 10.48, is closed under
addition.)
N. D. Podufalov
11.77. (Well-known problem). Describe the finite translation planes whose collineation groups act doubly transitively on the set of points of the line at infinity.
N. D. Podufalov
11.78. An isomorphism of groups of points of algebraic groups is called semialgebraic
if it can be represented as a composition of an isomorphism of translation of the field
of definition and a rational morphism.
a) Is it true that the existence of an isomorphism of groups of points of two directly
undecomposable algebraic groups with trivial centres over an algebraically closed field
implies the existence of a semialgebraic isomorphism of the groups of points?
b) Is it true that every isomorphism of groups of points of directly undecomposable
algebraic groups with trivial centres defined over algebraic fields is semialgebraic?
A field is called algebraic if all its elements are algebraic over the prime subfield.
K. N. Ponomarev
11.80. Let G be a primitive permutation group on a finite set and suppose that,
for , G acts 2-transitively on one of its orbits in \ {}. By (C. E. Praeger,
J. Austral. Math. Soc. (A), 45, 1988, 6677) either
(a) T 6 G 6 Aut T for some nonabelian simple group T , or
(b) G has a unique minimal normal subgroup which is regular on .
For what classes of simple groups in (a) is a classification feasible? Describe the
examples in as explicit a manner as possible. Classify all groups in (b).
Remark of 1999: Two papers by X. G. Fang and C. E. Praeger (Commun. Algebra,
27 (1999), 37273754 and 37553769) show that this is feasible for T a Suzuki and
Ree simple group, and a paper of J. Wang and C. E. Praeger (J. Algebra, 180 (1996),
808833) suggests that this may not be the case for T an alternating group. Remark
of 2001: In (X. G. Fang, G. Havas, J. Wang, European J. Combin., 20, no. 6 (1999),
551557) new examples are constructed with G = P SU (3, q). Remark of 2009: It
was shown in (D. Leemans, J. Algebra, 322, no. 3 (2009), 882892) that for part (a)
classification is feasible for self-paired 2-transitive suborbits with T a sporadic simple
group; in this case these suborbits correspond to 2-arc-transitive actions on undirected
graphs.
C. E. Praeger
11.81. A topological group is said to be F -balanced if for any subset X and any
neighborhood of the identity U there is a neighborhood of the identity V such that
V X XU . Is every F -balanced group balanced, that is, does it have a basis of
neighborhoods of the identity consisting of invariant sets?
I. V. Protasov
55
V. N. Remeslennikov
11.85. Let F be a free pro-p-group with a basis X and let R = rF be the closed
normal subgroup generated by an element r. We say that an element s of F is
associated to r if sF = R.
a) Suppose that none of the elements associated to r is a pth power of an element
in F . Is it true that F/R is torsion-free?
b) Among the elements associated to r there is one that depends on the minimal
subset X of the basis X. Let x X . Is it true that the images of the elements of
X \ {x} in F/R freely generate a free pro-p-group?
N. S. Romanovski
11.86. Does every group G = hx1 , . . . , xn | r1 = = rm = 1i possess, in a natural
way, a homomorphic image H = hx1 , . . . , xn | s1 = = sm = 1i
a) such that H is a torsion-free group?
b) such that the integral group ring of H is embeddable in a skew field?
If the stronger assertion b is true, then this will give an explicit method of
finding elements xi1 , . . . , xinm which generate a free group in G. Such elements exist
by N. S. Romanovskis theorem (Algebra and Logic, 16, no. 1 (1977), 6267).
V. A. Romankov
11.87. (Well-known problem). Is the automorphism group of a free metabelian group
of rank n > 4 finitely presented?
V. A. Romankov
11.88. We define the length l(g) of an Engel element g of a group G to be the
smallest number l such that [h, g; l] = 1 for all h G. Here [h, g; 1] = [h, g] and
[h, g; i + 1] = [[h, g; i], g]. Does there exist a polynomial function (x, y) such that
l(uv) 6 (l(u), l(v))? Up to now, it is unknown whether a product of Engel elements
is again an Engel element.
V. A. Romankov
No, it does not (L. V. Dolbak, Siberian Math. J., 47, no. 1 (2006), 5557).
11.89. Let k be an
Q infinite cardinal number. Describe the epimorphic images of the
Z of the group Z of integers. Such a description is known for
Cartesian power
k
S. V. Rychkov
11.90. Let V be a variety of groups and let k be an infinite cardinal number. A group
G V of rank k is called almost free in V if each of its subgroups of rank less than k
is contained in a subgroup of G which is free in V. For what k do there exist almost
free but not free in B groups of rank k?
S. V. Rychkov
11.92. What are the soluble hereditary non-one-generator formations of finite groups
all of whose proper hereditary subformations are one-generated?
A. N. Skiba
56
11.94. Describe all simply reducible groups, that is, groups such that all their
characters are real and the tensor product of any two irreducible representations
contains no multiple components. This question is interesting for physicists. Is every
finite simply reducible group soluble?
S. P. Strunkov
Yes, it is (L. S. Kazarin, E. I. Chankov, Sb. Math., 201, no. 5 (2010), 655668).
11.95. Suppose that G is a p-group G containing an element a of order p such that
the subgroup ha, ag i is finite for any g and the set CG (a) aG is finite. Is it true that
G has non-trivial centre? This is true for 2-groups.
S. P. Strunkov
11.96. Is it true that, for a given number n, there exist only finitely many finite
simple groups each of which contains an involution which commutes with at most n
involutions of the group? Is it true that there are no infinite simple groups satisfying
this condition?
S. P. Strunkov
11.98. a) (R. Brauer). Find the best-possible estimate of the form |G| 6 f (r) where
r is the number of conjugacy classes of elements in a finite (simple) group G.
S. P. Strunkov
11.99. Find (in group-theoretic terms) necessary and sufficient conditions for a finite
group to have complex irreducible characters having defect 0 for more than one prime
number dividing the order of the group. Express the number of such characters in
the same terms.
S. P. Strunkov
11.100. Is it true that every periodic conjugacy biprimitively finite group (see 6.59)
can be obtained from 2-groups and binary finite groups by taking extensions? This
question is of independent interest for p-groups, p an odd prime.
S. P. Strunkov
11.102. Does there exist a residually soluble but insoluble group satisfying the maximum condition on subgroups?
J. Wiegold
11.105. b) Let V be a variety of groups. Its relatively free group of given rank has a
presentation F/N , where F is absolutely free of the same rank and N fully invariant
in F . The associated Lie ring L (F/N ) has a presentation L/J, where L is the free
Lie ring of the same rank and J an ideal of L. Is J fully invariant in L if V is the
Burnside variety of all groups of given exponent q, where q is a prime-power, q > 4?
G. E. Wall
11.107. Is there a non-linear locally finite simple group each of whose proper subgroups is residually finite?
R. Phillips
11.109. Is it true that the union of an ascending series of groups of Lie type of equal
ranks over some fields should be also a group of Lie type of the same rank over a
field? (For locally finite fields the answer is yes, the theorem in this case is due to
V. Belyaev, A. Borovik, B. Hartley & G. Shute, and S. Thomas.)
R. Phillips
11.111. Does every infinite locally finite simple group G contain a nonabelian finite
simple subgroup? Is there an infinite tower of such subgroups in G?
B. Hartley
57
11.112. Let L = L(K(p)) be the associated Lie ring of a free countably generated
group K(p) of the Kostrikin variety of locally finite groups of a given prime exponent
p. Is it true that
a) L is a relatively free Lie ring?
c) all identities of L follow from a finite number of identities of L?
E. I. Khukhro
11.113. (B. Hartley). Is it true that the derived length of a nilpotent periodic group
admitting a regular automorphism of prime-power order pn is bounded by a function
of p and n?
E. I. Khukhro
11.114. Is every locally graded group of finite special rank almost hyperabelian?
This is true in the class of periodic locally graded groups (Ukrain. Math. J., 42, no. 7
(1990), 855861).
N. S. Chernikov
11.115. Suppose that X is a free non-cyclic group, N is a non-trivial normal subgroup
of X and T is a proper subgroup of X containing N . Is it true that [T, N ] < [X, N ]
if N is not maximal in X?
V. P. Shaptala
11.116. The dimension of a partially ordered set hP, 6i is, by definition, the least
cardinal number such that the relation 6 is an intersection of relations of linear
order on P . Is it true that, for any Chernikov group which does not contain a direct
product of two quasicyclic groups over the same prime number, the subgroup lattice
has finite dimension? Expected answer: yes.
L. N. Shevrin
11.117. Let X be a soluble non-empty Fitting class. Is it true that every finite
non-soluble group possesses an X-injector?
L. A. Shemetkov
11.118. What are the hereditary soluble local formations F of finite groups such that
every finite group has an F-covering subgroup?
L. A. Shemetkov
11.119. Is it true that, for any non-empty set of primes , the -length of any finite
-soluble group does not exceed the derived length of its Hall -subgroup?
L. A. Shemetkov
11.120. Let F be a soluble saturated Fitting formation. Is it true that lF (G) 6
f (cF (G)), where cF (G) is the length of a composition series of some F-covering subgroup of a finite soluble group G? This is Problem 17 in (L. A. Shemetkov, Formations
of Finite Groups, Moscow, Nauka, 1978 (Russian)). For the definition of the F-length
lF (G), see ibid.
L. A. Shemetkov
11.121. Does there exist a local formation of finite groups which has a non-trivial
decomposition into a product of two formations and in any such a decomposition both
factors are non-local? Local products of non-local formations do exist.
L. A. Shemetkov
11.122. Does every non-zero submodule of a free module over the group ring of a
torsion-free group contain a free cyclic submodule?
A. L. Shmelkin
58
11.123. (Well-known problem). For a given group G, define the following sequence
of groups: A1 (G) = G, Ai+1 (G) = Aut (Ai (G)). Does there exist a finite group G for
which this sequence contains infinitely many non-isomorphic groups?
M. Short
11.124. Let F be a non-cyclic free group and R a non-cyclic subgroup of F . Is it
true that if [R, R] is a normal subgroup of F then R is also a normal subgroup of F ?
V. E. Shpilrain
11.125. Let G be a finite group admitting a regular elementary abelian
T group of
automorphisms V of order pn . Is it true that the subgroup H =
[G, v] is
vV \{1}
nilpotent? In the case of an affirmative answer, does there exist a function depending
only on p, n, and the derived length of G which bounds the nilpotency class of H?
P. V. Shumyatski
11.127. Is every group of exponent 12 locally finite?
V. P. Shunkov
59
60
12.13. If h, 6i is the countable universal poset, then G = Aut (h, 6i) is simple
(A. M. W. Glass, S. H. McCleary, M. Rubin, Math. Z., 214, no. 1 (1993), 5566). If H
is a subgroup of G such that |G : H| < 20 and H is transitive on , does H = G?
A. M. W. Glass
12.15. Suppose that, in a finite 2-group G, any two elements are conjugate whenever
their normal closures coincide. Is it true that the derived subgroup of G is abelian?
E. A. Golikova, A. I. Starostin
12.16. Is the class of groups of recursive automorphisms of arbitrary models closed
with respect to taking free products?
S. S. Goncharov
12.17. Find a description of autostable periodic abelian groups.
S. S. Goncharov
12.19. Is it true that, for every n > 2 and every two epimorphisms and of a free
group F2n of rank 2n onto Fn Fn , there exists an automorphism of F2n such that
= ?
R. I. Grigorchuk
12.20. (Well-known problem). Is R. Thompsons group
F = hx0 , x1 , . . . | xxni = xn+1 , i < n, n = 1, 2, . . .i =
= hx0 , . . . , x4 | xx1 0 = x2 , xx2 0 = x3 , xx2 1 = x3 , xx3 1 = x4 , xx3 2 = x4 i
amenable?
R. I. Grigorchuk
12.21. Let R be a commutative ring with identity and let G be a finite group. Prove
that the ring a(RG) of R-representations of G has no non-trivial idempotents.
P. M. Gudivok, V. P. Rudko
12.22. b) Let (G) be the augmentation ideal of the integer group ring of an arbitrary
group G. Then Dn (G) = G (1 + n (G)) contains the nth lower central subgroup
n (G) of G. Is it true that Dn (G)/n (G) has exponent dividing 2?
N. D. Gupta, Yu. V. Kuzmin
12.23. The index of permutability of a group G is defined to be the minimal integer
k > 2 such that for each k-tuple x1 , . . . , xk of elements in G there is a non-identity
permutation on k symbols such that x1 xk = x(1) x(k) . Determine the index
of permutability of the symmetric group Sn .
M. Gutsan
12.27. Let G be a simple locally finite group. We say that G is a group of finite
type if there is a non-trivial permutational representation of G such that some finite
subgroup of G has no regular orbits. Investigate and, perhaps, classify the simple
locally finite groups of finite type. Partial results see in (B. Hartley, A. Zalesski, Isr.
J. Math., 82 (1993), 299327, J. London Math. Soc., 55 (1997), 210230; F. Leinen,
O. Puglisi, Illinois J. Math., 47 (2003), 345360).
A. E. Zalesski
61
c1 , . . . , cn C.
Classify the infinite simple locally finite groups G which possess functions satisfying
1)3). The simple Chevalley groups are known to have no such functions, while
such functions exist on locally matrix (or stable) classical groups over finite fields.
The question is motivated by the theory of C -algebras, see 9 in (A. M. Vershik,
S. V. Kerov, J. Sov. Math., 38 (1987), 17011733). Partial results see in (F. Leinen,
O. Puglisi, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 208 (2007), 10031021, J. London Math. Soc., 70
(2004), 678690).
A. E. Zalesski
12.29. Classify the locally finite groups for which the augmentation ideal of the
complex group algebra is a simple ring. The problem goes back to I. Kaplansky
(1965). For partial results, see (K. Bonvallet, B. Hartley, D. S. Passman, M. K. Smith,
Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 56, no. 1 (1976), 7982; A. E. Zalesski, Algebra i Analiz,
2, no. 6 (1990), 132149 (Russian); Ch. Praeger, A. E. Zalesskii, Proc. London Math.
Soc., 70, no. 2 (1995), 313335; B. Hartley, A. Zalesski, J. London Math. Soc., 55
(1997), 210230).
A. E. Zalesski
12.30. (O. N. Golovin). On the class of all groups, do there exist associative operations which satisfy the postulates of MacLane and Malcev (that is, which are
free functorial and hereditary) and which are different from taking free and direct
products?
S. V. Ivanov
12.32. Prove an analogue of Higmans theorem for the Burnside variety Bn of groups
of odd exponent n 1, that is, prove that every recursively presented group of
exponent n can be embedded in a finitely presented (in Bn ) group of exponent n.
S. V. Ivanov
12.33. Suppose that G is a finite group and x is an element of G such that the
subgroup hx, yi has odd order for any y conjugate to x in G. Prove, without using
CFSG, that the normal closure of x in G is a group of odd order.
L. S. Kazarin
12.34. Describe the finite groups G such that the sum of the cubes of the degrees of
all irreducible complex characters is at most |G| log2 |G|. The question is interesting
for applications in the theory of signal processing.
L. S. Kazarin
12.35. Suppose
thatF is a radical composition formation of finite groups. Prove that
F
hH, Ki = H F , K F for every finite group G and any subnormal subgroups H and
K of G.
S. F. Kamornikov
12.37. (J. G. Thompson). For a finite group G and natural number n, set G(n) =
{x G | xn = 1} and define the type of G to be the function whose value at n is the
order of G(n). Is it true that a group is soluble if its type is the same as that of a
soluble one?
A. S. Kondratiev
62
12.38. (J. G. Thompson). For a finite group G, we denote by N (G) the set of all
orders of the conjugacy classes of G. Is it true that if G is a finite non-abelian simple
group, H a finite group with trivial centre and N (G) = N (H), then G and H are
isomorphic?
A. S. Kondratiev
12.40. Let be an irreducible p-modular character of a finite group G. Find the
best-possible estimate of the form (1)p 6 f (|G|p ). Here np is the p-part of a positive
integer n.
A. S. Kondratiev
12.41. Let F be a free group on two generators x, y and let be the automorphism
of F defined by x y, y xy. Let G be a semidirect product of F/(F (F )2 )
and hi. Then G is just-non-polycyclic. What is the cohomological dimension of G
over Q? (It is either 3 or 4.)
P. H. Kropholler
12.43. (Well-known problem). Does there exist an infinite finitely-generated residually finite p-group such that each subgroup is either finite or of finite index?
J. C. Lennox
12.48. Let G be a sharply doubly transitive permutation group on a set (see 11.52
for a definition).
a) Does G possess a regular normal subgroup if a point stabilizer is locally finite?
b) Does G possess a regular normal subgroup if a point stabilizer has an abelian
subgroup of finite index?
V. D. Mazurov
12.50. (Well-known problem). Find an algorithm which decides, by a given finite
set of matrices in SL3 (Z), whether the first matrix of this set is contained in the
subgroup generated by the remaining matrices. An analogous problem for SL4 (Z) is
insoluble since a direct product of two free groups of rank 2 embeds into SL4 (Z).
G. S. Makanin
12.51. Does the free group F (1 < < ) have a finite subset S for which there
is a unique total order of F making all elements of S positive? Equivalently, does
the free representable l-group of rank have a basic element? (The analogs for right
orders of F and free l-groups have negative answers.)
S. McCleary
12.52. Is the free l-group F of rank (1 < < ) Hopfian? That is, are l-homomorphisms from F onto itself necessarily one-to-one?
S. McCleary
12.53. Is it decidable whether or not two elements of a free l-group are conjugate?
S. McCleary
12.54. Is there a normal valued l-group G for which there is no abelian l-group A
with C(A)
= C(G)? (Here C(G) denotes the lattice of convex l-subgroups of G. If G
is not required to be normal valued, this question has an affirmative answer.)
S. McCleary
12.55. Let f (n, p) be the number of groups of order pn . Is f (n, p) an increasing
function of p for any fixed n > 5?
A. Mann
63
12.59. Does there exist a strongly regular graph with parameters (85, 14, 3, 2) and
a non-connected neighborhood of some vertex?
A. A. Makhnev
12.60. Describe the strongly regular graphs in which the neighborhoods of vertices
are generalized quadrangles (see 12.58).
A. A. Makhnev
12.63. Does there exist a soluble permutation group of infinite degree that has only
finitely many orbits on triples? Conjecture: No.
Comment of 2001: It is proved (D. Macpherson, in: Advances in algebra and
model theory (Algebra Logic Appl., 9), Gordon & Breach, Amsterdam, 1997, 8792)
that every infinite soluble permutation group has infinitely many orbits on quadruples.
Peter M. Neumann
64
12.64. Is it true that for a given number k > 2 and for any (prime) number n,
there exists a number N = N (k, n) such that every finite group with generators
A = {a1 , . . . , ak } has exponent 6 n if (x1 xN )n = 1 for any x1 , . . . , xN A {1}?
For given k and n, a negative answer implies, for example, the infiniteness of the
free Burnside group B(k, n), and a positive answer, in the case of sufficiently large n,
gives, for example, an opportunity to find a hyperbolic group which is not residually
finite (and in this group a hyperbolic subgroup of finite index which has no proper
subgroups of finite index).
A. Yu. Olshanski
12.66. Describe the finite translation planes whose collineation groups act doubly
transitively on the affine points.
N. D. Podufalov
12.67. Describe the structure of the locally compact soluble groups with the maximum (minimum) condition for closed non-compact subgroups.
V. M. Poletskikh
12.68. Describe the locally compact abelian groups in which any two closed subgroups
of finite rank generate a subgroup of finite rank.
V. M. Poletskikh
12.69. Let F be a countably infinite field and G a finite group of automorphisms
of F . The group ring ZG acts on F in a natural way. Suppose that S is a subfield of
F satisfying the following property: for any x F there is a non-zero element f ZG
such that xf S. Is it true that either F = S or the field extension F/S is purely
inseparable? One can show that for an uncountable field an analogous question has
an affirmative answer.
K. N. Ponomarev
12.72. Let F be a soluble local hereditary formation of finite groups. Prove that F is
radical if every finite soluble minimal non-F-group G is a minimal non-Nl(G)1 -group.
Here N is the formation of all finite nilpotent groups, and l(G) is the nilpotent length
of G.
V. N. Semenchuk
12.73. A formation H of finite groups is said to have length t if there is a chain of
formations = H0 H1 Ht = H in which Hi1 is a maximal subformation
of Hi . Is the lattice of soluble formations of length 6 4 distributive?
A. N. Skiba
12.75. (B. Jonsson). Is the class N of the lattices of normal subgroups of groups
a variety? It is proved (C. Herrman, W. Poguntke, Algebra Univers., 4, no. 3 (1974),
280286) that N is an infinitely based quasivariety.
D. M. Smirnov
12.77. (Well-known problem). Does the order (if it is greater than p2 ) of a finite
non-cyclic p-group divide the order of its automorphism group?
A. I. Starostin
No,
not
always
(J. Gonzalez-Sanchez,
A. Jaikin-Zapirain,
\protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/1406.5772}{arXiv:1406.5772}).
12.79. Suppose that a and b are two elements of a finite group G such that the
function
G
G
(g) = 1G (g) 1G
hai (g) 1hbi (g) 1habi (g) + 2
S. P. Strunkov
65
66
67
68
for the class of groups indicated in part a of this problem (see Archive)? It is known
(R. I. Grigorchuk, Math. USSRIzv., 25 (1985), 259300) that there exist p-groups
with (n) 6 n for some > 0. At the same time, it follows from a result of
E. I. Zelmanov that (n) is not bounded if G is infinite.
R. I. Grigorchuk
13.22. Let the group G = AB be the product of two polycyclic subgroups A and B,
and assume that G has an ascending normal series with locally nilpotent factors (i. e.
G is radical). Is it true that G is polycyclic?
F. de Giovanni
13.23. Let the group G have a finite normal series with infinite cyclic factors (containing of course G and {1}). Is it true that G has a non-trivial outer automorphism?
F. de Giovanni
13.24. Let G be a non-discrete topological group with only finitely many ultrafilters
that converge to the identity. Is it true that G contains a countable open subgroup
of exponent 2?
Comment of 2005: This is proved for G countable (E. G. Zelenyuk, Mat. Studii,
7 (1997), 139144).
E. G. Zelenyuk
69
13.25. Let (G, ) be a topological group with finite semigroup (G) of ultrafilters
converging to the identity (I. V. Protasov, Siberian Math. J., 34, no. 5 (1993), 938
951). Is it true that (G) is a semigroup of idempotents?
Comment of 2005: This is proved for G countable (E. G. Zelenyuk, Mat. Studii,
14 (2000), 121140).
E. G. Zelenyuk
13.26. Is it true that a countable topological group of exponent 2 with unique
free ultrafilter converging to the identity has a basis of neighborhoods of the identity
consisting of subgroups?
E. G. Zelenyuk, I. V. Protasov
Assuming Martins Axiom, the answer is No (Ye. Zelenyuk, Adv. Math., 229,
no. 4 (2012), 24152426).
13.27. (B. Amberg). Suppose that G = AB = AC = BC for a group G and its
subgroups A, B, C.
a) Is G a Chernikov group if A, B, C are Chernikov groups?
b) Is G almost polycyclic if A, B, C are almost polycyclic?
L. S. Kazarin
13.29. Given an infinite set , define an algebra A (the reduced incidence algebra of
finite subsets) as follows. Let Vn be the set ofL
functions from the set of n-element
subsets of to the rationals Q. Now let A =
VnP
, with multiplication as follows:
for f Vn , g Vm , and |X| = m + n, let (f g)(X) = f (Y )g(X \ Y ), where the sum
is over the n-element subsets Y of X. If G is a permutation group on , let AG be
the algebra of G-invariants in A.
Conjecture: If G has no finite orbits on , then AG is an integral domain.
P. J. Cameron
13.30. A group G is called a B-group if every primitive permutation group which
contains the regular representation of G is doubly transitive. Are there any countable
B-groups?
P. J. Cameron
13.31. Let G be a permutation group on a set . A sequence of points of is a base
for G if its pointwise stabilizer in G is the identity. The greedy algorithm for a base
chooses each point in the sequence from an orbit of maximum size of the stabilizer
of its predecessors. Is it true that there is a universal constant c with the property
that, for any finite primitive permutation group, the greedy algorithm produces a
base whose size is at most c times the minimal base size?
P. J. Cameron
13.32. (Well-known problem). On a group, a partial order that is directed upwards
and has linearly ordered cone of positive elements is said to be semilinear if this order
is invariant under right multiplication by the group elements. Can every semilinear
order of a group be extended to a right order of the group?
V. M. Kopytov
13.35. Does every non-soluble pro-p-group of cohomological dimension 2 contain a
free non-abelian pro-p-subgroup?
O. V. Melnikov
70
13.36. For a finitely generated pro-p-group G set an (G) = dim Fp I n /I n+1 , where I
is the augmentation ideal of the group ring Fp [[G]]. We define the growth of G to be
the growth of the sequence {an (G)}nN .
a) If the growth of G is exponential, does it follow that G contains a free pro-psubgroup of rank 2?
c) Do there exist pro-p-groups of finite cohomological dimension which are not
p-adic analytic, and whose growth is slower than an exponential one?
O. V. Melnikov
13.37. Let G be a torsion-free pro-p-group, U an open subgroup of G. Suppose that
U is a pro-p-group with a single defining relation. Is it true that then G is also a
pro-p-group with a single defining relation?
O. V. Melnikov
13.39. Let A be an associative ring with unity and with torsion-free additive group,
and let F A be the tensor product of a free group F by A (A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov, Siberian Math. J., 35, no. 5 (1994), 986996); then F A is a free exponential group over A; in (A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov, Int. J. Algebra Comput.,
6 (1996), 687711), it is shown how to construct F A in terms of free products with
amalgamation.
a) (G. Baumslag). Is F A residually nilpotent torsion-free?
b) Is F A a linear group?
c) (G. Baumslag). Is the Magnus homomorphism of F Q into the group of power
series over the rational number field Q faithful or not?
In the case where h1i is a pure subgroup of the additive group of A, there are positive answers to questions a and b (A. M. Gaglione, A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov, D. Spellman, Commun. Algebra, 25 (1997), 631648). In the same paper it
is shown that a is equivalent to c. It is also known that the Magnus homomorphism is one-to-one on any subgroup of F Q of the type hF, t | u = tn i (G. Baumslag,
Commun. Pure Appl. Math., 21 (1968), 491506).
d) Is the universal theory of F A decidable?
e) (G. Baumslag). Can free A-groups be characterized by a length function?
f) (G. Baumslag). Does a free Q-group admit a free action on some -tree? See
definition in (R. Alperin, H. Bass, in: Combinatorial group theory and topology, Alta,
Utah, 1984 (Ann. Math. Stud., 111), Princeton Univ. Press, 1987, 265378).
A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
13.41. Is the elementary theory of the class of all groups acting freely on -trees
decidable?
A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
13.42. Prove that the tensor A-completion (see A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov, Siberian Math. J., 35, no. 5 (1994), 986996) of a free nilpotent group can be
non-nilpotent.
A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
13.43. (G. R. Robinson). Let G be a finite group and B be a p-block of characters
of G. Conjecture: If the defect group D = D(B) of the block B is non-abelian, and
if |D : Z(D)| = pa , then each character in B has height strictly less than a.
J. Olsson
71
13.44. For any partition of an arbitrary group G into finitely many subsets G =
A1 An , there exists a subset of the partition Ai and a finite subset F G, such
that G = A1
i Ai F (I. V. Protasov, Siberian Math. J., 34, no. 5 (1993), 938952). Can
the subset F always be chosen so that |F | 6 n? This is true for amenable groups.
I. V. Protasov
13.45 Every infinite group G of regular cardinality m can be partitioned into two
subsets G = A1 A2 so that A1 F 6= G and A2 F 6= G for every subset F G of
cardinality less than m. Is this statement true for groups of singular cardinality?
I. V. Protasov
No, not always. The answer depends on the algebraic structure of G. In
particular, this is true for a free group, but the statement does not hold for
every Abelian group G of singular cardinality (I. Protasov, S. Slobodianiuk,
\protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/1408.5607}{arXiv:1408.5607}).
13.48. (W. W. Comfort, J. van Mill). A topological group is said to be irresolvable
if every two of its dense subsets intersect non-trivially. Does every non-discrete irresolvable group contain an infinite subgroup of exponent 2?
I. V. Protasov
13.49. (V. I. Malykhin). Can a topological group be partitioned into two dense
subsets, if there are infinitely many free ultrafilters on the group converging to the
identity?
I. V. Protasov
13.50. Let F be a local Fitting class. Is it true that there are no maximal elements
in the partially ordered by inclusion set of the Fitting classes contained in F and
distinct from F?
A. N. Skiba
No, there may exist maximal elements (N. V. Saveleva, N. T. Vorobev, Siberian
Math. J., 49, no. 6 (2008), 11241130).
13.51. Is every finite modular lattice embeddable in the lattice of formations of finite
groups?
A. N. Skiba
13.52. The dimension of a finitely based variety of algebras V is defined to be the
maximal length of a basis (that is, an independent generating set) of the SC-theory
SC(V ), which consists of the strong Malcev conditions satisfied on V . The dimension
is defined to be infinite if the lengths of bases in SC(V ) are not bounded. Does every
finite abelian group generate a variety of finite dimension?
D. M. Smirnov
13.53. Let a, b be elements of finite order of the infinite group G = ha, bi. Is it
true that there are infinitely many elements g G such that the subgroup ha, bg i is
infinite?
A. I. Sozutov
13.54. a) Is it true that, for p sufficiently large, every (finite) p-group can be a complement in some Frobenius group (see 6.55)?
A. I. Sozutov
13.55. Does there exist a Golod group (see 9.76), which is isomorphic to an AT group? For a definition of an AT -group see (A. V. Rozhkov, Math. Notes, 40, no. 5
(1986), 827836).
A. V. Timofeenko
72
73
14.2. (S. D. Berman). Prove that every automorphism of the centre of the integral
group ring of a finite group induces a monomial permutation on the set of the class
sums.
R. Zh. Aleev
14.3. Is it true that every central unit of the integral group ring of a finite group is
a product of a central element of the group and a symmetric central unit? (A unit is
symmetric if it is fixed by the canonical antiinvolution that transposes the coefficients
at the mutually inverse elements.)
R. Zh. Aleev
14.4. a) Is it true that there exists a nilpotent group G for which the lattice L (G) of
all group topologies is not modular? (It is known that for abelian groups the lattice
L (G) is modular and that there are groups for which this lattice is not modular:
V. I. Arnautov, A. G. Topale, Izv. Akad. Nauk Moldova Mat., 1997, no. 1, 8492
(Russian).)
b) Is it true that for every countable nilpotent non-abelian group G the lattice
L (G) of all group topologies is not modular?
V. I. Arnautov
14.5. Let G be an infinite group admitting non-discrete Hausdorff group topologies,
and L (G) the lattice of all group topologies on G.
a) Is it true that for any natural number k there exists a non-refinable chain
0 < 1 < < k of length k of Hausdorff topologies in L (G)? (For countable
nilpotent groups this is true (A. G. Topale, Deposited in VINITI, 25.12.98, no. 3849
V 98 (Russian)).)
b) Let k, m, n be natural numbers and let G be a nilpotent group of class k.
Suppose that 0 < 1 < < m and 0 < 1 < < n are non-refinable chains of
Hausdorff topologies in L (G) such that 0 = 0 and m = n . Is it true that m 6 n k
and this inequality is best-possible? (This is true if k = 1, since for G abelian the
lattice L (G) is modular.)
c) Is it true that there exists a countable G such that in the lattice L (G) there
are a finite non-refinable chain 0 < 1 < < k of Hausdorff topologies and an
infinite chain { | } of topologies such that 0 < < k for any ?
d) Let G be an abelian group, k a natural number. Let Ak be the set of all
those Hausdorff group topologies on G that, for every topology Ak , any nonrefinable chain of topologies starting
from and terminating at the discrete topology
T
has length k. Is it true that Ak { | } 6= for any infinite non-refinable chain
{ | } of Hausdorff topologies containing the discrete topology? (This is true
for k = 1.)
V. I. Arnautov
74
14.6. A group is said to have Property P if, for any finite subset F of \ {1},
nai
there exists an element y0 of infinite order such that, for each x F , the canonical
epimorphism from the free product hxi hy0 i onto the subgroup hx, y0 i of generated
by x and y0 is an isomorphism. For n {2, 3, . . .}, does P SLn (Z) have Property
Pnai ? More generally, if is a lattice in a connected real Lie group G which is simple
and with centre reduced to {1}, does have Property Pnai ?
Answers are known to be yes if n = 2, and more generally if G has real rank 1
(M. Bekka, M. Cowling, P. de la Harpe, Publ. Math. IHES, 80 (1994), 117134).
P. de la Harpe
Yes, it does (T. Poznansky, Characterization of linear groups whose reduced C*algebras are simple, http://arxiv.org/abs/0812.2486).
14.7. Let g be the fundamental group of a closed surface of genus g > 2. For
each finite system S of generators of g , let S (n) denote the number of elements
of g which can be written
as products of at most n elements of S S 1 , and let
p
(g , S) = lim supn n S (n) be the growth rate of the sequence (S (n))n>0 .
Compute the infimum (g ) of the (g , S) over all finite sets of generators of g .
It is easy to see that, for a free group Fk of rank k > 2, the corresponding infimum
is (Fk ) = 2k 1 (M. Gromov, Structures metriques pour les varietes riemanniennes,
Cedic/F. Nathan, Paris, 1981, Ex. 5.13). As any generating set of g contains a subset
of 2g 1 elements generating a subgroup of infinite index in g with abelianization
Z2g1 , hence a subgroup which is free of rank 2g 1, it follows that (g ) > 4g 3.
P. de la Harpe
14.8. Let G denote the group of germs at + of orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the real line R. Let G be the germ of x 7 x + 1. What are the germs
G for which the subgroup h, i of G generated by and is free of rank 2?
If is the germ of x 7 xk for an odd integer k > 3, it is known that h, i is free
of rank 2. The proofs of this rely on Galois theory (for k an odd prime: S. White,
J. Algebra, 118 (1988), 408422; for any odd k > 3: S. A. Adeleke, A. M. W. Glass,
L. Morley, J. London Math. Soc., 43 (1991), 255268, and for any odd k 6= 1 and
any even k > 0 in several papers by S. D. Cohen and A. M. W. Glass). P. de la Harpe
14.9. (Well-known problem). Let W (Fk ) denote the von Neumann algebra of the
free group of rank k {2, 3, . . . , 0 }. Is W (Fk ) isomorphic to W (Fl ) for k 6= l?
For a group G, recall that W (G) is an appropriate completion of the group algebra
CG (see e. g. S. Sakai, C -algebras and W -algebras, Springer, 1971, in particular
Problem 4.4.44). It is known that either W (Fk )
= W (Fl ) for all k, l {2, 3, . . . , 0 },
or that the W (Fk ) are pairwise non-isomorphic (F. Radulescu, Invent. Math., 115
(1994), 347389, Corollary 4.7).
P. de la Harpe
14.10. a) (Well-known problem). It is known that any recursively presented group
embeds in a finitely presented group (G. Higman, Proc. Royal Soc. London Ser. A,
262 (1961), 455475). Find an explicit and natural finitely presented group and
an embedding of the additive group of the rationals Q in . There is an analogous
question for a group n and an embedding of GLn (Q) in n . Another phrasing of
the same problem is: find a simplicial complex X which covers a finite complex such
that the fundamental group of X is Q or, respectively, GLn (Q).
P. de la Harpe
75
14.11. (Yu. I. Merzlyakov). It is a well-known fact that for the ring R = Q[x, y] the
elementary group E2 (R) is distinct from SL2 (R). Find a minimal subset A SL2 (R)
such that hE2 (R), Ai = SL2 (R).
V. G. Bardakov
14.12. (Yu. I. Merzlyakov, J. S. Birman). Is it true that all braid groups Bn , n > 3,
are conjugacy separable?
V. G. Bardakov
14.13. b) By definition the commutator length of an element z of the derived
subgroup of a group G is the least possible number of commutators from G whose
product is equal to z. Does there exist a finitely presented simple group on which the
commutator length is not bounded?
V. G. Bardakov
Yes, it exists (P.-E. Caprace, K. Fujiwara, Geom. Funct. Anal., 19 (2010), 1296
1319).
14.14. (C. C. Edmunds, G. Rosenberger). We call a pair of natural numbers (k, m)
admissible if in the derived subgroup F2 of a free group F2 there is an element w
such that the commutator length of the element wm is equal to k. Find all admissible
pairs.
It is known that every pair (k, 2), k > 2, is admissible (V. G. Bardakov, Algebra
and Logic, 39 (2000), 224251).
V. G. Bardakov
14.15. For the automorphism group An = Aut Fn of a free group Fn of rank n > 3
find the supremum kn of the commutator lengths of the elements of An .
It is easy to show that k2 = . On the other hand, the commutator length of any
element of the derived subgroup of lim An is at most 2 (R. K. Dennis, L. N. Vaserstein,
V. G. Bardakov
14.16. Following Yu. I. Merzlyakov we define the width of a verbal subgroup V (G)
of a group G with respect to the set of words V as the smallest m N {} such
that every element of V (G) can be written as a product of 6 m values of words from
V V 1 . It is known that the width of any verbal subgroup of a finitely generated
group of polynomial growth is finite. Is this statement true for finitely generated
groups of intermediate growth?
V. G. Bardakov
14.17. Let IMA(G) denote the subgroup of the automorphism group Aut G consisting
of all automorphisms that act trivially on the second derived quotient G/G . Find
generators and defining relations for IMA(Fn ), where Fn is a free group of rank n > 3.
V. G. Bardakov
14.18. We say that a family of groups D discriminates a group G if for any finite
subset {a1 , . . . , an } G \ {1} there exists a group D D and a homomorphism
: G D such that aj 6= 1 for all j = 1, . . . , n. Is every finitely generated group
acting freely on some -tree discriminated by torsion-free hyperbolic groups?
G. Baumslag, A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
76
14.19. We say that a group G has the Noetherian Equation Property if every system
of equations over G in finitely many variables is equivalent to some finite part of it.
Does an arbitrary hyperbolic group have the Noetherian Equation Property?
Comment of 2013: the conjecture holds for torsion-free hyperbolic groups (Z. Sela,
Proc. London Math. Soc., 99, no. 1 (2009), 217273) and for the larger class of toral
relatively hyperbolic groups (D. Groves, J. Geom. Topol., 9 (2005), 23192358).
G. Baumslag, A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
14.20. Does a free product of groups have the Noetherian Equation Property if this
property is enjoyed by the factors?
G. Baumslag, A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
14.21. Does a free pro-p-group have the Noetherian Equation Property?
G. Baumslag, A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
14.22. Prove that any irreducible system of equations S(x1 , . . . , xn ) = 1 with
coefficients in a torsion-free linear group G is equivalent over G to a finite system T (x1 , . .
. , xn ) = 1 satisfying an analogue of Hilberts Nullstellensatz, i. e.
RadG (T ) = T . This is true if G is a free group (O. Kharlampovich, A. Myasnikov,
J. Algebra, 200 (1998), 472570).
Here both S and T are regarded as subsets of G[X] = G F (X), a free product of G and a free group on X = {x1 , . . . , xn }. By definition, RadG (T ) =
{w(x1 , . . . , xn ) G[X] |w(g1 , . . . , gn ) = 1 for any solution g1 , . . . , gn G of the
system T (X) = 1}, and T is the minimal normal isolated subgroup of G[X] containing T .
G. Baumslag, A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov
14.23. Let Fn be a free group with basis {x1 , . . . , xn }, and let || be the length function
with respect to this basis. For Aut Fn we put |||| = max{|(x1 )|, . . . , |(xn )|}.
Is it true that there is a recursive function f : N N with the following property:
for any Aut Fn there is a basis {y1 , . . . , yk } of Fix() = {x | (x) = x} such that
|yi | 6 f (||||) for all i = 1, . . . , k?
O. V. Bogopolski
14.24. Let Aut Fn be the automorphism group of a free group of rank n with norm
|| || as in 14.23. Does there exist a recursive function f : N N N with the
following property: for any two conjugate elements , Aut Fn there is an element
Aut Fn such that 1 = and |||| 6 f (||||, ||||)?
O. V. Bogopolski
14.26. A quasivariety M is closed under direct Z-wreath products if the direct wreath
product G Z belongs to M for every G M (here Z is an infinite cyclic group).
Is the quasivariety generated by the class of all nilpotent torsion-free groups closed
under direct Z-wreath products?
A. I. Budkin
14.28. Let F be a soluble Fitting formation of finite groups with Kegels property,
that is, F contains every finite group of the form G = AB = BC = CA if A, B, C are
in F. Is F a saturated formation?
Comment of 2013: Some progress was made in (A. Ballester-Bolinches, L. M. Ezquerro, J. Group Theory, 8, no. 5 (2005), 605611).
A. F. Vasiliev
77
14.29. Is there a soluble Fitting class of finite groups F such that F is not a formation
and AF BF GF for every finite soluble group of the form G = AB?
A. F. Vasiliev
14.30. Let lFitX be the local Fitting class generated by a set of groups X and let (G)
be the smallest normal subgroup of a finite group G such that lFit((G)M ) = lFitM
for every M G (K. Doerk, P. Hauck, Arch. Math., 35, no. 3 (1980), 218227). We
say that a Fitting class F is saturated if (G) F implies that G F. Is it true that
every non-empty soluble saturated Fitting class is local?
N. T. Vorobev
14.31. Is the lattice of Fitting subclasses of the Fitting class generated by a finite
soluble group finite?
N. T. Vorobev
N. D. Gupta
14.37. Let G(n) be one of the classical groups (special, orthogonal, or symplectic) of
(nn)-matrices over an infinite field K of non-zero characteristic, and M (n) the space
of all (n n)-matrices over K. The group G(n) acts diagonally by conjugation on
the space M (n)m = M (n) M (n). Find generators of the algebra of invariants
|
{z
}
m
K[M (n)m ]G(n) .
In characteristic 0 they were found in (C. Procesi, Adv. Math., 19 (1976), 306
381). Comment of 2001: in positive characteristic the problem is solved for all cases
excepting the orthogonal groups in characteristic 2 and special orthogonal groups of
even degree (A. N. Zubkov, Algebra and Logic, 38, no. 5 (1999), 299318). Comment
of 2009: ...and for special orthogonal groups of even degree over (infinite) fields of
odd characteristic (A. A. Lopatin, J. Algebra, 321 (2009), 10791106). A. N. Zubkov
78
1
0
t
1
1
,
t
0
1
Logic, 29, no. 4 (1990), 287301). Is the same result true for matrices of size > 3 for
p 6= 2?
A. N. Zubkov
14.41. A group G is said to be para-free if all factors i (G)/i+1 (G) of its lower
central series
are isomorphic to the corresponding lower central factors of some free
T
group, and i=1 i (G) = 1. Is an arbitrary para-free group representable by matrices
over a commutative-associative ring with 1?
A. N. Zubkov
14.42. Is a free pro-p-group representable by matrices over an associative-commutative profinite ring with 1?
A negative answer is equivalent to the fact that every linear pro-p-group satisfies
a non-trivial pro-p-identity; this is known to be true in dimension 2 (for p 6= 2:
A. N. Zubkov, Siberian Math. J., 28, no. 5 (1987), 742747; for p = 2: E. I. Zelmanov,
unpublished ).
A. N. Zubkov, V. N. Remeslennikov
14.43. Suppose that a finite group G has the form G = AB, where A and B are
nilpotent subgroups of classes and respectively; then G is soluble (O. H. Kegel,
H. Wielandt, 1961). Although the derived length dl(G) of G need not be bounded by
+ (see Archive, 5.17), can one bound dl(G) by a (linear) function of and ?
L. S. Kazarin
14.44. Let k(X) denote the number of conjugacy classes of a finite group X. Suppose
that a finite group G = AB is a product of two subgroups A, B of coprime orders. Is
it true that k(AB) 6 k(A)k(B)?
Note that one cannot drop the coprimeness condition and the answer is positive
if one of the subgroups is normal, see Archive, 11.43.
L. S. Kazarin, J. Sangroniz
14.45. Does there exist a (non-abelian simple) linearly right-orderable group all of
whose proper subgroups are cyclic?
U. E. Kaljulaid
79
M. W. Liebeck, L. Pyber
14.55. b) Prove that the Nottingham group J = N (Z/pZ) (as defined in Archive,
12.24) is finitely presented for p = 2.
C. R. Leedham-Green
14.56. Prove that if G is an infinite pro-p-group with G/2p+1 (G) isomorphic to
J/2p+1 (J) then G is isomorphic to J, where J is the Nottingham group.
C. R. Leedham-Green
80
81
14.69. For every finite simple group find the minimum of the number of generating
involutions satisfying an additional condition, in each of the following cases.
a) The product of the generating involutions equals 1.
b) (MalleSaxlWeigel). All generating involutions are conjugate.
c) (MalleSaxlWeigel). The conditions a) and b) are simultaneously satisfied.
Editors comment: partial progress was obtained in (J. Ward, PhD Thesis, QMW,
2009, http://www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/~raw/JWardPhD.pdf).
d) All generating involutions are conjugate and two of them commute.
Ya. N. Nuzhin
14.74. Let k(G) denote the number of conjugacy classes of a finite group G. Is it
true that k(G) 6 k(P1 ) k(Ps ), where P1 , . . . , Ps are Sylow subgroups of G such
that |G| = |P1 | |Ps |?
L. Pyber
82
14.76. Does there exist an absolute constant c such that any finite p-group P has an
abelian section A satisfying |A|c > |P |?
By a result of A. Yu. Olshanski (Math. Notes, 23 (1978), 183185) we cannot
require A to be a subgroup. By a result of J. G. Thompson (J. Algebra, 13 (1969),
149151) the existence of such a section A would imply the existence of a class 2
subgroup H of P with |H|c > |P |.
L. Pyber
14.78. Suppose that H F1 M and H F2 M where H and M are
local formations of finite groups and F1 is a complement for F2 in the lattice of all
formations between H and M. Is it true that F1 and F2 are local formations? This is
true in the case H = (1).
A. N. Skiba
14.81. Prove that the formation generated by a finite group has only finitely many
Sn -closed subformations.
A. N. Skiba, L. A. Shemetkov
14.82. (Well-known problem). Describe the finite simple groups in which every
element is a product of two involutions.
A. I. Sozutov
Described in (E. P. Vdovin, A. A. Galt, Siberian Math. J., 51 (2010), 610615).
14.83. We say that an infinite simple group G is a monster of the third kind if for
every non-trivial elements a, b, of which at least one is not an involution, there are
infinitely many elements g G such that ha, bg i = G. (Compare with V. P. Shunkovs
definitions in Archive, 6.63, 6.64.) Is it true that every simple quasi-Chernikov group
is a monster of the third kind? This is true for quasi-finite groups (A. I. Sozutov,
Algebra and Logic, 36, no. 5 (1997), 336348). (We say that a non- group is quasi-
if all of its proper subgroups have the property .)
A. I. Sozutov
83
14.89. (E. A. OBrien, A. Shalev). Let P be a finite p-group of order pm and let
m = 2n + e with e = 0 or 1. By a theorem of P. Hall the number of conjugacy classes
of P has the form n(p2 1) + pe + a(p2 1)(p 1) for some integer a > 0, which is
called the abundance of P .
a) Is there a bound for the coclass of P which depends only on a? Note that a = 0
implies coclass 1 and that all known examples with a = 1 have coclass 6 3. (The
group P has coclass r if |P | = pc+r where c is the nilpotency class of P .)
b) Is there an element s P such that |CP (s)| 6 pf (a) for some f (a) depending
only on a? We already know that we can take f (0) = 2 and it seems that f (1) = 3.
Note that A. Jaikin-Zapirain (J. Group Theory, 3, no. 3 (2000), 225231) has
proved that |P | 6 pf (p,a) for some function f of p and a only.
G. Fern
andezAlcober
14.90. Let P be a finite p-group of abundance a and nilpotency class c. Does there
exist an integer t = t(a) such that i (G) = ci+1 (G) for i > t? This holds for a = 0
with t = 1, since P has maximal class; it can be proved that for a = 1 one can take
t = 3.
G. Fern
andezAlcober
14.91. Let p be a fixed prime. Do there exist finite p-groups of abundance a for any
a > 0?
G. Fern
andezAlcober
14.93. Let N (Z/pZ) be the group defined in Archive, 12.24 (the so-called Nottingham group, or the Wild group). Find relations of N (Z/pZ) as a pro-p-group (it
has two generators, e. g., x + x2 and x/(1 x)). Comment of 2009: for p > 2 see
progress in (M. V. Ershov, J. London Math. Soc., 71 (2005), 362378). I. B. Fesenko
P
r
ai xp i ,
Hr is the closed subgroup of N (Z/pZ) consisting of the series x 1 +
i=1
ai Z/pZ.
I. B. Fesenko
14.95. (C. R. Leedham-Green, Peter M. Neumann, J. Wiegold). For a finite pgroup P , denote by c = c(P ) its nilpotency class and by b = b(P ) its breadth, that is,
pb is the maximum size of a conjugacy class in P . Class-Breadth Problem: Is it true
that c 6 b + 1 if p 6= 2?
p
So far, the best known bound is c < p1
b + 1 (C. R. Leedham-Green, P. M. Neumann, J. Wiegold, J. London Math. Soc. (2), 1 (1969), 409420). For p = 2 for every
n N there exists a 2-group Tn such that c(Tn ) > b(Tn ) + n (W. Felsch, J. Neub
user,
W. Plesken, J. London Math. Soc. (2), 24 (1981), 113122).
A. Jaikin-Zapirain
14.97. Is it true that for any two different prime numbers p and q there exists a nonprimary periodic locally soluble {p, q}-group that can be represented as the product
of two of its p-subgroups?
N. S. Chernikov
84
14.98. We say that a metric space is a 2-end one (a narrow one), if it is quasiisometric
to the real line R (respectively, to a subset of R). All other spaces are said to be
wide. Suppose that the Caley graph = (G, A) of a group G with a finite set of
generators A in the natural metric contains a 2-end subset, and suppose that there is
> 0 such that the complement in to the -neighbourhood of any connected 2-end
subset contains exactly two wide connected components. Is it true that the group G
in the word metric is quasiisometric to the Euclidean or hyperbolic plane?
V. A. Churkin
14.99. A formation F of finite groups is called superradical if it
contains every finite group of the form G = AB where A and B
F -subgroups.
a) Find all superradical local formations.
b) Prove that every S-closed superradical formation is a solubly
tion.
is Sn -closed and
are F-subnormal
14.100. Is it true that in a Shunkov group (i. e. conjugately biprimitively finite group,
see 6.59) having infinitely many elements of finite order every element of prime order
is contained in some infinite locally finite subgroup? This is true under the additional condition that any two conjugates of this element generate a soluble subgroup
(V. P. Shunkov, Mp -groups, Moscow, Nauka, 1990 (Russian)).
A. K. Shlepkin
14.101. A group G is saturated by groups from a class X if every finite subgroup
K 6 G is contained in a subgroup L 6 G isomorphic to some group from X. Is it
true that a periodic group saturated by finite simple groups of Lie type of uniformly
bounded ranks is itself a simple group of Lie type of finite rank?
A. K. Shlepkin
14.102. (V. Lin). Let Bn be the braid group on n strings, and let n > 4.
a) Does Bn have any non-trivial non-injective endomorphisms?
b) Is it true that every non-trivial endomorphism of the derived subgroup [Bn , Bn ]
is an automorphism?
V. Shpilrain
85
86
87
15.17. An infinite group is just infinite if all of its proper quotients are finite. Is
every finitely generated just infinite group of intermediate growth necessarily a branch
group?
k
L. Bartholdi, R. I. Grigorchuk, Z. Suni
15.18. A group is hereditarily just infinite if it is residually finite and all of its
non-trivial normal subgroups are just infinite.
a) Do there exist finitely generated hereditarily just infinite torsion groups? (It is
believed there are none.)
b) Is every finitely generated hereditarily just infinite group necessarily linear?
A positive answer to the question b) would imply a negative answer to a).
k
L. Bartholdi, R. I. Grigorchuk, Z. Suni
15.19. Let p be a prime, and Fp the class of finitely generated groups acting faithfully on a p-regular rooted tree by finite automata. Any group in Fp is residually-p
(residually in the class of finite p-groups) and has word problem that is solvable in
(at worst) exponential time. There exist therefore groups that are residually-p, have
a solvable word problem, and do not belong to Fp ; though no concrete example is
known. For instance:
a) Is it true that some (or even all) the groups given in (R. I. Grigorchuk, Math.
USSRSb., 54 (1986), 185205) do not belong to Fp when the sequence is computable, but not periodic?
b) Does Z (Z Z) belong to F2 ? (Here the wreath products are restricted.)
See (A. M. Brunner, S. Sidki, J. Algebra, 257 (2002), 5164) and (R. I. Grigorchuk,
V. V. Nekrashevich, V. I. Sushchanski, in: Dynamical systems, automata, and infinite
groups. Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., 231 (2000), 128203).
L. Bartholdi, S. Sidki
15.20. (B. Hartley). An infinite transitive permutation group is said to be barely
transitive if each of its proper subgroups has only finite orbits. Can a locally finite
barely transitive group coincide with its derived subgroup?
Note that there are no simple locally finite barely transitive groups (B. Hartley,
M. Kuzucuoglu, Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc., 40 (1997), 483490), any locally finite
barely transitive group is a p-group for some prime p, and if the stabilizer of a point
in a locally finite barely transitive group G is soluble of derived length d, then G is
soluble of derived length bounded by a function of d (V. V. Belyaev, M. Kuzucuoglu,
Algebra and Logic, 42 (2003), 147152).
V. V. Belyaev, M. Kuzucuoglu
15.21. (B. Hartley). Do there exist torsion-free barely transitive groups?
V. V. Belyaev
15.22. A permutation group is said to be finitary if each of its elements moves only
finitely many points. Do there exist finitary barely transitive groups? V. V. Belyaev
15.23. A transitive permutation group is said to be totally imprimitive if every finite
set of points is contained in some finite block of the group. Do there exist totally
imprimitive barely transitive groups that are not locally finite?
V. V. Belyaev
88
89
15.37. Let G be a group satisfying the minimum condition for centralizers. Suppose
that X is a normal subset of G such that [x, y, . . . , y] = 1 for any x, y X with y
repeated f (x, y) times. Does X generate a locally nilpotent (whence hypercentral)
subgroup?
If the numbers f (x, y) can be bounded, the answer is affirmative (F. O. Wagner,
J. Algebra, 217, no. 2 (1999), 448460).
F. O. Wagner
15.38. Does there exist a non-local hereditary composition formation F of finite
groups such that the set of all F-subnormal subgroups is a sublattice of the subgroup
lattice in any finite group?
A. F. Vasilev, S. F. Kamornikov
No, it does not (S. F. Kamornikov, Dokl. Math., 81, no. 1 (2010), 97100).
15.40. Let N be a nilpotent subgroup of a finite simple group G. Is it true that there
exists a subgroup N1 conjugate to N such that N N1 = 1?
The answer is known to be affirmative if N is a p-group. Comment of 2013:
an affirmative answer for alternating groups is obtained in (R. K. Kurmazov, Siberian
Math. J., 54, no. 1 (2013), 7377).
E. P. Vdovin
15.41. Let R(m, p) denote the largest finite m-generator group of prime exponent p.
a) Can the nilpotency class of R(m, p) be bounded by a polynomial in m? (This
is true for p = 2, 3, 5, 7.)
b) Can the nilpotency class of R(m, p) be bounded by a linear function in m?
(This is true for p = 2, 3, 5.)
c) In particular, can the nilpotency class of R(m, 7) be bounded by a linear function
in m?
My guess is no to the first two questions for general p, but yes to the third.
By contrast, a beautiful and simple argument of Mike Newman shows that if m > 2
k
pm
..
p.
, with
and k > 2 (k > 3 for p = 2), then the order of R(m, p ) is at least p
p appearing k times in the tower; see (M. Vaughan-Lee, E. I. Zelmanov, J. Austral.
Math. Soc. (A), 67, no. 2 (1999), 261271).
M. R. Vaughan-Lee
(see 12.20)
there exist
is negative,
V. S. Guba
90
91
B, and F24
with respect to E7 and E6 when the product is read modulo centres
(2.B, 3.F24 ). Explain this. Editors Comment of 2005: Some progress was made in
(C. H. Lam, H. Yamada, H. Yamauchi, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 359, no. 9 (2007),
41074123).
is the
b) Note that the Schur multiplier of the sporadic simple groups M , B, F24
fundamental group of type E8 , E7 , E6 , respectively. Why?
See (J. McKay, in: Finite groups, Santa Cruz Conf. 1979 (Proc. Symp. Pure
Math., 37), Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 1980, 183186) and (R. E. Borcherds,
Doc. Math., J. DMV Extra Vol. ICM Berlin 1998, Vol. I (1998), 607616). J. McKay
15.56. Is there a spin manifold such that the Monster acts on its loop space? Perhaps
24-dimensional? hyper-Kahler, non-compact? See (F. Hirzebruch, T. Berger, R. Jung,
Manifolds and modular forms, Vieweg, Braunschweig, 1992).
J. McKay
15.57. Suppose that H is a subgroup of SL2 (Q) that is dense in the Zariski topology
and has no finite quotients. Is then H = SL2 (Q)?
J. McKay, J.-P. Serre
15.58. Suppose that a free profinite product G H is a free profinite group of finite
rank. Must G and H be free profinite groups?
By (J. Neukirch, Arch. Math., 22, no. 4 (1971), 337357) this may not be true if
the rank of G H is infinite.
O. V. Melnikov
15.59. Does there exist a profinite group G that is not free but can be represented
as a projective limit G = lim(G/N ), where all the G/N are free profinite groups of
finite ranks?
The finiteness condition on the ranks of the G/N is essential. Such a group G
cannot satisfy the first axiom of countability (O. V. Melnikov, Dokl. AN BSSR, 24,
no. 11 (1980), 968970 (Russian)).
O. V. Melnikov
92
15.61. Is it true that ln (G) 6 n(G ) 1 + maxp lp (G) for any -soluble group G?
Here n(G ) is the nilpotent length of a Hall -subgroup G of the group G and ln (G)
is the nilpotent -length of G, that is, the minimum number of -factors in those
normal series of G whose factors are either -groups, or nilpotent -groups. The
answer is known to be affirmative in the case when all proper subgroups of G are
supersoluble.
V. S. Monakhov
15.63. a) Let Fn be the free group of finite rank n on the free generators x1 , . . . , xn .
An element u Fn is called positive if u belongs to the semigroup generated by
the xi . An element u Fn is called potentially positive if (u) is positive for some
automorphism of Fn . Is the property of an element to be potentially positive
algorithmically recognizable?
Comment of 2013: In (R. Goldstein, Contemp. Math., Amer. Math. Soc., 421
(2006), 157168) the problem was solved in the affirmative in the special case n = 2.
A. G. Myasnikov, V. E. Shpilrain
15.64. For finite groups G, X define r(G; X) to be the number of inequivalent actions
of G on X, that is, the number of equivalence classes of homomorphisms G Aut X,
where equivalence is defined by conjugation by an element of Aut X. Now define
rG (n) := max{r(G; X) : |X| = n}.
Is it true that rG (n) may be bounded as a function of (n), the total number
(counting multiplicities) of prime factors of n?
Peter M. Neumann
93
15.66. For a class X of groups let gX (n) be the number of groups of order n in the
class X (up to isomorphism). Many years ago I formulated the following problem: find
good upper bounds for the quotient gV (n)/gU (n), where V is a variety that is defined
by its finite groups and U is a subvariety of V. (This quotient is not defined for all n
but only for those for which there are groups of order n in U.) Some progress has been
made by G. Venkataraman (Quart. J. Math. Oxford (2), 48, no. 189 (1997), 107125)
when V is a variety generated by finite groups all of whose Sylow subgroups are
abelian. Conjecture: if V is a locally finite variety of p-groups and U is a non-abelian
2
subvariety of V, then gV (pm )/gU (pm ) < pO(m ) .
Moreover, this seems a possible way to attack the Sims Conjecture that when we
3
2
write the number of groups of order pm as p 27 m +(m) the error term (m) is O(m2 ).
Peter M. Neumann
15.67. Which adjoint Chevalley groups (of normal type) over the integers are generated by three involutions two of which commute?
The groups SLn (Z), n > 13, satisfy this condition (M. C. Tamburini, P. Zucca,
J. Algebra, 195, no. 2 (1997), 650661). The groups P SLn (Z) satisfy it if and only
if n > 4 (N. Ya. Nuzhin, Vladikavkaz. Mat. Zh., 10, no. 1 (2008), 6874 (Russian)).
The group P Sp4 (Z) does not satisfy it, which follows from the corresponding fact for
P Sp4 (3), see Archive, 7.30.
Ya. N. Nuzhin
15.68. Does there exist an infinite finitely generated 2-group (of finite exponent) all
of whose proper subgroups are locally finite?
A. Yu. Olshanski
15.69. Is it true that every hyperbolic group has a free normal subgroup with the
factor-group of finite exponent?
A. Yu. Olshanski
15.70. Do there exist groups of arbitrarily large cardinality that satisfy the minimum
condition for subgroups?
A. Yu. Olshanski
15.71. (B. Huppert). Let G be a finite solvable group, and let (G) denote the
set of prime divisors of the degrees of irreducible characters of G. Is it true that
there always exists an irreducible character of G whose degree is divisible by at least
|(G)|/2 different primes?
P. P. P
alfy
15.72. For a fixed prime p does there exist a sequence of groups Pn of order
pn such
that the number of conjugacy classes k(Pn ) satisfies limn log k(Pn )/ n = 0?
Note that J. M. Riedl (J. Algebra, 218 (1999), 190215) constructed p-groups for
which the above limit is 2 log p.
P. P. P
alfy
15.73. Is it true that for every finite lattice L there exists a finite group G and a
subgroup H 6 G such that the interval Int(H; G) in the subgroup lattice of G is
isomorphic to L? (Probably not.)
P. P. P
alfy
15.74. For every prime p find a finite p-group of nilpotence class p such that its
lattice of normal subgroups cannot be embedded into the subgroup lattice of any
abelian group. (Solved for p = 2, 3.)
P. P. P
alfy
15.75. b) Consider the sequence u1 = [x, y], . . ., un+1 = [[un , x], [un , y]]. Is it true
that an arbitrary finite group is soluble if and only if it satisfies one of these identities
un = 1?
B. I. Plotkin
94
15.76. b) If is a variety of groups, then let 0 denote the category of all free groups
of finite rank in . It is proved (G. Mashevitzky, B. Plotkin, E. Plotkin J. Algebra,
282 (2004), 490512) that if is the variety of all groups, then every automorphism
of the category 0 is an inner one. The same is true if is the variety of all abelian
groups. Is this true for the variety of metabelian groups?
An automorphism of a category is called inner if it is isomorphic to the identity
automorphism. Let s : 1 be a function defining this isomorphism. Then for
every object A we have an isomorphism sA : A (A) and for any morphism of
objects : A B we have () = sB s1
A .
B. I. Plotkin
15.77. Elements a, b of a group G are said to be symmetric with respect to an element
g G if a = gb1 g. Let G be an infinite abelian group, a cardinal, < |G|. Is it
true that for any n-colouring : G {0, 1, . . . , n 1} there exists a monochrome
subset of cardinality that is symmetric with respect to some element of G? This is
known to be true for n 6 3.
I. V. Protasov
15.78. (R. I. Grigorchuk). Is it true that for any n-colouring of a free group of any
rank there exists a monochrome subset that is symmetric with respect to some element
of the group? This is true for n = 2.
I. V. Protasov
15.79. Does there exist a Hausdorff group topology on Z such that the sequence
{2n + 3n } converges to zero?
I. V. Protasov
15.80. A sequence {Fn } of pairwise disjoint finite subsets of a topological group is
called expansive if for every open subset U there is a number m such that Fn U 6=
for all n > m. Suppose that a group G can be partitioned into countably many dense
subsets. Is it true that in G there exists an expansive sequence?
I. V. Protasov
15.82. Suppose that a periodic group G contains a strongly isolated 2-subgroup U .
Is it true that either G is locally finite, or U is a normal subgroup of G?
A. I. Sozutov, N. M. Suchkov
15.83. (Yu. I. Merzlyakov).
a rational number such that || < 2
Doesthere exist
1
0
and
0
1
15.84. Yu. I. Merzlyakov (Sov. Math. Dokl., 19 (1978), 6468) proved that if the
complex numbers
,, are
each at least 3 in absolute value, then the matrices
1
0
0
1
, and
1+
Are there rational numbers , , , each less than 3 in absolute value, with the same
property?
Yu. V. Sosnovski
15.85. A torsion-free group all of whose subgroups are subnormal is nilpotent
(H. Smith, Arch. Math., 76, no. 1 (2001), 16). Is a torsion-free group with the
normalizer condition
a) hyperabelian?
b) hypercentral?
Yu. V. Sosnovski
95
15.87. Suppose that a 2-group G admits a regular periodic locally cyclic group of
automorphisms that transitively permutes the set of involutions of G. Is G locally
finite?
N. M. Suchkov
15.88. Let A and Nc denote the varieties of abelian groups and nilpotent groups of
class 6 c, respectively. Let Fr = Fr (ANc ) be a free group of rank r in ANc . An
element of Fr is called primitive if it can be included in a basis of Fr . Does there
exist an algorithm recognizing primitive elements in Fr ?
E. I. Timoshenko
15.90. Let be an infinite directed graph, and the underlying undirected graph.
Suppose that the graph admits a vertex-transitive group of automorphisms, and
the graph is connected and of finite valency. Does there exist a positive integer
k (possibly depending on ) such that for any positive integer n there is a directed
path of length at most k n in the graph whose initial and terminal vertices are at
distance at least n in the graph ?
Comment of 2005: It is proved that there exists a positive integer k (depending
only on the valency of ) such that for any positive integer n there is a directed path
of length at most k n2 in the graph whose initial and terminal vertices are at
distance at least n in the graph (V. I. Trofimov, Europ. J. Combinatorics, 27, no. 5
(2006), 690700).
V. I. Trofimov
15.92. A group x, y | xl = y m = (xy)n is called the triangle group with parameters (l, m, n). It is proved in (A. M. Brunner, R. G. Burns, J. Wiegold, Math. Scientist, 4 (1979), 9398) that the triangle group (2, 3, 30) has uncountably many
non-isomorphic homomorphic images that are residually finite alternating groups. Is
the same true for the triangle group (2, 3, n) for all n > 6?
J. Wiegold
96
97
98
Solitar groups are BS(1, n) = a, b | bab1 = an for n > 1.
Background: It is known that a finitely generated solvable group is subgroupseparable if and only if it is polycyclic (R. C. Alperin, in: GroupsKorea98 (Pusan),
de Gruyter, Berlin, 2000, 15).
R. C. Alperin
No, it is not (J. O. Button, Ricerche di Matematica, 61, no. 1 (2012), 139145).
16.3. Is it true that if G is a finite group with all conjugacy classes of distinct sizes,
then G
= S3 ?
This is true if G is solvable (J. Zhang, J. Algebra, 170 (1994), 608624); it is also
known that F (G) is nontrivial (Z. Arad, M. Muzychuk, A. Oliver, J. Algebra, 280
(2004), 537576).
Z. Arad
16.4. Let G be a finite group with C, D two nontrivial conjugacy classes such that
CD is also a conjugacy class. Can G be a non-abelian simple group?
Z. Arad
16.5. A group is said to be perfect if it coincides with its derived subgroup. Does
there exist a perfect locally finite p-group
a) all of whose proper subgroups are hypercentral?
b) all of whose proper subgroups are solvable?
c) all of whose proper subgroups are hypercentral and solvable?
A. O. Asar
16.6. Can a perfect locally finite p-group be generated by a subset of bounded
exponent
a) if all of its proper subgroups are hypercentral?
b) if all of its proper subgroups are solvable?
A. O. Asar
99
16.7. Is it true that the occurrence problem is undecidable for any semidirect product
Fn Fn of non-abelian free groups Fn ?
An affirmative answer would imply an answer to 6.24. Recall that the occurrence problem is decidable for Fn (M. Hall, 1949) and undecidable for Fn Fn
(K. A. Mikhailova, 1958).
V. G. Bardakov
16.9. An element g of a free group Fn on the free generators x1 , . . . , xn is called a
palindrome with respect to these generators if the reduced word representing g is the
same when read from left to right or from right to left. The palindromic length of an
element w Fn is the smallest number of palindromes in Fn whose product is w. Is
there an algorithm for finding the palindromic length of a given element of Fn ?
V. G. Bardakov, V. A. Tolstykh, V. E. Shpilrain
16.10. Is there an algorithm for finding the primitive length of a given element of Fn ?
The definition of a primitive element is given in 14.84; the primitive length is defined
similarly to the palindromic length in 16.9.
V. G. Bardakov, V. A. Tolstykh, V. E. Shpilrain
16.11. Let G be a finite p-group. Does there always exist a finite p-group H such
that (H)
= [G, G]?
Ya. G. Berkovich
16.13. Does there exist a finite p-group G all of whose maximal subgroups H are
special, that is, satisfy Z(H) = [H, H] = (H)?
Editors comment: affirmative solution for p = 2 given by a Sylow 2-subgroup
of L3 (4) was announced by V. I. Zenkov at Malcev Meeting2014, 1014 November,
2014, Novosibirsk.
Ya. G. Berkovich
16.14. Let G be a finite 2-group such that 1 (G) 6 Z(G). Is it true that the rank
of G/G2 is at most double the rank of Z(G)?
Ya. G. Berkovich
16.15. An element g of a group G is an Engel element if for every h G there exists
k such that [h, g, . . . , g] = 1, where g occurs k times; if there is such k independent of
h, then g is said to be boundedly Engel.
a) (B. I. Plotkin). Does the set of boundedly Engel elements of a group form a
subgroup?
b) The same question for torsion-free groups.
c) The same question for right-ordered groups.
d) The same question for linearly ordered groups.
V. V. Bludov
16.16. a) Does the set of (not necessarily boundedly) Engel elements of a group
without elements of order 2 form a subgroup?
b) The same question for torsion-free groups.
c) The same question for right-ordered groups.
d) The same question for linearly ordered groups.
There are examples of 2-groups where a product of two (unboundedly) Engel elements
is not an Engel element.
V. V. Bludov
100
16.18. Does there exist a linearly orderable soluble group of derived length exactly n
that has a single proper normal relatively convex subgroup
a) for n = 3?
b) for n > 4?
Such groups do exist for n = 2 and for n = 4.
V. V. Bludov
16.19. Is the variety of lattice-ordered groups generated by nilpotent groups finitely
based? (Here the variety is considered in the signature of group and lattice operations.)
V. V. Bludov
16.20. Let M be a quasivariety of groups. The dominion domM
A (H) of a subgroup
H of a group A (in M ) is the set of all elements a A such that for any two
homomorphisms f, g : A B M , if f, g coincide on H, then f (a) = g(a). Suppose
that the set {domN
A (H) | N is a quasivariety, N M } forms a lattice with respect to
set-theoretic inclusion. Can this lattice be modular and non-distributive? A. I. Budkin
16.21. Given a non-central matrix SLn (F ) over a field F for n > 2, is it true
that every non-central matrix in SLn (F ) is a product of n matrices, each similar to ?
L. Vaserstein
16.22. (Well-known problem.) Let En (A) be the subgroup of GLn (A) generated by
elementary matrices. Is SL2 (A) = E2 (A) when A = Z[x, 1/x]?
L. Vaserstein
16.23. Is there, for some n > 2 and a ring A with 1, a matrix in En (A) that is
nonscalar modulo any proper ideal and is not a commutator?
L. Vaserstein
16.24. The spectrum of a finite group is the set of orders of its elements. Does there
exist a finite group G whose spectrum coincides with the spectrum of a finite simple
exceptional group L of Lie type, but G is not isomorphic to L?
A. V. Vasilev
Yes, for example, for L = 3 D (2) (V. D. Mazurov, Algebra Logika, 52, no. 5 (2013),
4
601605; English transl., Algebra Logic, 52, no. 5 (2013), 400403).
16.25. Do there exist three pairwise non-isomorphic finite non-abelian simple groups
with the same spectrum?
A. V. Vasilev
No (A. A. Buturlakin, Sibirsk. Electron. Math. Reports, 7 (2010), 111114).
16.26. We say that the prime graphs of finite groups G and H coincide if the sets
of primes dividing their orders are the same, (G) = (H), and for any distinct
p, q (G) there is an element of order pq in G if and only if there is such an
element in H. Does there exist a positive integer k such that there are no k pairwise
non-isomorphic finite non-abelian simple groups with the same graphs of primes?
Conjecture: k = 5.
A. V. Vasilev
16.27. Suppose that a finite group G has the same spectrum as an alternating
group. Is it true that G has at most one non-abelian composition factor?
For any finite simple group other than alternating the answer to the corresponding
question is affirmative (mod CFSG).
A. V. Vasilev and V. D. Mazurov
Yes, it is (I. B. Gorshkov, Algebra and Logic, 52, no. 1 (2013), 4145).
101
16.28. Let G be a connected linear reductive algebraic group over a field of positive
characteristic, X a closed subset of G, and let X k = {x1 xk | xi X}.
a) Is it true that there always exists a positive integer c = c(X) > 1 such that X c
is closed?
b) If X is a conjugacy class of G such that X 2 contains an open subset of G, then
is X 2 = G?
E. P. Vdovin
16.29. Which finite simple groups of Lie type G have the following property: for
every semisimple abelian subgroup A and proper subgroup H of G there exists x G
such that Ax H = 1?
This property holds for A cyclic in the case G = GLn (q) (J. Siemons, A. Zalesskii,
J. Algebra, 226 (2000), 451478, 256 (2002), 611625). Note that if G = L2 (5),
A = 2 2, and H = 5 : 2 (in Atlas notation), then Ax H > 1 for every x G (this
example was communicated to the author by V. I. Zenkov).
E. P. Vdovin
16.30. Suppose that A and B are subgroups of a group G and G = AB. Will G have
composition (principal) series if A and B have composition (respectively, principal)
series?
V. A. Vedernikov
16.31. Suppose that a group G has a composition series and let F(G) be the formation generated by G. Is the set of all subformations of F(G) finite? V. A. Vedernikov
No, not always, even for G finite (V. P. Burichenko, J. Algebra, 372 (2012), 428
458).
16.32. Suppose that a group G has a composition series and let Fit(G) be the Fitting
class generated by G. Is the set of all Fitting subclasses of Fit(G) finite? Cf. 14.31.
V. A. Vedernikov
16.33. Suppose that a finite p-group G has an abelian subgroup A of order pn . Does
G contain an abelian subgroup B of order pn that is normal in hB G i
a) if p = 3?
b) if p = 2?
c) If p = 3 and A is elementary abelian, does G contain an elementary abelian
subgroup B of order 3n that is normal in hB G i?
The corresponding results have been proved for greater primes p, based on extensions of Thompsons Replacement Theorem (and the dihedral group of order 32
shows that the third question has negative answer for p = 2). See (G. Glauberman,
J. Algebra, 196 (1997), 301338; J. Alperin, G. Glauberman, J. Algebra, 203 (1998),
533566; G. Glauberman, J. Algebra, 272 (2004), 128153).
G. Glauberman
16.34. Suppose that G is a finitely generated group acting faithfully on a regular
rooted tree by finite-state automorphisms. Is the conjugacy problem decidable for G?
See the definitions in (R. I. Grigorchuk, V. V. Nekrashevich, V. I. Sushchanski,
Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., 2000, no. 4 (231), 128203).
R. I. Grigorchuk, V. V. Nekrashevich, V. I. Sushchanski
102
16.36. (Well-known problem). We call a finite group rational if all of its ordinary
characters are rational-valued. Is every Sylow 2-subgroup of a rational group also a
rational group?
M. R. Darafsheh
No, not always (I. M. Isaacs, G. Navarro, Math. Z., 272 (2012), 937945).
16.38. Let G be a soluble group, and let A and B be periodic subgroups of G. Is
it true that any subgroup of G contained in the set AB = {ab | a A, b B} is
periodic? This is known to be true if AB is a subgroup of G.
F. de Giovanni
16.39. (J. E. Humphreys, D. N. Verma). Let G be a semisimple algebraic group over
an algebraically closed field k of characteristic p > 0. Let g be the Lie algebra of G
and let u = u(g) be the restricted enveloping algebra of g. By a theorem of Curtis
every irreducible restricted u-module (i. e. every irreducible restricted g-module) is
the restriction to g of a (rational) G-module. Is it also true that every projective
indecomposable u-module is the restriction of a rational G-module? This is true if
p > 2h 2 (where h is the Coxeter number of G) by results of Jantzen.
S. Donkin
16.40. Let be a subgroup of the automorphism group of a free pro-p group of finite
rank F such that is isomorphic (as a profinite group) to the group Zp of p-adic
integers. Is the subgroup of fixed points of in F finitely generated (as a profinite
group)?
P. A. Zalesski
16.41. Let F be a free pro-p group of finite rank n > 1. Does Aut F possess an open
subgroup of finite cohomological dimension?
P. A. Zalesski
16.42. Is a topological Abelian group (G, ) compact if every group topology
on G is complete? (The answer is yes if every continuous homomorphic image of
(G, ) is complete.)
E. G. Zelenyuk
16.44. Is there in ZFC a countable non-discrete topological group not containing
discrete subsets with a single accumulation point? (Such a group is known to exist
under Martins Axiom.)
E. G. Zelenyuk
16.45. Let G be a permutation group on a set . A sequence of points of is a base
for G if its pointwise stabilizer in G is the identity; it is minimal if no point may be
removed. Let b(G) be the maximum, over all permutation representations of the finite
group G, of the maximum size of a minimal base for G. Let (G) be the maximum
size of an independent set in G, a set of elements with the property that no element
belongs to the subgroup generated by the others. Is it true that b(G) = (G)? (It is
known that b(G) 6 (G), and that equality holds for the symmetric groups.)
Remark. An equivalent question is the following. Suppose that the Boolean lattice B(n) of subsets of an n-element set is embeddable as a meet-semilattice of the
subgroup lattice of G, and suppose that n is maximal with this property. Is it true
that then there is such an embedding of B(n) with the property that the least element
of B(n) is a normal subgroup of G?
P. J. Cameron
103
G3 = h, a, P,
2
2
2
2
1
3
a , P , Q , [P, Q], [h, P ], (hQ) , a P aQ and G4 = h, a, p, q, r | h , a2 , p2 ,
2
q 2 , r2 , [p, q], [p, r], p(qr)2 , h1 phq,
h1 qhpq, (hr)
, [a, p], a1 qar , each of which
contains the modular group G1 = h, a | h3 , a2
= P SL2 (Z) as a subgroup of finite
index. The free product of G3 and G4 with subgroup G1 = hh, ai amalgamated
has a normal subgroup K of index 8 generated by A = h, B = aha, C = p,
D = P pP , E = QpQ, and F
104
16.54. We say that a group G acts freely on a group V if vg 6= v for any nontrivial
elements g G, v V . Is it true that a group G that can act freely on a non-trivial
abelian group is embeddable in the multiplicative group of some skew-field?
V. D. Mazurov
No, it is not. For example, the group 2.A .2 with a quaternion Sylow 2-subgroup
5
can act freely on an elementary abelian group of order 74 but is not embeddable in the
multiplicative group of any skew-field by Theorem 7 in (S. A. Amitsur, Trans. Amer.
Math. Soc., 80, no. 2 (1955), 361386). (D. Nedrenko, Letter of 20 January 2014).
16.56. The spectrum (G) of a group G is the set of orders of elements of G. Suppose
that (G) = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}. Is G locally finite?
V. D. Mazurov
16.58. Is SU (C) the only group that has just one irreducible complex representa2
tion of dimension n for each n = 1, 2, . . .?
(If R[n] is the n-dimensional irreducible complex representation of SU2 (C), then
R[2] is the natural two-dimensional representation, and R[2]R[n] = R[n1]+R[n+1]
for n > 1.)
J. McKay
No, it is not. It is known that C has infinitely many (discrete) automorphisms.
For Aut(C) and a matrix x, let x denote the matrix obtained from x by applying
to each element. Then T : x 7 x is an irreducible representation of SU2 (C). It
is easy to show that among these representations there are infinitely many pairwise
non-equivalent ones. Therefore the group SU2 (C) itself does not satisfy the condition
of the problem. (This observation belongs to von Neumann.) One can show that any
group satisfying the condition of the problem is isomorphic to a subgroup of SL2 (Q)
satisfying the condition of Problem 15.57. On the other hand, E. Cartan proved that
an unitary representation of a simple compact Lie group is always continuous. Hence,
if we restrict ourselves to the unitary representations, then SU2 (C) does satisfy the
condition of the problem. (V. P. Burichenko, Letter of 16 July 2013.)
16.59. Given a finite group K, does there exist a finite group G such that
K
= Out G = Aut G/Inn G? (It is known that an infinite group G exists with
this property.)
D. MacHale
16.60. If G is a finite group, let T (G) be the sum of the degrees of the irreducible
k(G)
P
complex representations of G, T (G) =
di , where G has k(G) conjugacy classes.
i=1
16.64. A non-abelian variety in which all finite groups are abelian is called pseudoabelian. A group variety is called a t-variety if for all groups in this variety the relation
of being a normal subgroup is transitive. By (O. Macedo
nska, A. Storozhev, Commun.
Algebra, 25, no. 5 (1997), 15891593) each non-abelian t-variety is pseudo-abelian,
and the pseudo-abelian varieties constructed in (A. Yu. Olshanski, Math. USSRSb.,
54 (1986), 5780) are t-varieties. Is every pseudo-abelian variety a t-variety?
O. Macedo
nska
105
16.66. For a group G, let Dn (G) denote the n-th dimension subgroup of G,
and n (G) the n-th term of its upper central series. For a given integer n > 1,
let f (n) = max{m | a nilpotent group G of class n with Dm (G) 6= 1} and
g(n) = max{m | a nilpotent group G of class n such that Dn (G) 6 m (G)}.
a) What is f (3)?
b) (B. I. Plotkin). Is it true that f (n) is finite for all n?
c) Is the growth of f (n) and g(n) polynomial, exponential, or intermediary?
It is known that both f (n) n and g(n) tend to infinity as n (N. Gupta,
Yu. V. Kuzmin, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 104 (1995), 191197).
R. Mikhailov, I. B. S. Passi
16.68. Let W (x, y) be a non-trivial reduced group word, and G one of the groups
P SL(2, R), P SL(2, C), or SO(3, R). Are all the maps W : G G G surjective?
For SL(2, R), SL(2, C), GL(2, C), and for the group S 3 of quaternions of norm 1
there exist non-surjective words; see (J. Mycielski, Amer. Math. Monthly, 84 (1977),
723726; 85 (1978), 263264).
J. Mycielski
16.70. Suppose that a finitely generated group G acts freely on an A-tree, where A
is an ordered abelian group. Is it true that G acts freely on a Zn -tree for some n?
Comment of 2013: It was proved that every finitely presented group acting freely
on an A-tree acts freely on some Rn -tree for a suitable n, where R has the lexicographical order (O. Kharlampovich, A. Myasnikov, D. Serbin, Int. J. Algebra Comput., 23
(2013), 325345).
A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov, O. G. Kharlampovich
A. G. Myasnikov, O. G. Kharlampovich
Yes, it is (O. Kharlampovich, A. Myasnikov, \protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/ab
16.72. Does there exist an exponential-time algorithm for obtaining a JSJ-decomposition of a finitely generated fully residually free group?
Some algorithm was found in (O. Kharlampovich, A. Myasnikov, in: Contemp.
Math. AMS (Algorithms, Languages, Logic), 378 (2005), 87212).
A. G. Myasnikov, O. G. Kharlampovich
106
16.73. Let G be a group generated by a finite set S, and let l(g) denote the word
length function of g G with respect to S. The group G is said to be contracting if
there exist a faithful action of G on the set X of finite words over a finite alphabet
X and constants 0 < < 1 and C > 0 such that for every g G and x X there
exist h G and y X such that l(h) < l(g) + C and g(xw) = yh(w) for all w X .
a) Can a contracting group have a non-abelian free subgroup?
b) Do there exist non-amenable contracting groups?
V. V. Nekrashevich
a)
No,
it
cannot
(V. V. Nekrashevich,
Preprint,
2008,
\protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/0802.2554}{arXiv:0802.2554}).
16.76. We call a group G strictly real if each of its non-trivial elements is conjugate
to its inverse by some involution in G. In which groups of Lie type over a field of
characteristic 2 the maximal unipotent subgroups are strictly real?
Ya. N. Nuzhin
16.77. It is known that in every Noetherian group the nilpotent radical coincides
with the collection of all Engel elements (R. Baer, Math. Ann., 133 (1957), 256270;
B. I. Plotkin, Izv. Vyss. Ucebn. Zaved. Mat., 1958, no. 1(2), 130135 (Russian)).
It would be nice to find a similar characterization of the solvable radical of a finite
group. More precisely, let u = u(x, y) be a sequence of words satisfying 15.75. We say
that an element g G is u-Engel if there exists n = n(g) such that un (x, g) = 1 for
every element x G. Does there exist a sequence u = u(x, y) such that the solvable
radical of a finite group coincides with the set of all u-Engel elements? B. I. Plotkin
16.78. Do there exist linear non-abelian simple groups without involutions?
B. Poizat
16.79. Is it true that in any finitely generated AT -group over a sequence of cyclic
groups of uniformly bounded orders all Sylow subgroups are locally finite? For the
definition of an AT -group see (A. V. Rozhkov, Math. Notes, 40 (1986), 827836)
A. V. Rozhkov
16.80. Suppose that a group G is obtained from the free product of torsion-free
groups A1 , . . . , An by imposing m additional relations, where m < n. Is it true that
the free product of some n m of the Ai embeds into G?
N. S. Romanovski
107
16.82. Let X be a non-empty class of finite groups closed under taking homomorphic images, subgroups, and direct products. With every group G X we associate
some set (G) of subgroups of G. We say that is a subgroup functor on X if:
1) G (G) for all G X , and
2) for each epimorphism : A 7 B, where A, B X , and for any H (A) and
1
T (B) we have H (B) and T (A).
A subgroup functor is closed if for each group G X and for every subgroup
H X (G) we have (H) (G). The set F (X ) consisting of all closed subgroup
functors on X is a lattice (in which 1 6 2 if and only if 1 (G) 2 (G) for every
group G X ). It is known that F (X ) is a chain if and only if X a class of p-groups
for some prime p (Theorem 1.5.17 in S. F. Kamornikov and M. V. Selkin, Subgroups
functors and classes of finite groups, Belaruskaya Navuka, Minsk, 2001 (Russian)).
Is there a non-nilpotent class X such that the width of the lattice F (X ) is at
most |(X )| where (X ) is the set of all prime divisors of the orders of the groups
in X ?
A. N. Skiba
No such classes exist (S. F. Kamornikov, Siberian Math. J., 51, no. 5 (2010), 824
829).
16.83. Let En be a free locally nilpotent n-Engel group on countably many generators, and let (En ) be the set of prime divisors of the orders of elements of the
periodic part of En . It is known that 2, 3, 5 (E4 ).
(a) Does there exist n for which 7 (E )?
n
(b) Is it true that (En ) = (En+1 ) for all sufficiently large n? Yu. V. Sosnovski
a) Yes, n = 6, since the 2-generator free nilpotent 6-Engel group has an element of
order 7 (http://www.mathematik.tu-darmstadt.de/~nickel/Engel/Engel.html).
(A. Abdollahi, Letter of 19 August 2011.)
16.84. Can the braid group Bn , n > 4, act faithfully on a regular rooted tree by
finite-state automorphisms? Such action is known for B3 .
See the definitions in (R. I. Grigorchuk, V. V. Nekrashevich, V. I. Sushchanski,
Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., 2000, no. 4 (231), 128203).
V. I. Sushchanski
16.85. Suppose that groups G, H act faithfully on a regular rooted tree by finitestate automorphisms. Can their free product G H act faithfully on a regular rooted
tree by finite state automorphisms?
V. I. Sushchanski
16.86. Does the group of all finite-state automorphisms of a regular rooted tree
possess an irreducible system of generators?
V. I. Sushchanski
16.87. Let M be a variety of groups and let Gr be a free r-generator group in M. A
subset S Gr is called a test set if every endomorphism of Gr identical on S is an
automorphism. The minimum of the cardinalities of test sets is called the test rank
of Gr . Suppose that the test rank of Gr is r for every r > 1.
a) Is it true that M is an abelian variety?
b) Suppose that M is not a periodic variety. Is it true that M is the variety of all
abelian groups?
E. I. Timoshenko
108
16.88. (G. Bergman). The width of a group G with respect to a generating set X
means the supremum over all g G of the least length of a group word in elements
of X expressing g. A group G has finite width if the width of G with respect to any
generating set is finite. Does there exist a countably infinite group of finite width?
All known infinite groups of finite width (infinite permutation groups, infinite-dimensional general linear groups, and some other groups) are uncountable. V. Tolstykh
16.89. (G. Bergman). Is it true that the automorphism group of an infinitely generated free group F has finite width? The answer is affirmative if F is countably
generated.
V. Tolstykh
16.90. Is it true that the automorphism group Aut F of an infinitely generated free
group F is
a) the normal closure of a single element?
b) the normal closure of some involution in Aut F ?
For a free group Fn of finite rank n M. Bridson and K. Vogtmann have recently
shown that Aut Fn is the normal closure of some involution, which permutes some
basis of Fn . It is also known that the automorphism groups of infinitely generated
free nilpotent groups have such involutions.
V. Tolstykh
16.91. Let F be an infinitely generated free group. Is there an IA-automorphism of
F whose normal closure in Aut F is the group of all IA-automorphisms of F ?
V. Tolstykh
16.92. Let F be an infinitely generated free group. Is Aut F equal to its derived
subgroup? This is true if F is countably generated (R. Bryant, V. A. Romankov,
J. Algebra, 209 (1998), 713723).
V. Tolstykh
16.93. Let Fn be a free group of finite rank n > 2. Is the group Inn Fn of inner
automorphisms of Fn a first-order definable subgroup of Aut Fn ? It is known that
the set of inner automorphisms induced by powers of primitive elements is definable
in Aut Fn .
V. Tolstykh
16.94. If G = [G, G], then the commutator width of the group G is its width relative
to the set of commutators. Let V be an infinite-dimensional vector space over a
division ring. It is known that the commutator width of GL(V ) is finite. Is it true
that the commutator width of GL(V ) is one?
V. Tolstykh
16.95. Conjecture: If F is a field and A is in GL(n, F ), then there is a permutation
matrix P such that AP is cyclic, that is, the minimal polynomial of AP is also its
characteristic polynomial.
J. G. Thompson
16.96. Let G be a locally finite n-Engel p-group where p a prime greater than n. Is
G then a Fitting group? (Examples of N. Gupta and F. Levin show that the condition
p > n is necessary in general.)
G. Traustason
16.97. Let G be a torsion-free group with all subgroups subnormal of defect at
most n. Must G then be nilpotent of class at most n? (This is known to be true for
n < 5).
G. Traustason
109
16.99. Suppose that G is a finite solvable group, A 6 Aut G, CG (A) = 1, the orders
of G and A are coprime, and let l(A) be the length of the longest chain of nested
subgroups of A. Is the Fitting height of G bounded above by l(A)?
For A solvable the question coincides with 5.30. It is proved that for any finite
group A, first, there exist G with h(G) = l(A) and, second, there is a finite set
of primes (depending on A) such that if |G| is coprime to each prime in , then
h(G) 6 l(A). See (A. Turull, Math. Z., 187 (1984), 491503).
A. Turull
16.100. Is there an (infinite) 2-generator simple group G such that Aut F2 is transitive
on the set of normal subgroups N of the free group F2 such that F2 /N
= G? Cf. 6.45.
J. Wiegold
16.101. Do there exist uncountably many infinite 2-groups that are quotients of the
group x, y | x2 = y 4 = (xy)8 = 1 ? There certainly exists one, namely the subgroup
of finite index in Grigorchuks first group generated by b and ad; see (R. I. Grigorchuk,
Functional Anal. Appl., 14 (1980), 4143).
J. Wiegold
Yes, there exist (R. I. Grigorchuk, Algebra Discrete Math., 2009, no. 4 (2009), 78
96 (subm. 25 November 2009); A. Minasyan, A. Yu. Olshanskii, D. Sonkin, Groups
Geom. Dynam., 3, no. 3 (2009) 423452 (subm. 21 April 2008)).
110
16.104. If G is a finite group, then every element a of the rational group algebra
Q[G] has a unique Jordan decomposition a = as + an , where an Q[G] is nilpotent,
as Q[G] is semisimple over Q, and as an = an as . The integral group ring Z[G] is
said to have the additive Jordan decomposition property (AJD) if as , an Z[G] for
every a Z[G]. If a Q[G] is invertible, then as is also invertible and so a = as au
with au = 1 + a1
s an unipotent and as au = au as . Such a decomposition is again
unique. We say that Z[G] has multiplicative Jordan decomposition property (MJD) if
as , au Z[G] for every invertible a Z[G]. See the survey (A. W. Hales, I. B. S. Passi,
in: Algebra, Some Recent Advances, Birkhauser, Basel, 1999, 7587).
Is it true that there are only finitely many isomorphism classes of finite 2-groups
G such that Z[G] has MJD but not AJD?
A. W. Hales, I. B. S. Passi
16.105. Is it true that a locally graded group which is a product of two almost
polycyclic subgroups (equivalently, of two almost soluble subgroups with the maximal
condition) is almost polycyclic?
By (N. S. Chernikov, Ukrain. Math. J., 32 (1980) 476479) a locally graded group
which is a product of two Chernikov subgroups (equivalently, of two almost soluble
subgroups with the minimal condition) is Chernikov.
N. S. Chernikov
16.107. Is it true that almost every alternating group A is uniquely determined
n
in the class of finite groups by its set of element orders, i. e. that h(e (An )) = 1 for
all large enough n?
W. J. Shi
Yes, it is (I. B. Gorshkov, Algebra and Logic, 52, no. 1 (2013), 4145).
16.108. Do braid groups Bn , n > 4, have non-elementary hyperbolic factor groups?
V. E. Shpilrain
16.110. (I. Kapovich, P. Schupp). Is there an algorithm which, when given two
elements u, v of a free group Fn , decides whether or not the cyclic length of (u)
equals the cyclic length of (v) for every automorphism of Fn ?
Comment of 2009: The answer was shown to be positive for n = 2 in (D. Lee,
J. Group Theory, 10 (2007), 561569).
V. E. Shpilrain
16.111. Must an infinite simple periodic group with a dihedral Sylow 2-subgroup be
isomorphic to L2 (P ) for a locally finite field P of odd characteristic? V. P. Shunkov
111
112
17.11. Is there a group containing a left 3-Engel element which does not belong to
the HirschPlotkin radical?
A. Abdollahi
17.12. Are there functions e, c : N N such that if in a nilpotent group G a normal
subgroup H consists of right n-Engel elements of G, then H e(n) 6 c(n) (G)?
A. Abdollahi
Yes, there are (P. G. Crosby, G. Traustason, J. Algebra, 324 (2010), 875883).
17.13. Let G be a totally imprimitive p-group of finitary permutations on an infinite
set. Suppose that the support of any cycle in the cyclic decomposition of every element
of G is a block for G. Does G necessarily contain a minimal non-F C-subgroup?
A. O. Asar
17.14. Can the braid group Bn for n > 4 be embedded into the automorphism group
Aut(Fn2 ) of a free group Fn2 of rank n 2?
Artins theorem implies that Bn can be embedded into Aut(Fn ), and an embedding
of Bn , n > 3, into Aut(Fn1 ) was constructed in (B. Perron, J. P. Vannier, Math.
Ann., 306 (1996), 231245).
V. G. Bardakov
17.15. Construct an algorithm which, for a given polynomial f Z[x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ],
finds (explicitly, in terms of generators) the maximal subgroup Gf of the group
Aut(Z[x1 , x2 , . . . , xn ]) that leaves f fixed. This question is related to description
of the solution set of the Diophantine equation f = 0.
V. G. Bardakov
17.16. Let A be an Artin group of finite type, that is, the corresponding Coxeter
group is finite. It is known that the group A is linear (S. Bigelow, J. Amer. Math.
Soc., 14 (2001), 471486; D. Krammer, Ann. Math., 155 (2002), 131156; F. Digne,
J. Algebra, 268 (2003), 3957; A. M. Cohen, D. B. Wales, Israel J. Math., 131 (2002),
101123). Is it true that the automorphism group Aut(A) is also linear?
An affirmative answer for A being a braid group Bn , n > 2, was obtained in
(V. G. Bardakov, O. V. Bryukhanov, Vestnik Novosibirsk. Univ. Ser. Mat. Mekh.
Inform., 7, no. 3 (2007), 4558 (Russian)).
V. G. Bardakov
17.17. If a finitely generated group G has n < maximal subgroups, must G be
finite? In particular, what if n = 3?
G. M. Bergman
17.18. Let A be the class of compact groups A with the property that whenever two
compact groups B and C contain A, they can be embedded in a common compact
group D by embeddings agreeing on A. I showed (Manuscr. Math., 58 (1987) 253
281) that all members of A are (not necessarily connected) finite-dimensional compact
Lie groups satisfying a strong local simplicity property, and that all finite groups
do belong to A.
a) Is it true that R/Z A?
b) Do any nonabelian connected compact Lie groups belong to A?
c) If A belongs to A, must the connected component of the identity in A belong
to A?
G. M. Bergman
17.19. If F is a free group of finite rank, R a retract of F , and H a subgroup of F
of finite rank, must H R be a retract of H?
G. M. Bergman
113
17.20. If M is a real manifold with nonempty boundary, and G the group of selfhomeomorphisms of M which fix the boundary pointwise, is G right-orderable?
G. M. Bergman
17.21. a) If A, B, C are torsion-free abelian groups with A
= A B C, must
A
= A B?
G. M. Bergman
b) What if, furthermore, B
= C?
No, not necessarily, even in case b). See (A. L. S. Corner, in Proc. Colloq. Abelian
Groups (Tihany, 1963), Budapest, 1964, 4348); I also have an example with B and
C of rank 1 as torsion-free abelian groups. (G. Bergman, Letter of 20 February 2011.)
17.22. Suppose A is a group which belongs to a variety V of groups, and which is
embeddable in the full symmetric group S on an infinite set. Must the coproduct in
V of two copies of A also be embeddable in S? (N. G. de Bruijn proved that this is
true if V is the variety of all groups.)
G. M. Bergman
17.23. Suppose the full symmetric group S on a countably infinite set is generated
by the union of two subgroups G and H. Must S be finitely generated over one of
these subgroups?
G. M. Bergman
17.24. (A. Blass, J. Irwin, G. Schlitt). Does Z have a subgroup whose dual is free
of uncountable rank?
G. M. Bergman
Yes, it does (G. M. Bergman, Portugaliae Math., 69 (2012) 6984).
17.25. (S. P. Farbman). Let X be the set of complex numbers such that the group
generated by the two 22 matrices I +e12 and I +e21 is not free on those generators.
a) Does X contain all rational numbers in the interval (4, 4)?
b) Does X contain any rational number in the interval [27/7, 4)?
Cf. 4.41 (Archive), 15.83, and (S. P. Farbman, Publ. Mat., 39 (1995) 379391).
G. M. Bergman
17.26. Are the classes of right-orderable and right-ordered groups closed under taking
solutions of equations w(a1 , . . . , ak , x1 , . . . , xn ) = 1? (Here the closures are under
group embeddings and order-preserving embeddings, respectively.) This is true for
equations with a single constant, when k = 1 (J. Group Theory, 11 (2008), 623633).
V. V. Bludov, A. M. W. Glass
17.27. Can the free product of two ordered groups with order-isomorphic amalgamated subgroups be lattice orderable but not orderable?
V. V. Bludov, A. M. W. Glass
17.28. Is there a soluble right-orderable group with insoluble word problem?
V. V. Bludov, A. M. W. Glass
114
17.29. Construct a finitely presented orderable group with insoluble word problem.
V. V. Bludov, A. M. W. Glass
Such a group is constructed (V. V. Bludov, A. M. W. Glass, Bull. London Math.
Soc., 44 (2012), 8598).
17.30. Is there a constant l such that every finitely presented soluble group has a
subgroup of finite index of nilpotent length at most l? Cf. 16.35.
V. V. Bludov, J. R. J. Groves
17.31. Can a soluble right-orderable group have finite quotient by the derived subgroup?
V. V. Bludov, A. H. Rhemtulla
17.32. Is the following analogue of the CayleyHamilton theorem true for the free
group Fn of rank n: If w Fn and Aut Fn are such that hw, (w), . . . , n (w)i =
Fn , then hw, (w), . . . , n1 (w)i = Fn ?
O. V. Bogopolski
17.33. Can the quasivariety generated by the group ha, b | a1 ba = b1 i be defined
by a set of quasi-identities in a finite set of variables? The answer is known for all
other groups with one defining relation.
A. I. Budkin
17.34. Let Nc be the quasivariety of nilpotent torsion-free groups of class at most c.
Is it true that the dominion in Nc (see the definition in 16.20) of a divisible subgroup
in every group in Nc is equal to this subgroup?
A. I. Budkin
17.35. Suppose we have a finite two-colourable triangulation of the sphere, with
triangles each coloured either black or white so that no pair of triangles with the
same colour share an edge. On each vertex we write a generator, and we assume the
generators commute. We use these generators to generate an abelian group GW with
relations stating that the generators around each white triangle add to zero. Doing
the same thing with the black triangles, we generate a group GB . Conjecture: GW is
isomorphic to GB .
I. M. Wanless, N. J. Cavenagh
Conjecture
is
proved
(S. R. Blackburn,
T. A. McCourt,
Triangulations
of
the
sphere,
bitrades
and
abelian
groups,
\protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/1112.5423}{arXiv:1112.5423}v2
(2011)).
17.36. Two groups are called isospectral if they have the same set of element orders. Find all finite non-abelian simple groups G for which there is a finite group
H isospectral to G and containing a proper normal subgroup isomorphic to G. For
every simple group G determine all groups H satisfying this condition.
It is easy to show that a group H must satisfy the condition G < H 6 Aut G.
A. V. Vasilev
17.37. Is there an integer n such that for all m > n the alternating group Am has
no non-trivial Am -permutable subgroups? (See the definition in 17.112.)
A. F. Vasilev, A. N. Skiba
115
116
117
S. Kohl
118
119
V. D. Mazurov
a) Yes, it is (N. Yu. Makarenko, P. Shumyatsky, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 138
(2010), 34253436).
17.73. Let G be a finite simple group of Lie type defined over a field of characteristic p,
and V an absolutely irreducible G-module over a field of the same characteristic. Is
it true that in the cases
a) G = U4 (q);
b) G = S2n (q), n > 3;
c) G = O2n+1 (q), n > 3;
+
d) G = O2n
(q), n > 4;
e) G = O2n
(q), n > 4;
f) G = 3 D4 (q), q 6= 2;
g) G = E6 (q);
h) G = 2 E6 (q);
i) G = E7 (q);
j) G = G (2m )
2
the split extension of V by G must contain an element whose order is distinct from
the order of any element of G?
Editors comment: affirmative solution of parts (g), (h), (i) is announced in
(M. A. Grechkoseeva, Abstracts of Malcev Meeting-2011, Novosibirsk, 2011), as well
as of part (c) for n > 3 and parts (d), (e) for n > 4 (ibid.); http://www.math.nsc.ru/
conference/malmeet/11/plenary/2011MM_Grechkoseeva.pdf.
V. D. Mazurov
j) Yes, it is (A. V. Vasilev, A. M. Staroletov, Algebra Logic, 52, no. 1 (2013), 114).
17.74. Let G be a finite simple group of Lie type defined over a field of characteristic p
whose Lie rank is at least three, and V an absolutely irreducible G-module over a
field of characteristic that does not divide p. It is true that the split extension of V
by G must contain an element whose order is distinct from the order of any element
of G? The case of G = Un (pm ) is of special interest.
Editors comment: affirmative solution is announced in (M. A. Grechkoseeva, Abstracts of Int. Conf. Algebra and Math. Logic ded. to V. V. Morozov, Kazan, 2011,
p. 206); for all classical groups published in (M. A. Grechkoseeva, J. Algebra, 339,
no. 1 (2011), 304319).
V. D. Mazurov
17.75. Can the Monster M act on a nontrivial finite 3-group V so that all elements
of M of orders 41, 47, 59, 71 have no nontrivial fixed points in V ?
V. D. Mazurov
17.76. Does there exist a finite group G, with |G| > 2, such that there is exactly one
element in G which is not a commutator?
D. MacHale
120
17.77. Let k be a positive integer such that there is an insoluble finite group with
exactly k conjugacy classes. Is it true that a finite group of maximal order with
exactly k conjugacy classes is insoluble?
R. Heffernan, D. MacHale
No, it is not; see Table 1 in (A. Vera-Lopez, J. Sangroniz, Math. Nachr., 280,
no. 56 (2007), 676694).
17.78. Does there exist a finitely generated group without free subsemigroups generating a proper variety containing Ap A?
O. Macedo
nska
17.79. Does there exist a finitely generated torsion group of unbounded exponent
generating a proper variety?
O. Macedo
nska
Yes, moreover, there is a continuum of such groups (V. S. Atabekyan, Infinite
simple groups satisfying an identity, Dep. VINITI no. 5381-V86, Moscow, 1986 (Russian)). Another example was suggested by D. Osin in a letter of 31 August 2013: a
free group G in the variety M defined by the law xn y = yxn is a central extension of
a free Burnside group of exponent n such that the centre of G is a free abelian group
of countable rank (I. S. Ashmanov, A. Yu. Olshanski, Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved.
Mat., 1985, no. 11 (1985), 4860 (Russian)). Let x1 , x2 , . . . be a basis in Z(G). By
adding to G the relations xii = 1 for all i we obtain a periodic group of unbounded
exponent generating a proper variety (contained in M).
n
z }| {
17.80. Let [u, n v] := [u, v, . . . , v ]. Is the group Mn = hx, y | x = [x, n y], y = [y, n x] i
infinite for every n > 2? (See also 11.18.)
O. Macedo
nska
17.81.
Given normal
subgroups R1 , . . . , Rn of a group G, let [[R1 , . . . , Rn ]] :=
i
Yh \
\
Ri ,
Rj , where the product is over all I J = {1, . . . , n}, I J = .
iI
jJ
Let G be a free group, and let Ri = hri iG be the normal closures of elements ri G.
It is known (B. Hartley, Yu. Kuzmin, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 74 (1991), 247256)
that the quotient (R1 R2 )/[R1 , R2 ] is a free abelian group. On the other hand, the
quotient (R1 Rn )/[[R1 , . . . , Rn ]] has, in general, non-trivial torsion for n > 4.
Is this quotient always torsion-free for n = 3? This is known to be true if r1 , r2 , r3
are not proper powers in G.
R. Mikhailov
17.82. Is it true that in every finitely presented group the intersection of the derived
series has trivial abelianization?
R. Mikhailov
No, not always (V. A. Romankov, Siberian Math. J., 52, no. 2 (2011), 348351).
17.83. Does there exist a group such that every central extension of it is residually
nilpotent, but there exists a central extension of a central extension of it which is not
residually nilpotent?
R. Mikhailov
17.84. An associative algebra A is said to be CalabiYau of dimension d (for short,
CYd) if there is a natural isomorphism of A-bimodules ExtdA-bimod (A, AA)
= A and
ExtnA-bimod (A, A A) = 0 for n 6= d. By Kontsevichs theorem, the complex group
algebra CG of the fundamental group G of a 3-dimensional aspherical manifold is
CY3. Is every group with CY3 complex group algebra residually finite? R. Mikhailov
121
17.85. Let V be a variety of groups such that any free group in V has torsion-free
integral homology groups in all dimensions. Is it true that V is abelian?
It is known that free metabelian groups may have 2-torsion in the second homology
groups, and free nilpotent groups of class 2 may have 3-torsion in the fourth homology
groups.
R. Mikhailov
17.86. (Simplest questions related to the Whitehead asphericity conjecture). Let
hx1 , x2 , x3 | r1 , r2 , r3 i be a presentation of the trivial group.
a) Prove that the group hx1 , x2 , x3 | r1 , r2 i is torsion-free.
b) Let F = F (x , x , x ) and R = hr iF . Is it true that the group F/[R , R ]
1
2
3
i
i
1
2
is residually soluble? If yes, then any subcomplex of a contractible two-dimensional
complex with three cells is aspherical.
R. Mikhailov
b) No, not always (V. A. Romankov, Siberian Math. J., 52, no. 2 (2011), 348351).
17.87. Construct a group of intermediate growth with finitely generated Schur multiplier.
R. Mikhailov
17.88. Compute K0 (F2 G) and K1 (F2 G), where G is the first Grigorchuk group,
F2 G its group algebra over the field of two elements, and K0 , K1 the zeroth and first
K-functors.
R. Mikhailov
17.89. By Bousfields theorem, the free pronilpotent completion of a non-cyclic free
group has uncountable Schur multiplier. Is it true that the free prosolvable completion
(that is, the inverse limit of quotients by the derived subgroups) of a non-cyclic free
group has uncountable Schur multiplier?
R. Mikhailov
17.90. (G. Baumslag). A group is parafree if it is residually nilpotent and has the
same lower central quotients as a free group. Is it true that H2 (G) = 0 for any finitely
generated parafree group G?
R. Mikhailov
17.91. Let d(X) denote the derived length of a group X.
a) Does there exist an absolute constant k such that d(G) d(M ) 6 k for every
finite soluble group G and any maximal subgroup M ?
b) Find the minimum k with this property.
V. S. Monakhov
17.92. What are the non-abelian composition factors of a finite non-soluble group
all of whose maximal subgroups are Hall subgroups?
V. S. Monakhov
Answer: L (7), L (11), L (2) (N. V. Maslova, Siberian Math. J., 53, no. 5 (2012),
2
853861).
122
Peter M. Neumann
123
17.104. Let be a finite non-oriented graph on the set of vertices {x1 , . . . , xn } and let
S = hx1 , . . . , xn | xi xj = xj xi (xi , xj ) ; A2 i be a presentation of a partially
commutative metabelian group S in the variety of all metabelian groups. Is the
universal theory of the group S decidable? V. N. Remeslennikov, E. I. Timoshenko
17.105. An equation over a pro-p-group G is an expression v(x) = 1, where v(x) is an
element of the free pro-p-product of G and a free pro-p-group with basis {x1 , . . . , xn };
solutions are sought in the affine space Gn . Is it true that a free pro-p-group is
equationally Noetherian, that is, for any n every system of equations in x1 , . . . , xn
over this group is equivalent to some finite subsystem of it?
N. S. Romanovski
17.107. Does G = SL2 (C) contain a 2-generated free subgroup that is conjugate in G
to a proper subgroup of itself?
A 6-generated free subgroup with this property has been found (D. Calegari,
N. M. Dunfield, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 134, no. 11 (2006), 31313136). M. Sapir
17.108. Is the group ha, b, t | at = ab, bt = bai linear?
If not, this would be an easy example of a non-linear hyperbolic group. M. Sapir
17.109. A non-trivial group word w is uniformly elliptic in a class C if there is
a function f : N N such that the width of w in every d-generator C-group G is
bounded by f (d) (i. e. every element of the verbal subgroup w(G) is equal to a product
of f (d) values of w or their inverses). If C is a class of finite groups, this is equivalent
to saying that in every finitely generated pro-C group G the verbal subgroup w(G) is
closed. A. Jaikin-Zapirain (Revista Mat. Iberoamericana, 24 (2008), 617630) proved
that w is uniformly elliptic in finite p-groups if and only if w
/ F (F )p , where F is
the free group on the variables of w. Is it true that w is uniformly elliptic in C if and
only if w
/ F (F )p for every prime p in the case where C is the class of all
a) finite soluble groups?
b) finite groups?
See also Ch. 4 of (D. Segal, Words: notes on verbal width in groups, LMS Lect. Note
Series, 361, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2009.
D. Segal
17.110. a) Is it true that for each word w, there is a function h : N N N such
that the width of w in every finite p-group of Pr
ufer rank r is bounded by h(p, r)?
b) If so, can h(p, r) be made independent of p?
An affirmative answer to a) would imply A. Jaikin-Zapirains result (ibid.) that
every word has finite width in each p-adic analytic pro-p group, since a pro-p group is
p-adic analytic if and only if the Pr
ufer ranks of all its finite quotients are uniformly
bounded.
D. Segal
17.111. Let G be a finite group, and p a prime divisor of |G|. Suppose that every
maximal subgroup of a Sylow p-subgroup of G has a p-soluble supplement in G. Must
G be p-soluble?
A. N. Skiba
Yes, it must (GuoHua Qian, Science China Mathematics, 56, no. 5 (2013), 1015
1018).
124
17.113. Do there exist for p > 3 2-generator finite p-groups with deficiency zero (see
8.12) of arbitrarily high nilpotency class?
J. Wiegold
17.114. Does every generalized free product (with amalgamation) of two non-trivial
groups have maximal subgroups?
J. Wiegold
17.115. Can a locally free non-abelian group have non-trivial Frattini subgroup?
J. Wiegold
17.116. Let n(G) be the maximum of positive integers n such that the n-th direct
p
power of a finite simple group G is 2-generated. Is it true that n(G) > |G|?
A. Erfanian, J. Wiegold
Yes, it is, even with n(G) > 2p|G| (A. Mar
oti, M. C. Tamburini, Commun. Algebra, 41, no. 1 (2013), 3449).
17.117. (Well-known problem). If groups A and B have decidable elementary theories T h(A) and T h(B), must T h(A B) be decidable?
O. Kharlampovich
17.118. Suppose that a finite p-group G has a subgroup of exponent p and of index p.
Must G also have a characteristic subgroup of exponent p and of index bounded in
terms of p?
E. I. Khukhro
17.119. Suppose that a finite soluble group G admits a soluble group of automorphisms A of coprime order such that CG (A) has rank r. Let |A| be the product of l
not necessarily distinct primes. Is there a linear function f such that G/Ff (l) (G) has
(|A|, r)-bounded rank, where Ff (l) (G) is the f (l)-th Fitting subgroup?
An exponential function f with this property was found in (E. Khukhro,
V. Mazurov, Groups St. Andrews 2005, vol. II, Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007, 564
585). It is also known that |G/F2l+1 (G)| is bounded in terms of |CG (A)| and |A|
(HartleyIsaacs).
E. I. Khukhro
17.120. Is a residually finite group all of whose subgroups of infinite index are finite
necessarily cyclic-by-finite?
N. S. Chernikov
125
17.121. Let G be a group whose set of elements is the real numbers and which is
nicely definable (see below). Does G being -free imply it being free if nicely
definable means
a) being F ?
b) being Borel?
c) being analytic?
d) being projective L[R]?
See \protect\vrule width0pt\protect\href{http://arxiv.org/abs/math/0212250}{arXiv:math/0212250}v
for justification of the restrictions.
S. Shelah
17.122. The same questions as 17.121 for an abelian group G.
S. Shelah
17.123. Do there exist finite groups G1 , G2 such that e (G1 ) = e (G2 ), h(e (G1 )) <
, and each non-abelian composition factors of each of the groups G1 , G2 is not
isomorphic to a section of the other?
For definitions see Archive, 13.63.
W. J. Shi
17.124. Is the set of finitely presented metabelian groups recursively enumerable?
V. Shpilrain
17.125. Does every finite group G contain a pair of conjugate elements a, b such that
(G) = (ha, bi)? This is true for soluble groups.
Comment of 2013: it was proved in (A. Lucchini, M. Morigi, P. Shumyatsky, Forum
Math., 24 (2012), 875887) that every finite group G contains a 2-generator subgroup
H such that (G) = (H).
P. Shumyatsky
17.126. Suppose that G is a residually finite group satisfying the identity [x, y]n = 1.
Must [G, G] be locally finite?
An equivalent question: let G be a finite soluble group satisfying the identity
[x, y]n = 1; is the Fitting height of G bounded in terms of n? Cf. Archive, 13.34
P. Shumyatsky
17.127. Suppose that a finite soluble group G of derived length d admits an elementary abelian p-group of automorphisms A of order pn such that CG (A) = 1. Must G
have a normal series of n-bounded length with nilpotent factors of (p, n, d)-bounded
nilpotency class?
This is true for p = 2. An affirmative answer would follow from an affirmative
answer to 11.125.
P. Shumyatsky
17.128. Let T be a finite p-group admitting an elementary abelian group of automorphisms A of order p2 such that in the semidirect product P = T A every element
of P \ T has order p. Does it follow that T is of exponent p?
E. Jabara
126
New Problems
18.1. Given a group G of finite order n, does there necessarily exist a bijection f
from G onto a cyclic group of order n such that for each element x G, the order
of x divides the order of f (x)? An affirmative answer in the case where G is solvable
was given by F. Ladisch.
I. M. Isaacs
18.2. Let the group G = AB be the product of two Chernikov subgroups A and B
each of which has an abelian subgroup of index at most 2. Is G soluble? B. Amberg
18.4. (A. Rhemtulla, S. Sidki). (a) Is a group of the form G = ABA with cyclic
subgroups A and B always soluble? (This is known to be true if G is finite.)
(b) The same question when in addition A and B are conjugate in G. B. Amberg
18.5. Let the (soluble) group G = AB with finite torsion-free rank r0 (G) be the
product of two subgroups A and B. Is the equation r0 (G) = r0 (A)+r0 (B)r0 (AB)
valid in this case? It is known that the inequality 6 always holds.
B. Amberg
18.7. Let n > 665 be an odd integer. Is it true that the group of outer automorphisms
Out(B(m, n)) of the free Burnside group B(m, n) for m > 2 is complete, that is, has
trivial center and all its automorphisms are inner?
V. S. Atabekyan
18.8. Let X be a class of finite simple groups such that (X ) = char(X ). A formation
of finite groups F is said to be X -saturated if a finite group G belongs to F whenever
the factor group G/(OX (G)) is in F, where OX (G) is the largest normal subgroup of
G whose composition factors are in X . Is every X -saturated formation X -local in the
sense of Forster? (See the definition in (P. Forster, Publ. Sec. Mat. Univ. Aut`
onoma
Barcelona, 29, no. 23 (1985), 3976).)
A. Ballester-Bolinches
New Problems
127
A. Ballester-Bolinches
Yes, it exists. Let = {2, 3, 7} and let F be the class of all groups that are extensions of soluble -groups by finite direct products of groups isomorphic to P SL2 (7).
Then F is a saturated formation equal to F = S f orm(P SL2 (7)) and char(F) = .
Since all proper subgroups of P SL2 (7) are soluble, it follows that F is a hereditary
formation. Since the sets of prime divisors of the orders of the groups P SL2 (23 ) and
P SU3 (3) coincide with , it follows that F is a proper subformation of E . Furthermore, if G F, then the wreath product Cp G belongs to F, where Cp is a cyclic
group of order p . (S. F. Kamornikov, Letter of 20 January 2014).
18.10. A formation F of finite groups satisfies the Wielandt property for residuals if
whenever U and V are subnormal subgroups of hU, V i in a finite group G, then the
F-residual hU, V iF of hU, V i coincides with hU F , V F i. Does every Fitting formation F
satisfy the Wielandt property for residuals?
A. Ballester-Bolinches
18.11. Let G and H be subgroups of the automorphism group Aut(Fn ) of a free group
Fn of rank n > 2. Is it true that the free product G H embeds in the automorphism
group Aut(Fm ) for some m?
V. G. Bardakov
18.12. Let G be a finitely generated group of intermediate growth. Is it true that
there is a positive integer m such that every element of the derived subgroup G is a
product of at most m commutators?
This assertion is valid for groups of polynomial growth, since they are almost
nilpotent by Gromovs theorem. On the other hand, there are groups of exponential
growth (for example, free groups) for which this assertion is not true. V. G. Bardakov
18.13. (D. B. A. Epstein). Is it true that the group H = (Z3 Z) (Z2 Z) =
hx, y, z, t | x3 = z 2 = [x, y] = [z, t] = 1i cannot be defined by three relators in the
generators x, y, z, t?
It is known that the relation module of the group H has rank 3 (K. W. Gruenberg,
P. A. Linnell, J. Group Theory, 11, no. 5 (2008), 587608). An affirmative answer
would give a solution of the relation gap problem. V. G. Bardakov, M. V. Neshchadim
18.14. For an automorphism Aut(G) of a group G, let [e] = {g 1 g | g G}.
Conjecture: If [e] is a subgroup for every Aut(G), then the group G is
nilpotent. If in addition G is finitely generated, then G is abelian.
V. G. Bardakov, M. V. Neshchadim, T. R. Nasybullov
18.15. Is it true that if a group G has trivial center, then there is an inner automorphism such that [e] is not a subgroup?
V. G. Bardakov, M. V. Neshchadim, T. R. Nasybullov
18.16. Is it true that any definable endomorphism of any ordered abelian group is of
the form x 7 rx, for some rational number r?
O. V. Belegradek
128
New Problems
if r = 1 and 1 = 1
1
2
p1
1
n
+1
if r = 1 and 1 > 2
2 1 p1
(Sn ) =
n
1
1
if r = 2 and 1 + 2 = 2
2 1 p1 1 p2 + 1
n
1
1
1 p2 + 2
if r > 2 and 1 + + r > 3
2 1 p1
This is the strongest form of the conjecture. We would be also interested in a proof
that this holds for n sufficiently large. The result for r 6 2, which includes the
first three cases above, is proved for n odd (D. Bubboloni, C. E. Praeger, J. Combin.
Theory (A), 118 (2011), 20002024). When r > 3 we know that cn 6 (Sn ) 6 32 n
for some positive constant c (D. Bubboloni, C. E. Praeger, P. Spiga, J. Algebra, 390
(2013) 199215). We showed that the conjectured value for (Sn ) is an upper bound,
by constructing a normal covering for Sn with this number of conjugacy classes of
maximal subgroups, and gave further evidence for the truth of the conjecture in other
cases (D. Bubboloni, C. E. Praeger, P. Spiga, to appear in Int. J. Group Theory).
D. Bubboloni, C. E. Praeger, P. Spiga
New Problems
129
130
New Problems
18.36. There are groups of cardinality at most 20 , even nilpotent of class 2, that cannot be embedded in S := Sym(N) (V. A. Churkin, Algebra and model theory (Novosibirsk State Tech. Univ.), 5 (2005), 3943 (Russian)). One condition which might
characterize subgroups of S is the following. Consider the metric d on S where for
all x 6= y we define d(x, y) := 2k when k is the least element of the set N such that
k x 6= k y . Then (S, d) is a separable topological group, and so each subgroup of S
(not necessarily a closed subgroup of (S, d)) is a separable topological group under
the induced metric. Is it true that every group G for which there is a metric d such
that (G, d ) is a separable topological group is (abstractly) embeddable in S?
Note that any such group G can be embedded as a section in S.
J. D. Dixon
18.37. (Well-known problem). Is every locally graded group of finite rank almost
locally soluble?
M. Dixon
18.38. Let E denote the class of finite groups that contain a Hall -subgroup. Does
the inclusion E1 E2 E1 2 hold for arbitrary sets of primes 1 and 2 ?
A. V. Zavarnitsine
New Problems
131
18.40. The commutator length cl(g) of g [G, G] is the least number of commutators in G whose product is g, and the stable commutator length is scl(g) :=
limn cl(g n )/n.
Conjecture: Let G be a hyperbolic group. Then the stable commutator length
takes on rational values on [G, G].
D. Calegari
18.41. Let F be a free group of rank 2.
(a) It is known that scl(g) = 0 only for g = 1, and scl(g) > 1/2 for all 1 6= g
[F, F ]. Is 1/2 an isolated value?
(b) Are there any intervals J in R such that the set of values of scl on [F, F ] is
dense in J?
(c) Is there some T R such that every rational number > T is a value of scl(g)
for g [F, F ]?
D. Calegari
18.42. For an orientation-preserving homeomorphism f : S 1 S 1 of a unit circle
S 1 , let f be its lifting to a homeomorphism of R; then the rotation number of f
is defined to be the limit limn (fn (x) x)/n (which is independent of the point
x S 1 ). Let F be a free group of rank 2 with generators a, b. For w F and r, s R,
let R(w, r, s) denote the maximum value of the (real-valued) rotation number of w,
under all representations from F to the universal central extension of Homeo+ (S 1 )
for which the rotation number of a is r, and the rotation number of b is s.
(a) If r, s are rational, must R(w, r, s) be rational?
(b) Let R(w, r, s) denote the supremum of the rotation number of w (as above)
under all representations for which a and b are conjugate to rotations through r and
s, respectively (in the universal central extension of Homeo+ (S 1 )). Is R(w, r, s)
always rational if r and s are rational?
(c) Weak Slippery Conjecture: Let w be a word containing only positive powers of
a and b. A pair of values (r, s) is slippery if there is a strict inequality R(w, r , s ) <
R(w, r, s) for all r < r, s < s. Is it true that then R(w, r, s) = ha (w)r +
hb (w)s, where ha (w) counts the number of as in w, and hb (w) counts the number of
bs in w?
(d) Slippery Conjecture: More precisely, is it always (without assuming (r, s) being slippery) true that if w has the form w = a1 b1 am bm (all positive) and
R(w, r, s) = p/q where p/q is reduced, then |p/q ha (w)r hb (w)s| 6 m/q?
D. Calegari, A. Walker
18.43. (a) Do there exist elements u, v of a 2-generator free group F (a, b) such
that u, v are not conjugate in F (a, b) but for any matrices A, B GL(3, C) we have
trace(u(A, B)) = trace(v(A, B))?
(b) The same question if we replace GL(3, C) by SL(3, C).
I. Kapovich
18.44. Let G be a finite non-abelian group and V a finite faithful irreducible Gmodule. Suppose that M = |G/G | is the largest orbit size of G on V , and among
orbits of G on V there are exactly two orbits of size M . Does this imply that G is
dihedral of order 8, and |V | = 9?
T. M. Keller
18.45. Let G be a finite p-group of maximal class such that all its irreducible characters are induced from linear characters of normal subgroups. Let S be the set of the
derived subgroups of the members of the central series of G. Is there a logarithmic
bound for the derived length of G in terms of |S|?
T. M. Keller
132
New Problems
18.46. Every finite group G can be embedded in a group H in such a way that every
element of G is a square of an element of H. The overgroup H can be chosen such
that |H| 6 2|G|2 . Is this estimate sharp?
It is known that the best possible estimate cannot be better than |H| 6 |G|2
(D. V. Baranov, Ant. A. Klyachko, Siber. Math. J., 53, no. 2 (2012), 201206).
Ant. A. Klyachko
18.47. Is it algorithmically decidable whether a group generated by three given class
transpositions (for the definition, see 17.57)
(a) has only finite orbits on Z?
(b) acts transitively on the set of nonnegative integers in its support?
A difficult case is the group h1(2),4(6) , 1(3),2(6) , 2(3),4(6) i, which acts transitively on
N \ 0(6) if and only if Collatz 3n + 1 conjecture is true.
S. Kohl
18.48. Is it true that there are only finitely many integers which occur as orders of
products of two class transpositions? (For the definition, see 17.57.)
S. Kohl
18.49. Let n N. Is it true that for any a, b, c N satisfying 1 < a, b, c 6 n 2 the
symmetric group Sn has elements of order a and b whose product has order c?
S. Kohl
18.50. Let n N. Is it true that for every k {1, . . . , n!} there is some group G and
pairwise distinct elements g1 , . . . , gn G such that the set {g(1) g(n) | Sn }
of all products of the gi obtained by permuting the factors has cardinality k? S. Kohl
18.51. Given a prime p and n N, let fp (n) be the smallest number such that there
is a group of order pfp (n) into which every group of order pn embeds. Is it true that
fp (n) grows faster than polynomially but slower than exponentially when n tends to
infinity?
S. Kohl
18.52. Is every finite simple group generated by two elements of prime-power orders
m, n? (Here numbers m, n may depend on the group.) The work of many authors
shows that it remains to verify this property for a small number of finite simple groups.
J. Krempa
18.53. Is there a non-linear simple locally finite group in which every centralizer of a
non-trivial element is almost soluble, that is, has a soluble subgroup of finite index?
M. Kuzucuoglu
18.54. Can a group be equal to the union of conjugates of a proper finite nonabelian
simple subgroup?
G. Cutolo
18.55. (a) Can a locally finite p-group G be the union of conjugates of an abelian
proper subgroup?
(b) Can this happen when G is of exponent p?
G. Cutolo
18.56. Let G be a finite 2-group, of order greater than 2, such that |H/HG | 6 2
for all H 6 G, where HG denotes the largest normal subgroup of G contained in H.
Must G have an abelian subgroup of index 4?
G. Cutolo
New Problems
133
D. V. Lytkina
134
New Problems
New Problems
135
136
New Problems
18.86. Is the group G = ha, b | [[a, b], b] = 1i, which is isomorphic to the group of
all unitriangular automorphisms of the free group of rank 3, linear? V. A. Romankov
Yes, it is linear, since it embeds in the holomorph Hol F of the free group F ,
2
2
which can be seen by adding a new generator c = [a, b], so that G = ha, b, c | ab =
ac, cb = ci, while Hol F2 was shown to be linear in Corollary 3 in (V. G. Bardakov,
O. V. Bryukhanov, Vestnik Novosibirsk Univ. Ser. Mat. Mekh. Inf., 7, no. 3 (2007),
4558 (Russian)) (O. V. Bryukhanov, Letter of 27 January 2014). Another proof can
be found in (V. A. Romankov, J. Siberian Federal Univ. Math. Phys., 6, no. 4 (2013),
516520).
18.88. Can a finitely generated infinite group of finite exponent be the quotient of a
residually finite group by a locally finite normal subgroup?
If not, then there exists a hyperbolic group that is not residually finite. M. Sapir
New Problems
137
y(6, 5) = 4 (6, 4), y(3, 7) = SL(2, 8) = (4, 8), y(4, 7) = Sp(4, 8) = (5, 8). Extensive computations by Felsch, Neub
user and OBrien confirm this trend. Different
types reveal Bott periodicity and a connection with Clifford algebras.
S. Sidki
18.91. A subgroup H of a group G is said to be propermutable in G if there is a
subgroup B 6 G such that G = NG (H)B and H permutes with every subgroup of B.
(a) Is there a finite group G with subgroups A 6 B 6 G such that A is propermutable in G but A is not propermutable in B?
(b) Let P be a non-abelian Sylow 2-subgroup of a finite group G with |P | = 2n .
Suppose that there is an integer k such that 1 < k < n and every subgroup of P of
order 2k is propermutable in G, and also, in the case of k = 1, every cyclic subgroup
of P of order 4 is propermutable in G. Is it true that then G is 2-nilpotent?
A. N. Skiba
18.92. A non-empty set of formations is called a complete lattice of formations
if the intersection of any set of formations in belongs to and has the largest
element (with respect to inclusion).
If L is a complete lattice, then anWelement a L
W
is said to be compact if a 6 X for any X L implies that a 6 X1 for some
finite X1 X. A complete lattice is called algebraic if every element is the join of a
(possibly infinite) set of compact elements.
a) Is there a non-algebraic complete lattice of formations of finite groups?
b) Is there a non-modular complete lattice of formations of finite groups?
A. N. Skiba
18.93. Let M be a one-generated saturated formation, that is, the intersection of all
saturated formations containing some fixed finite group. Let F be a subformation of
M such that F 6= F F .
(a) Is it true that then F can be written in the form F = F1 Ft , where Fi is
a non-decomposable formation for every i = 1, . . . , t?
b) Suppose that F = F1 Ft , where Fi is a non-decomposable formation for
every i = 1, . . . , t. Is it true that then all factors Fi are uniquely determined?
A. N. Skiba
18.94. Let G be a group without involutions, a an element of it that is not a square
of any element of G, and n an odd positive integer. Is it true that the quotient
G/h(an )G i does not contain involutions?
A. I. Sozutov
138
New Problems
H. P. Tong-Viet
18.100. For a given class of groups X, let (X, ) denote the class of groups in which
every infinite subset contains two distinct elements x and y that satisfy hx, xy i X.
Let G be a finitely generated soluble-by-finite group in the class (X, ) , let m be a
positive integer, and let F, Em , E, N, and P denote the classes of finite groups, groups
of exponent dividing m, groups of finite exponent, nilpotent groups, and polycyclic
groups, respectively.
a) If X = EN, then is G in EN?
b) If X = Em N, then is G in Em (FN)?
c) If X = N(PF), then is G in N(PF)?
N. Trabelsi
n
z }| {
18.101. An element g of a group G is said to be left n-Engel if [...[[x, g], g], . . . , g ] = 1
for all x G. Is every left 3-Engel element contained in the locally nilpotent radical?
Editors apology: this is the same as 17.11.
G. Traustason
18.102. (E. C. Dade). Let C be a Carter subgroup of a finite solvable group G, and
let (C) be the number of primes dividing |C| counting multiplicities. It was proved
in (E. C. Dade, Illinois J. Math., 13 (1969), 449514) that there is an exponential
function f such that the nilpotent length of G is at most f ((C)). Is there a linear
(or at least a polynomial) function f with this property?
A. Turull
New Problems
139
140
New Problems
New Problems
141
142
143
1.14. (B. H. Neumann). Does there exist an infinite simple finitely presented group?
M. D. Greendlinger
Yes, there exists (G. Higman, Finitely presented infinite simple groups (Notes on Pure
Mathematics, no. 8) Dept. of Math., Inst. Adv. Studies Austral. National Univ.,
Canberra, 1974), where there is also a reference to R. Thompson.
1.17. Write an explicit set of generators and defining relations for a universal finitely
presented group.
M. D. Greendlinger
This was done (M. K. Valiev, Soviet Math. Dokl., 14 (1973), 987991).
1.18. (A. Tarski). a) Does there exist an algorithm for determining the solubility of
equations in a free group?
b) Describe the structure of all solutions of an equation when it has at least one
solution.
Yu. L. Ershov
a) Yes, there exists (G. S. Makanin, Math. USSRIzv., 21 (1982), 546582; 25 (1985),
7588).
b) This was described (A. A. Razborov, Math. USSRIzv., 25 (1984), 115162).
1.21. Are there only finitely many finite simple groups of a given exponent n?
M. I. Kargapolov
Yes, modulo CFSG, see, for example, (G. A. Jones, J. Austral. Math. Soc., 17 (1974),
162173).
1.23. Does there exist an infinite simple locally finite group of finite rank?
M. I. Kargapolov
No (V. P. Shunkov, Algebra and Logic, 10 (1971), 127142).
1.24. Does every infinite group possess an infinite abelian subgroup?
M. I. Kargapolov
No (P. S. Novikov, S. I. Adian, Math. USSRIzv., 2 (1968), 11311144).
1.25. a) Is the universal theory of the class of finite groups decidable?
b) Is the universal theory of the class of finite nilpotent groups decidable?
M. I. Kargapolov
a) No (A. M. Slobodskoi, Algebra and Logic, 20 (1981), 139156).
b) No (O. G. Kharlampovich, Math. Notes, 33 (1983), 254263).
1.26. Does elementary equivalence of two finitely generated nilpotent groups imply
that they are isomorphic?
M. I. Kargapolov
No (B. I. Zilber, Algebra and Logic, 10 (1971), 192197).
1.29. (A. Tarski). Is the elementary theory of a free group decidable?
M. I. Kargapolov
Yes, it is (O. Kharlampovich, A. Myasnikov, J. Algebra, 302, no. 2 (2006), 451552).
1.30. Is the universal theory of the class of soluble groups decidable?
M. I. Kargapolov
No (O. G. Kharlampovich, Math. USSRIzv., 19 (1982), 151169).
1.32. Is the Frattini subgroup of a finitely generated matrix group over a field nilpotent?
M. I. Kargapolov
Yes, it is (V. P. Platonov, Soviet Math. Dokl., 7 (1966), 15571560).
144
1.34. Has every orderable polycyclic group a faithful representation by matrices over
the integers?
M. I. Kargapolov
Yes, it has (L. Auslander, Ann. Math. (2), 86 (1967), 112117; R. G. Swan, Proc.
Amer. Math. Soc., 18 (1967), 573574).
1.35. A group is called pro-orderable if every partial ordering of the group extends
to a linear ordering.
a) Is the wreath product of two arbitrary pro-orderable groups again pro-orderable?
b) (A. I. Malcev). Is every subgroup of a pro-orderable group again pro-orderable?
M. I. Kargapolov
Not always, in both cases (V. M. Kopytov, Algebra i Logika, 5, no. 6 (1966), 2731
(Russian)).
1.36. If a group G is factorizable by p-subgroups, that is, G = AB, where A and B
are p-subgroups, does it follows that G is itself a p-group?
Sh. S. Kemkhadze
Not always (Ya. P. Sysak, Products of infinite groups, Math. Inst. Akad. Nauk
Ukrain. SSR, Kiev, 1982 (Russian)).
1.37. Is it true that every subgroup of a locally nilpotent group is quasi-invariant?
Sh. S. Kemkhadze
No, not always; for example, in the inductive limit of Sylow p-subgroups of symmetric
groups of degrees pi , i = 1, 2, . . . . (V. I. Sushchanski, Abstracts of 15th All-USSR
Algebraic Conf., Krasnoyarsk, 1979, 154 (Russian)).
1.38. An N 0 -group is a group in which every cyclic subgroup is a term of some
e -group?
normal system of the group. Is every N 0 -group an N
Sh. S. Kemkhadze
No. Every group G with a central system {Hi } is an N 0 -group, since for any g G
the system {hg, Hi i} refined by the trivial subgroup and the intersections of all the
subsystems is a normal system of G containing hgi. Free groups have central systems
e -groups. (Yu. I. Merzlyakov, 1973.)
but are not N
1.39. Is a group binary nilpotent if it is the product of two normal binary nilpotent
subgroups?
Sh. S. Kemkhadze
No, not always (A. I. Sozutov, Algebra and Logic, 30, no. 1 (1991), 7072).
145
146
1.63. A group G is called dense if it has no proper isolated subgroups other than its
trivial subgroup.
a) Do there exist dense torsion-free groups that are not locally cyclic?
b) Suppose that any two non-trivial elements x and y of a torsion-free group G
satisfy the relation xk = y l , where k and l are non-zero integers depending on x
and y. Does it follow that G is abelian?
P. G. Kontorovich
a) Yes, there exist; b) Not necessarily (S. I. Adian, Math. USSRIzv., 5 (1971), 475
484).
1.64. A torsion-free group is said to be separable if it can be represented as the
set-theoretic union of two of its proper subsemigroups. Is every R-group separable?
P. G. Kontorovich
No (S. J. Pride, J. Wiegold, Bull. London Math. Soc., 9 (1977), 3637).
1.66. Suppose that T is a periodic abelian group, and m an uncountable cardinal
number. Does there always exist an abelian torsion-free group U (T, m) of cardinality
m with the following property: for any abelian torsion-free group A of cardinality
6 m, the equality Ext (A, T ) = 0 holds if and only if A is embeddable in U (T, m)?
L. Ya. Kulikov
No, not always. There is a model of ZFC in which for a certain class of cardinals m
the answer is negative (S. Shelah, L. Str
ungmann, J. London Math. Soc., 67, no. 3
(2003), 626642). On the other hand, under the assumption of Godels constructivity
hypothesis (V = L) the answer is affirmative for any cardinal if T has only finitely
many non-trivial bounded p-components (L. Str
ungmann, Ill. J. Math., 46, no. 2
(2002), 477490).
1.68. (A. Tarski). Let K be a class of groups and QK the class of all homomorphic
images of groups from K. If K is axiomatizable, does it follow that QK is?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
Not always (F. Clare, Algebra Universalis, 5 (1975), 120124).
1.69. (B. I. Plotkin). Do there exist locally nilpotent torsion-free groups without the
property RN ?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
Yes, there exist (E. M. Levich, A. I. Tokarenko, Siberian Math. J., 11 (1970), 1033
1034; A. I. Tokarenko, Trudy Rizhsk. Algebr. Sem., Riga Univ., Riga, 1969, 280281
(Russian)).
1.70. Let p be a
prime number and let G be the group of all matrices of the form
1 + p
p
, where , , , are rational numbers with denominators coprime
p
1 + p
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
to p. Does G have the property RN ?
Yes, it does (G. A. Noskov, Siberian Math. J., 14 (1973), 475477).
1.71. Let G be a connected algebraic group over an algebraically closed field. Is the
number of conjugacy classes of maximal soluble subgroups of G finite?
V. P. Platonov
Yes, it is (V. P. Platonov, Siberian Math. J., 10 (1969), 800804).
147
1.72. D. Hertzig has shown that a connected algebraic group over an algebraically
closed field is soluble if it has a rational regular automorphism. Is this result true for
an arbitrary field?
V. P. Platonov
No (V. P. Platonov, Soviet Math. Dokl., 7 (1966), 825829).
1.73. Are there only finitely many conjugacy classes of maximal periodic subgroups
in a finitely generated linear group over the integers?
V. P. Platonov
Not always. The extension H of the free group on free generators a, b by the automorphism : a a1 , b b is a linear group over the integers. For every n Z
the element cn = bn abn has order 2 and CH (cn ) = hcn i. Let the dash denote an
isomorphism of H onto its copy H . As a counterexample one can take the subgroup
G 6 H H generated by the elements a, , a , bb . Indeed, G contains the subgroups Tn = hc0 , cn i, n Z, which are maximal periodic (even in H H ). If Tn and
Tm are conjugate by an element xy G (where x H and y H ), then cx0 = c0 and
cyn = cm , whence x hc0 i, y bmn hcm i. Since xy G, the sums of the exponents
at the occurrences of b in x and y (in any expression) must coincide; hence m = n.
(Yu. I. Merzlyakov, 1973.)
1.75. Classify the infinite simple periodic linear groups over a field of characteristic
p > 0.
V. P. Platonov
They are classified for every p mod CFSG (V. V. Belyaev, in: Investigations in Group
Theory, Sverdlovsk, UNC AN SSSR, 1984, 3950 (Russian); A. V. Borovik, Siberian
Math. J., 24, no. 6 (1983), 843851; B. Hartley, G. Shute, Quart. J. Math. Oxford
(2), 35 (1984), 4971; S. Thomas, Arch. Math., 41 (1983), 103116). For p > 2
there is a proof without using the CFSG (A. V. Borovik, Siberian Math. J., 25, no. 2
(1984), 221235). For all p, without using CFSG, the classification also follows from
the paper (M. J. Larsen, R. Pink, J. Amer. Math. Soc., 24 (2011), 11051158) also
known as a preprint of 1998.
1.76. Does there exist a simple, locally nilpotent, locally compact, topological group?
V. P. Platonov
No (I. V. Protasov, Soviet Math. Dokl., 19 (1978), 487489).
1.78. Let a group G be the product of two divisible abelian p-groups of finite rank.
Is then G itself a divisible abelian p-group of finite rank?
N. F. Sesekin
Yet, it is (N. F. Sesekin, Siberian Math. J., 9 (1968), 10701072).
1.80. Does there exist a finite simple group whose Sylow 2-subgroup is a direct
product of quaternion groups?
A. I. Starostin
No (G. Glauberman, J. Algebra, 4 (1966), 403420).
148
1.81. The width of a group G is, by definition, the smallest cardinal m = m(G) with
the property that any subgroup of G generated by a finite set S G is generated by
a subset of S of cardinality at most m.
a) Does a group of finite width satisfy the minimum condition for subgroups?
b) Does a group with the minimum condition for subgroups have finite width?
c) The same questions under the additional condition of local finiteness. In particular, is a locally finite group of finite width a Chernikov group?
L. N. Shevrin
a) Not always (S. V. Ivanov, Geometric methods in the study of groups with given
subgroup properties, Cand. Diss., Moscow Univ., Moscow, 1988 (Russian)).
b) Not always (G. S. Deryabina, Math. USSRSb., 52 (1985), 481490).
c) Yes, it is (V. P. Shunkov, Algebra and Logic, 9 (1970), 137151; 10 (1971), 127142).
1.82. Two sets of identities are said to be equivalent if they determine the same
variety of groups. Construct an infinite set of identities which is not equivalent to
any finite one.
A. L. Shmelkin
This was done (S. I. Adian, Math. USSRIzv., 4 (1970), 721739).
1.83. Does there exist a simple group, the orders of whose elements are unbounded,
in which a non-trivial identity relation holds?
A. L. Shmelkin
Yes, there exists (V. S. Atabekyan, Dep. no. 5381-V86, VINITI, Moscow, 1986 (Russian)).
1.84. Is it true that a polycyclic group G is residually a finite p-group if and only if
G has a nilpotent normal torsion-free subgroup of p-power index?
A. L. Shmelkin
No, it is not (K. Seksenbaev, Algebra i Logika, 4, no. 3 (1965), 7983 (Russian)).
1.85. Is it true that the identity relations of a metabelian group have a finite basis?
A. L. Shmelkin
Yes, it is (D. E. Cohen, J. Algebra, 5 (1967), 267273).
1.88. Is it true that if a matrix group over a field of characteristic 0 does not satisfy
any non-trivial identity relation, then it contains a non-abelian free subgroup?
A. L. Shmelkin
Yes, it is (J. Tits, J. Algebra, 20 (1972), 250270).
1.89. Is the following assertion true? Let G be a free soluble group, and a and b
elements of G whose normal closures coincide. Then there is an element x G such
that b1 = x1 ax.
A. L. Shmelkin
No (A. L. Shmelkin, Algebra i Logika, 6, no. 2 (1967), 95109 (Russian)).
1.90. A subgroup H of a group G is called 2-infinitely isolated in G if, whenever the
centralizer CG (h) in G of some element h 6= 1 of H contains at least one involution
and intersects H in an infinite subgroup, it follows that CG (h) 6 H. Let G be an
infinite simple locally finite group whose Sylow 2-subgroups are Chernikov groups,
and suppose G has a proper 2-infinitely isolated subgroup H containing some Sylow
2-subgroup of G. Does it follow that G is isomorphic to a group of the type P SL2 (k),
where k is a field of odd characteristic?
V. P. Shunkov
Yes, it does (V. P. Shunkov, Algebra and Logic, 11 (1972), 260272).
149
2.1. Classify the finite groups having a Sylow p-subgroup as a maximal subgroup.
V. A. Belonogov, A. I. Starostin
A description can be extracted from (B. Baumann, J. Algebra, 38 (1976), 119135)
and (L. A. Shemetkov, Math. USSRIzv., 2 (1968), 487513).
2.2. A quasigroup is a groupoid Q() in which the equations ax = b and ya = b have
a unique solution for any a, b Q. Two quasigroups Q() and Q() are isotopic if
there are bijections , , of the set Q onto itself such that x y = (x y) for
all x, y Q. It is well-known that all quasigroups that are isotopic to groups form a
variety G. Let V be a variety of quasigroups. Characterize the class of groups isotopic
to quasigroups in G V. For which identities characterizing V is every group isotopic
to a quasigroup in G V? Under what conditions on V does any group isotopic to a
group in G V consist of a single element?
V. D. Belousov, A. A. Gvaramiya
Every part is answered (A. A. Gvaramiya, Dep. no. 6704-V84, VINITI, Moscow, 1984
(Russian)).
2.3. A finite group is called quasi-nilpotent (-quasi-nilpotent ) if any two of its
(maximal) subgroups A and B satisfy one of the conditions 1) A 6 B, 2) B 6 A,
3) NA (A B) 6= A B 6= NB (A B). Do the classes of quasi-nilpotent and -quasinilpotent groups coincide?
Ya. G. Berkovich, M. I. Kravchuk
4
4
2
3
No. The group G = x, y, z, t | x = y = z = t = 1, [x, y] = z, [x, z] = [y, z] = 1,
xt = y, y t = x1 y 1 is -quasi-nilpotent, but not quasi-nilpotent. Since G/(G)
=
A4 , the intersection of any two maximal subgroups A and B of G equals (G), whence
NA (A
B) 6= A B 6= NB (A B); thus G is -quasi-nilpotent. On the other hand,
if A1 = zx2 , zy 2 , t and B1 = hz, ti, then NA1 (A1 B1 ) = A1 B1 = hti; hence G
is not quasi-nilpotent. (V. D. Mazurov, 1973.)
2.4. (S. Chase). Suppose that an abelian group A can be written as the union of
pure subgroups A , , where is the first non-denumerable ordinal, A is a
free abelian group of denumerable rank, and, if < , then A is a direct summand
of A . Does it follow that A is a free abelian group?
Yu. A. Bogan
Not always (P. A. Griffith, Pacific J. Math., 29 (1969), 279284).
2.7. Find the cardinality of the set of all polyverbal operations acting on the class of
all groups.
O. N. Golovin
It has the cardinality of the continuum (A. Yu. Olshanski, Math. USSRIzv., 4
(1970), 381389).
2.8. (A. I. Malcev). Do there exist regular associative operations having the heredity
property with respect to transition from the factors to their subgroups? O. N. Golovin
Yes, they exist (S. V. Ivanov, Trans. Moscow Math. Soc., 1993, 217249).
2.10. Prove an analogue of the RemakShmidt theorem for decompositions of a group
into nilpotent products.
O. N. Golovin
Such an analogue is proved (V. V. Limanski, Trudy Moskov. Mat. Obshch., 39 (1979),
135155 (Russian)).
150
2.15. Does there exist a torsion-free group such that the factor group by some term
of its upper central series is nontrivial periodic, with a bound on the orders of the
elements?
G. A. Karasev
Yes, there does (S. I. Adian, Proc. Steklov Inst. Math., 112 (1971), 6169).
2.16. A group G is called conjugacy separable if any two of its elements are conjugate
in G if and only if their images are conjugate in every finite homomorphic image of G.
Is G conjugacy separable in the following cases:
a) G is a polycyclic group,
b) G is a free soluble group,
c) G is a group of (all) integral matrices,
d) G is a finitely generated group of matrices,
e) G is a finitely generated metabelian group?
M. I. Kargapolov
a) Yes (V. N. Remeslennikov, Algebra and Logic, 8 (1969), 404411); E. Formanek,
J. Algebra, 42 (1976), 110).
b) Yes (V. N. Remeslennikov, V. G. Sokolov, Algebra and Logic, 9 (1970), 342349).
c), d) Not always (V. P. Platonov, G. V. Matveev, Dokl. Akad. Nauk BSSR, 14 (1970),
777779 (Russian); V. N. Remeslennikov, V. G. Sokolov, Algebra and Logic, 9 (1970),
342349; V. N. Remeslennikov, Siberian Math. J., 12 (1971), 783792).
e) Not always. Let p be a prime and let A1 , A2 be two copies of the additive group
{m/pk | m, k Z}. Let b1 , b2 be the automorphisms of the direct sum A = A1 A2
defined by ab2 = pa for any a A and ab21 = a1 + a2 and ab11 = a1 for some fixed
elements a1 A1 , a2 A2 . Let G be the semidirect product of A and the direct
product hb1 i hb2 i (of two infinite cyclics). It can be shown that the elements a2
and a2 + a1 /p are not conjugate in G, but their images are conjugate in any finite
quotient of G. (M. I. Kargapolov, E. I. Timoshenko, Abstracts of the 4th All-Union
Sympos. Group Theory, Akademgorodok, 1973, Novosibirsk, 1973, 8688 (Russian).)
2.17. Is it true that the wreath product A B of two groups that are conjugacy
separable is itself conjugacy separable if and only if either A is abelian or B is finite?
M. I. Kargapolov
No (V. N. Remeslennikov, Siberian Math. J., 12 (1971), 783792).
151
2.18. Compute the ranks of the factors of the lower central series of a free soluble
group.
M. I. Kargapolov
They were computed (V. G. Sokolov, Algebra and Logic, 8 (1969), 212215;
Yu. M. Gorchakov, G. P. Egorychev, Soviet Math. Dokl., 13 (1972), 565568).
2.19. Are finitely generated subgroups of a free soluble group finitely separable?
M. I. Kargapolov
Not always (S. A. Agalakov, Algebra and Logic, 22 (1983), 261268).
2.20. Is it true that the wreath products A B and A1 B1 are elementarily equivalent
if and only if A, B are elementarily equivalent to A1 , B1 , respectively?
M. I. Kargapolov
No, but if the word elementarily is replaced by the word universally, then it is
true (E. I. Timoshenko, Algebra and Logic, 7, no. 4 (1968), 273276).
Sh. S. Kemkhadze
2.25. b) Do there exist groups that are linearly orderable in countably many ways?
A. I. Kokorin
Yes, there do (R. N. Buttsworth, Bull. Austral. Math. Soc., 4 (1971), 97104).
152
2.29. Does the class of finite groups in which every proper abelian subgroup is
contained in a proper normal subgroup coincide with the class of finite groups in
which every proper abelian subgroup is contained in a proper normal subgroup of
prime index?
P. G. Kontorovich, V. T. Nagrebetski
No. Let BL
be a finite group such that B = [B, B] 6= 1 and let r be the rank of B.
(Z/pZ)r+1 and G = A B. We define a homomorphism : G A
Put A =
p||B|
P
by setting (bf ) =
xB f (x), where b B and f F = Fun(B, A). Suppose
b
that f = f for b B and f F . It is clear that f nA, where n = |b|. In
particular, CF (b) 6 pA 6 Op (A) if p | n. Every proper abelian subgroup H of
G is contained in a proper normal subgroup. Indeed, we may assume that H 66 F .
We fix an element bf H, where f F , b B, b 6= 1. Let p be a prime dividing
|b|. For any h H F we have bf h = hbf = bhb f = bf hb , whence h = hb .
Hence (H F ) 6 CF (b) 6 Op (A). If T is the full preimage of Op (A) in G, then
G/T
= (Z/pZ)r+1 and therefore H/H T is an elementary abelian p-group. The
rank of it is 6 r, since H/H T embeds into B and H F 6 H T . Thus, HT is
a proper normal subgroup containing H. On the other hand, F is a proper abelian
subgroup that is not contained in any proper normal subgroup of prime index, since
G/F
= B = [B, B]. (G. Bergman, I. Isaacs, Letter of June, 17, 1974.)
2.30. Does there exist a finite group in which a Sylow p-subgroup is covered by other
Sylow p-subgroups?
P. G. Kontorovich, A. L. Starostin
Yes, there exists, for any prime p (V. D. Mazurov, Ural Gos. Univ. Mat. Zap., 7,
no. 3 (1969/70), 129132 (Russian)).
2.31. Can every group admitting an ordering with only finitely many convex subgroups be represented by matrices over a field?
V. M. Kopytov
2.33. Is a direct summand of a direct sum of finitely generated modules over a Noetherian ring again a direct sum of finitely generated modules?
V. I. Kuzminov
Not always (P. A. Linnell, Bull. London Math. Soc., 14 (1982), 124126).
p > 0. Here lim(p) denotes the right derived functor of the projective limit functor.
L
Let be an acyclic spectrum of finitely generated groups. Is the spectrum
also
acyclic, where each spectrum coincides with ?
V. I. Kuzminov
The answer depends on the axioms of Set Theory (A. A. Khusainov, Siberian Math. J.,
37, no. 2 (1996), 405413).
153
2.36. (de Groot). Is the group of all continuous integer-valued functions on a compact
space free abelian?
V. I. Kuzminov
Yes, it is. By (G. N
obeling, Invent. Math., 6 (1968) 4155) the additive group of
all bounded integer-valued functions on an arbitrary set is free. Hence the group of
all continuous integer-valued functions on the Chech compactification of an arbitrary
discrete space is also free. For any compact space X there exists a continuous mapping of the Chech compactification Y of a discrete space onto X. This induces an
embedding of the group of continuous integer-valued functions on X into the free
group of continuous integer-valued functions on Y . (V. I. Kuzminov, 1969.)
2.37. Describe the finite simple groups whose Sylow p-subgroups are cyclic for all
odd p.
V. D. Mazurov
This was done (M. Aschbacher, J. Algebra, 54 (1978), 50152).
2.38. (Old problem). The class of rings embeddable in associative division rings is
universally axiomatizable. Is it finitely axiomatizable?
A. I. Malcev
No (P. M. Cohn, Bull. London Math. Soc., 6 (1974), 147148).
2.40. The I-theory (Q-theory) of a class K of universal algebras is the totality of all
identities (quasi-identities) that are true on all the algebras in K. Does there exist a
finitely axiomatizable variety of
a) groups,
b) semigroups,
c) rings
whose I-theory (Q-theory) is non-decidable?
A. I. Malcev
a) Yes (Yu. G. Kleiman, Trans. Moscow Math. Soc., 1983, no. 2, 63110).
b) Yes (V. M. Murski, Math. Notes, 3 (1968), 423427).
c) Yes (V. Yu. Popov, Math. Notes, 67 (2000), 495504).
154
2.43. A group G is called an F N -group if the groups i G/i+1 G are free abelian and
T
155
156
2.54. Can SL(n, k) have maximal subgroups that are not closed in the Zariski topology?
V. P. Platonov
Yes, it can if k is either Q or an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero
(N. S. Romanovski, Algebra i Logika, 6, no. 4 (1967), 7582; 7, no. 3 (1968), 123
(Russian)).
2.55. b) Does SLn (Z), n > 2, have maximal subgroups of infinite index?
V. P. Platonov
Yes, it does (G. A. Margulis, G. A. Soifer, Soviet Math. Dokl., 18 (1977), 847851).
2.58. Let G be a vector space and a group of automorphisms of G. is called
locally finitely stable if, for any finitely generated subgroup of , G has a finite
series stable relative to . If the characteristic of the field is zero and is locally
finitely stable, then is locally nilpotent and torsion-free. Is it true that every locally
nilpotent torsion-free group can be realized in this way?
B. I. Plotkin
No (L. A. Simonyan, Siberian Math. J., 12 (1971), 602606).
2.59. Let be any nilpotent group of class n 1. Does always admit a faithful
representation as a group of automorphisms of an abelian group with a series of length
n stable relative to ?
B. I. Plotkin
Not always (E. Rips, Israel J. Math., 12 (1972), 342346).
2.61. Let be a Noetherian group of automorphisms of a vector space G such that
every element of is unipotent. Is necessarily a stable group of automorphisms?
B. I. Plotkin
Not if the field has non-zero characteristic (A. Yu. Olshanski, The geometry of defining relations in groups, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991). This is true for fields of characteristic zero if the indices of unipotence are uniformly bounded (B. I. Plotkin, S. M. Vovsi,
Varieties of group representations, Zinatne, Riga, 1983 (Russian)).
2.62. If G is a finite-dimensional vector space over a field and is a group of
automorphisms of G in which every element is stable, then the whole of is stable
(E. Kolchin). Is Kolchins theorem true for spaces over skew fields?
B. I. Plotkin
Yes, it is, if the characteristic of the skew field is zero or sufficiently large compared
to the dimension of the space (H. Y. Mochizuki, Canad. Math. Bull., 21 (1978),
249250).
2.63. Let G be a group of automorphisms of a vector space over a field of characteristic
zero, and suppose that all elements of G are unipotent, with uniformly bounded
unipotency indices. Must such a group be locally finitely stable?
B. I. Plotkin
Yes, it must, which follows from (H. Heineken, Arch. Math. (Basel), 13 (1962), 29
37). Moreover, such a group is even finitely stable, as follows from (E. I. Zelmanov,
Math. USSR-Sb., 66, no. 1 (1990), 159168).
2.64. Does the set of nil-elements of a finite-dimensional linear group coincide with
its locally nilpotent radical?
B. I. Plotkin
Not always. The non-nilpotent 3-generator nilgroup of E. S. Golod constructed by an
algebra over Q is residually torsion-free nilpotent; hence it is orderable and therefore it
is embeddable into GLn over some skew field by Malcevs theorem (V. A. Romankov,
1978).
157
2.65. Does the adjoint group of a radical ring (in the sense of Jacobson) have a
central series?
B. I. Plotkin
Not always (O. M. Neroslavski, Vesci Akad. Navuk BSSR, Ser. Fiz.-Mat. Navuk,
1973, No. 2, 510 (Russian)).
2.66. Is an R-group determined by its subgroup lattice? Is every lattice isomorphism
of R-groups induced by a group isomorphism?
L. E. Sadovski
Not always, in both cases (A. Yu. Olshanski, C. R. Acad. Bulgare Sci., 32, no. 9
(1979), 11651166).
2.69. Let a group G be the product of two subgroups A and B, each of which is
nilpotent and satisfies the minimum condition. Prove or refute the following: a) G
is soluble; b) the divisible parts of A and B commute elementwise.
N. F. Sesekin
Both parts are proved (N. S. Chernikov, Soviet Math. Dokl., 21 (1980), 701703).
2.70. a) Let a group G be the product of two subgroups A and B, each of which is
locally cyclic and torsion-free. Prove that either A or B has a non-trivial subgroup
that is normal in G.
b) Characterize the groups that can be factorized in this way.
N. F. Sesekin
a) This was proved (D. I. Zaitsev, Algebra and Logic, 19 (1980), 94106).
b) They were characterized (Ya. P. Sysak, Algebra and Logic, 25 (1986), 425433).
2.71. Does there exist a finitely generated right-orderable group which coincides with
its derived subgroup and, therefore, does not have the property RN ? D. M. Smirnov
Yes, there exists (G. M. Bergman, Pacific J. Math., 147, no. 2 (1991), 243248).
2.72. (G. Baumslag). Suppose that F is a finitely generated free group, N its normal
subgroup and V a fully invariant subgroup of N . Is F/V necessarily Hopfian if F/N
is Hopfian?
D. M. Smirnov
No, not necessarily (S. V. Ivanov, A. M. Storozhev, Geom. Dedicata, 114 (2005),
209228).
2.73. (Well-known problem). Does there exist an infinite group all of whose proper
subgroups have prime order?
A. I. Starostin
Yes, there does (A. Yu. Olshanski, Algebra and Logic, 21 (1982), 369418).
2.75. Let G be a periodic group containing an infinite family of finite subgroups whose
intersection contains non-trivial elements. Does G contain a non-trivial element with
infinite centralizer?
S. P. Strunkov
Not always (K. I. Lossov, Dep. no. 5528-V88, VINITI, Moscow, 1988 (Russian)).
2.76. Let be the holomorph of an abelian group A. Find conditions for A to be
maximal among the locally nilpotent subgroups of .
D. A. Suprunenko
These are found (A. V. Yagzhev, Mat. Zametki, 46, no. 6 (1989), 118 (Russian)).
2.77. Let A and B be abelian groups. Find conditions under which every extension
of A by B is nilpotent.
D. A. Suprunenko
These are found (A. V. Yagzhev, Math. Notes, 43 (1988), 244245).
158
159
84). Another example. The group G = a, b | (b2 )a = b3 is non-Hopfian as proved
in (G. Baumslag, D. Solitar, Bull. Amer. Math. Soc., 68, no. 3 (1962), 199201)
and therefore is not metabelian. We choose elements a, b, x1 , x2 , x3 , x4 G such that
w = [[x1 , x2 ], [x3 , x4 ]] 6= 1, add to them 1, their inverses, and all the initial segments
of the word w in the alphabet {xi }, and all the initial segments of the word a1 b2 ab3
and of each of the words xi in the alphabet of {a, b}. Let M be the resulting model. If
M was embeddable into a finite group G0 , then G0 would have to be metacyclic, and
also would have to have elements satisfying [[x1 , x2 ], [x3 , x4 ]] 6= 1, which is impossible.
Hence G is not U -embeddable into finite groups. Since the group G/G(k) is also nonHopfian for a suitable k (ibid.), it is not U -embeddable into finite groups for similar
reasons. (Yu. I. Merzlyakov, 1969.)
3.17. a) Is a non-abelian group with a unique linear ordering necessarily simple?
b) Is a non-commutative orderable group simple if it has no non-trivial normal
relatively convex subgroups?
A. I. Kokorin
Not always, in both cases (V. V. Bludov, Algebra and Logic, 13 (1974), 343360).
160
161
3.30. A torsion-free abelian group is called factor-decomposable if, in all its factor
groups, the periodic part is a direct summand. Characterize these groups.
A. P. Mishina
This is done (L. Bican, Commentat. Math. Univ. Carolinae, 19 (1978), 653672).
3.31. Find necessary and sufficient conditions under which every pure subgroup of a
completely decomposable torsion-free abelian group is itself completely decomposable.
A. P. Mishina
These have been found (L. Bican, Czech. Math. J., 24 (1974), 176191; A. A. Kravchenko, Vestnik Moskov. Univ. Ser. 1 Mat. Mekh., 1980, no. 3, p. 104 (Russian)).
3.33. Are two groups necessarily isomorphic if each of them can be defined by a
single relation and is a homomorphic image of the other one?
D. I. Moldavanski
No, not necessarily (A. V. Borshchev, D. I. Moldavanski, Math. Notes, 79, no. 1
(2006), 3140).
3.35. (K. Ross). Suppose that a group G admits two topologies and yielding
locally compact topological groups G and G . If the sets of closed subgroups in G
and G are the same, does it follow that G and G are topologically isomorphic?
Yu. N. Mukhin
Not always (A. I. Moskalenko, Ukrain. Math. J., 30 (1978), 199201).
3.37. Suppose that every finitely generated subgroup of a locally compact group G is
pronilpotent. Then is it true that every maximal closed subgroup of G contains the
derived subgroup G ?
Yu. N. Mukhin
Yes, it is (I. V. Protasov, Soviet Math. Dokl., 19 (1978), 12081210).
3.39. Describe the finite groups with a self-centralizing subgroup of prime order.
V. T. Nagrebetski
They are described. Self-centralizing subgroups of prime order are CC-subgroups.
Finite groups with a CC-subgroup were fully classified in (Z. Arad, W. Herfort, Commun. in Algebra, 32 (2004), 20872098).
3.40. (I. R. Shafarevich). Let SL2 (Z)and SL2 (Z) denote the completions of SL2 (Z)
determined by all subgroups of finite index and all congruence subgroups, respectively,
and let : SL2 (Z) SL2 (Z) be the natural homomorphism. Is Ker a free
profinite group?
V. P. Platonov
Yes, it is (O. V. Melnikov, Soviet Math. Dokl., 17 (1976), 867870).
3.41. Is every compact periodic group locally finite?
Yes, it is (E. I. Zelmanov, Israel J. Math., 77 (1992), 8395).
V. P. Platonov
162
3.52. Can the quasivariety generated by the free group of rank 2 be defined by a
system of quasi-identities in finitely many variables?
D. M. Smirnov
No (A. I. Budkin, Algebra and Logic, 15 (1976), 2533).
3.53. Let L(N4 ) denote the lattice of subvarieties of the variety N4 of nilpotent
groups of class at most 4. Is L(N4 ) distributive?
D. M. Smirnov
No (Yu. A. Belov, Algebra and Logic, 9 (1970), 371374).
3.56. Is a 2-group with the minimum condition for abelian subgroups locally finite?
S. P. Strunkov
Yes, it is (V. P. Shunkov, Algebra and Logic, 9 (1970), 291297).
3.58. Let G be a compact 0-dimensional topological group all of whose Sylow p-subgroups are direct products of cyclic groups of order p. Then is every normal subgroup
of G complementable?
V. S. Charin
Yes, it is (M. I. Kabenyuk, Siberian Math. J., 13 (1972), 654657).
3.59. Let H be an insoluble minimal normal subgroup of a finite group G, and
suppose that H has cyclic Sylow p-subgroups for every prime p dividing |G : H|.
Prove that H has at least one complement in G.
L. A. Shemetkov
This was proved (S. A. Syskin, Siberian Math. J., 12 (1971), 342344; L. A. Shemetkov, Soviet Math. Dokl., 11 (1970), 14361438).
3.61. Let be an automorphism of prime order p of a finite group G, which has a Hall
-subgroup with cyclic Sylow subgroups. Suppose that p . Does the centralizer
CG () have at least one Hall -subgroup?
L. A. Shemetkov
Yes, it does, mod CFSG (V. D. Mazurov, Algebra and Logic, 31, no. 6 (1992), 360
366).
3.62. (Well-known problem). A finite group is said to be a D -group if any two of
its maximal -subgroups are conjugate. Is an extension of a D -group by a D -group
always a D -group?
L. A. Shemetkov
Yes, it is mod CFSG (E. P. Vdovin, D. O. Revin, Contemp. Math., 402 (2006), 229
263).
3.64. Describe the finite simple groups with a Sylow 2-subgroup of the following
n
n1
type: ha, t | a2 = t2 = 1, tat = a2 1 i, n > 2.
V. P. Shunkov
This was done (J. L. Alperin, R. Brauer, D. Gorenstein, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc.,
151 (1970), 1261).
4.1. Find an infinite finitely generated group with an identical relation of the form
n
x2 = 1.
S. I. Adian
It has been found (S. V. Ivanov, Int. J. Algebra Comput., 4, no. 12 (1994), 1308;
I. G. Lysenok, Izv. Math., 60, no. 3 (1996), 453654).
4.3. Construct a finitely presented group with insoluble word problem and satisfying
a non-trivial law.
S. I. Adian
This has been done (O. G. Kharlampovich, Math. USSRIzv., 19 (1982), 151169).
163
4.4. Construct a finitely presented group with undecidable word problem all of whose
non-trivial defining relations have the form A2 = 1. This problem is interesting for
topologists.
S. I. Adian
It is constructed (O. A. Sarkisyan, The word problem for some classes of groups and
semigroups, Candidate disser., Moscow Univ., 1983 (Russian)).
4.5. a) (J. Milnor). Is it true that an arbitrary finitely generated group has either
polynomial or exponential growth?
c) Is it true that every finitely generated group with undecidable word problem has
exponential growth?
S. I. Adian
a) No, c) No (R. I. Grigorchuk, Soviet Math. Dokl., 28 (1983), 2326).
4.10. A group G is called locally indicable if every non-trivial finitely generated
subgroup of G has an infinite cyclic factor group. Is every torsion-free one-relator
group locally indicable?
G. Baumslag
Yes, it is (S. D. Brodski, Dep. no. 2214-80, VINITI, Moscow, 1980 (Russian)).
4.12. Let G be a finite group and A a group of automorphisms of G stabilizing a
series of subgroups beginning with G and ending with its Frattini subgroup. Then is
A nilpotent?
Ya. G. Berkovich
Yes, it is (P. Schmid, Math. Ann., 202 (1973), 5769).
4.16. Suppose that K is a class of groups meeting the following requirements: 1) subgroups and epimorphic images of K-groups are K-groups; 2) if the group G = U V is
the product of K-subgroups U and V (neither of which need be normal), then G K.
If is a set of primes, then the class of all finite -groups meets these requirements.
Are these the only classes K with these properties?
R. Baer
No (S. A. Syskin, Siberian Math. J., 20 (1979), 475476).
4.21. Let G be a finite group, p an odd prime number, and P a Sylow p-subgroup
of G. Let the order of every non-identity normal subgroup of G be divisible by p.
Suppose P has an element x that is conjugate to no other from P . Does x belong
to the centre of G? For p = 2, the answer is positive (G. Glauberman, J. Algebra, 4
(1966), 403420).
G. Glauberman
Yes, it does, mod CFSG (O. D. Artemovich, Ukrain. Math. J., 40 (1988), 343345).
4.22. (J. G. Thompson). Let G be a finite group, A a group of automorphisms of G
such that |A| and |G| are coprime. Does there exist an A-invariant soluble subgroup
H of G such that CA (H) = 1?
G. Glauberman
Yes, it does (S. A. Syskin, Siberian Math. J., 32, no. 6 (1991), 10341037).
4.23. Let G be a finite simple group, some element of prime order, and an
automorphism of G whose order is coprime to |G|. Suppose centralizes CG ( ). Is
= 1?
G. Glauberman
Not always; for example, G = Sz(8), | | = 5, || = 3 (N. D. Podufalov, Letter of
September, 3, 1975 ).
164
165
1
z
0
1
1
0
2
1
and
generate a free group. Are all points outside the rhombus with vertices 2,
i free?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
No (Yu. A. Ignatov, Math. USSRSb., 35 (1979), 4956; A. I. Shkuratski, Math.
Notes, 24 (1978), 720721).
4.45. Let G be a free product amalgamating proper subgroups H and K of A and B,
respectively.
a) Suppose that H, K are finite and |A : H| > 2, |B : K| > 2. Is G SQ-universal?
b) Suppose that A, B, H, K are free groups of finite ranks. Can G be simple?
P. M. Neumann
a) Yes, it is (K. I. Lossov, Siberian Math. J., 27, no. 6 (1986), 890899).
166
4.53. P. F. Pickel has proved that there are only finitely many non-isomorphic finitelygenerated nilpotent groups having the same family of finite homomorphic images. Can
Pickels theorem be extended to polycyclic groups?
V. N. Remeslennikov
Yes, it can (F. J. Grunewald, P. F. Pickel, D. Segal, Ann. of Math. (2), 111 (1980),
155195).
4.54. Are any two minimal relation-modules of a finite group isomorphic?
K. W. Roggenkamp
Not always (P. A. Linnell, Ph. D. Thesis, Cambridge, 1979;
A. J. Sieradski, M. N. Dyer, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 15 (1979), 199217).
4.57. Let a group G be the product of two of its abelian minimax subgroups A and B.
Prove or refute the following T
statements:
a) A0 B0 6= 1, where A0 = xG Ax and similarly for B0 ;
b) the derived subgroup of G is a minimax subgroup.
N. F. Sesekin
Both parts were proved (D. I. Zaitsev, Algebra and Logic, 19 (1980), 94106).
4.58. Let a finite group G be the product of two subgroups A and B, where A is
abelian and B is nilpotent. Find the dependence of the derived length of G on the
nilpotency class of B and the order of its derived subgroup.
N. F. Sesekin
This was found (D. I. Zaitsev, Math. Notes, 33 (1983), 414419).
4.59. (P. Hall). Find the smallest positive integer n such that every countable group
can be embedded in a simple group with n generators.
D. M. Smirnov
It is proved that n = 2 (A. P. Goryushkin, Math. Notes, 16 (1974), 725727).
4.60. (P. Hall). What is the cardinality of the set of simple groups generated by two
elements, one of order 2 and the other of order 3?
D. M. Smirnov
The cardinality of the continuum. Every 2-generated group G is embeddable into
a simple group H with two generators of orders 2 and 3 (P. E. Schupp, J. London
Math. Soc., 13, no. 1 (1976), 9094). Such a group H has at most countably many
2-generator subgroups, while there are continuum of groups G. (Yu. I. Merzlyakov,
1976.)
4.61. Does there exist a linear function f with the following property: if every abelian
subgroup of a finite 2-group G is generated by n elements, then G is generated by
f (n) elements?
S. A. Syskin
No (A. Yu. Olshanski, Math. Notes, 23 (1978), 183185).
4.62. Does there exist a finitely based variety of groups whose universal theory is
undecidable?
A. Tarski
Yes, there does; for example, A5 . Indeed, it is shown in (V. N. Remeslennikov, Algebra
and Logic,
12, no. 5 (1975), 327346)that there exists a finitely presented group
167
4.63. Does there exist a non-abelian variety of groups (in particular, one that contains
the variety of all abelian groups) whose elementary theory is decidable?
A. Tarski
No (A. P. Zamyatin, Algebra and Logic, 27 (1978), 1317).
4.64. Does there exist a variety of groups that does not admit an independent system
of defining identities?
A. Tarski
Yes, there does (Yu. G. Kleiman, Math. USSRIzv., 22 (1984), 3365).
4.67. Let G be a finite p-group. Show that the rank of the multiplicator M (G) of G
is bounded in terms of the rank of G.
J. Wiegold
This was done (A. Lubotzky, A. Mann, J. Algebra, 105 (1987), 484505).
4.70. Let k be a field of characteristic different from 2, and Gk the group of transformations A = (a, ) : x ax + (a, k, a 6= 0). Extend Gk to the projective
plane by adjoining the symbols (0, ) and a line at infinity. Then the lines are just the
centralizers CG (A) of elements A Gk and their cosets. Do there exist other groups
G complementable to the projective plane such that the lines are just the cosets of
the centralizers of elements of G?
H. Schwerdtfeger
No (E. A. Kuznetsov, Dep. no. 7028-V89, VINITI, Moscow, 1989 (Russian)).
168
4.76. Let G be a locally finite group containing an element a of prime order such
that the centralizer CG (a) is finite. Is G almost soluble?
V. P. Shunkov
Yes, it is. P. Fong (Osaka J. Math., 13 (1976), 483489) has shown (mod CFSG)
that G is almost locally soluble. Given this, B. Hartley and T. Meixner (Arch. Math.,
36 (1981), 211213) have proved that G is almost locally nilpotent. Therefore G is
almost soluble by (J. L. Alperin, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 13 (1962), 175180) and
(G. Higman, J. London Math. Soc., 32 (1957), 321334). Moreover, by (E. I. Khukhro,
Math. Notes, 38, no. 5-6 (1985), 867870; E. I. Khukhro, Math. USSRSb., 71, no. 1
(1992), 5163) then G is almost nilpotent.
4.77. In 1972, A. Rudvalis discovered a new simple group R of order 214 33 53 71329.
He has shown that R possesses an involution i such that CR (i) = V F , where V is
a 4-group (an elementary abelian group of order 4) and F
= Sz(8).
a) Show that R is the only finite simple group G that possesses an involution i such
that CG (i) = V F , where V is a 4-group and F
= Sz(8).
b) Let G be a non-abelian finite simple group that possesses an involution i such
that CG (i) = V F , where V is an elementary abelian 2-group of order 2n , n > 1,
and F
Z. Janko
= Sz(2m ), m > 3. Show that n = 2 and m = 3.
a) This has been shown (V. D. Mazurov, Math. Notes, 31 (1982), 165173).
b) This follows from the CFSG.
5.2. Is it true that the growth function f of any infinite finitely generated group
satisfies the inequality f (n) 6 (f (n 1) + f (n + 1))/2 for all sufficiently large n (for
a fixed finite system of generators)?
V. V. Belyaev, N. F. Sesekin
No (P. de la Harpe, R. I. Grigorchuk, Algebra and Logic, 37, no. 6 (1998), 353356).
5.3. (Well-known problem). Can every finite lattice L be embedded in the lattice of
subgroups of a finite group?
G. M. Bergman
5.4. Let g and h be positive elements of a linearly ordered group G. Can one always
embed G in a linearly ordered group G in such a way that g and h are conjugate
in G?
V. V. Bludov
No, not always (V. V. Bludov, Algebra and Logic, 44, no. 6 (2005), 370380).
169
5.7. An algebraic variety X over a field k is called rational if the field of functions
k(X) is purely transcendental over k, and it is called stably rational if k(X) becomes
purely transcendental after adjoining finitely many independent variables. Let T be a
stably rational torus over a field k. Is T rational? Other formulations of this question
and some related results see in (V. E. Voskresenski, Russ. Math. Surveys, 28, no. 4
(1973), 79105).
V. E. Voskresenski
Yes, it is (V. E. Voskresenskii, J. Math. Sci. (N. Y.), 161, no. 1 (2009), 176180).
5.8. Let G be a torsion-free soluble group of finite cohomological dimension cd G. If
hG denotes the Hirsch number of G, then it is known that hG 6 cd G 6 hG + 1. Find
a purely group-theoretic criterion for hG = cd G.
K. W. Gruenberg
This has been found (P. H. Kropholler, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 43 (1986), 281287).
i
F G 1, i = 1, 2, be two exact sequences of groups with
5.9. Let 1 Ri
G finite and F free of finite rank d(F ). If we assume that d(F ) = d(G) + 1 (where
d(G) is the minimum number of generators of G), are the corresponding abelianized
extensions isomorphic?
K. W. Gruenberg
Yes, they are (P. A. Linnell, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 22 (1981), 143166).
170
5.17. If the finite group G has the form G = AB where A and B are nilpotent
of classes and , respectively, then G is soluble. Is G(+) = 1? One can show
that G(+) is nilpotent (E. Pennington, 1973). One can ask the same question for
infinite groups (or Lie algebras), but there is nothing known beyond Itos theorem:
A = B = 1 implies G(2) = 1.
O. H. Kegel
Not always (J. Cossey, S. Stonehewer, Bull. London Math. Soc., 30, no. 144 (1998),
247250). See also new problem 14.43.
5.18. Let G be an infinite locally finite simple group. Is the centralizer of every
element of G infinite?
O. H. Kegel
Yes, it is (B. Hartley, M. Kuzucuoglu, Proc. London Math. Soc. (3), 62, no. 2 (1991),
301324).
5.19. a) Let G be an infinite locally finite simple group satisfying the minimum
condition for 2-subgroups. Is G = P SL2 (F ), F some locally finite field of odd characteristic, if the centralizer of every involution of G is almost locally soluble?
b) Can one characterize the simple locally finite groups with the min-2 condition
containing a maximal radical non-trivial 2-subgroup of rank 6 2 as linear groups of
small rank?
O. H. Kegel
a) Yes, it is (N. S. Chernikov, Ukrain. Math. J., 35 (1983), 230231).
b) Yes, one can (mod CFSG) by Theorem 4.8 of (O. H. Kegel, B. A. F. Wehrfritz,
Locally finite groups, North Holland, Amsterdam, 1973).
5.20. Is the elementary theory of lattices of l-ideals of lattice-ordered abelian groups
decidable?
A. I. Kokorin
No, it is undecidable (N. Ya. Medvedev, Algebra and Logic, 44, no. 5 (2005), 302312).
5.22. Does there exist a version of the Higman embedding theorem in which the
degree of unsolvability of the conjugacy problem is preserved?
D. J. Collins
Yes, it exists (A. Yu. Olshanskii, M. V. Sapir, The conjugacy problem and Higman
embeddings (Memoirs AMS, 804), 2004, 133 p.).
5.23. Is it true that a free lattice-ordered group of the variety of lattice-ordered
groups defined by the law x1 |y|x |y|2 (or, equivalently, by the law |[x, y]| |x|),
is residually linearly ordered nilpotent?
V. M. Kopytov
No, it is not (V. V. Bludov, A. M. W. Glass, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 358 (2006),
51795192).
5.24. Is it true that a free lattice-ordered group of the variety of the lattice-ordered
groups which are residually linearly ordered, is residually soluble linearly ordered?
V. M. Kopytov
No, it is not (N. Ya. Medvedev, Algebra and Logic, 44, no. 3 (2005), 197204).
5.28. Let G be a group and H a torsion-free subgroup of G such that the augmentation ideal IG of the integral group-ring ZG can be decomposed as IG = IH ZG M
for some ZG-submodule M . Prove that G is a free product of the form G = H K.
D. E. Cohen
This has been proved (W. Dicks, M. J. Dunwoody, Groups acting on graphs, Cambridge Univ. Press, CambridgeNew York, 1989).
171
172
5.50. Is there a finite group whose set of quasi-laws does not have an independent
basis?
D. M. Smirnov
Yes, there is (A. N. Fedorov, Siberian Math. J., 21 (1980), 840850).
5.51. Does a non-abelian free group have an independent basis for its quasi-laws?
D. M. Smirnov
Yes, it does (A. I. Budkin, Math. Notes, 31 (1982), 413417).
5.53. (P. Scott). Let p, q, r be distinct prime numbers. Prove that the free product
G = Cp Cq Cr of cyclics of orders p, q, r is not the normal closure of a single
element. By Lemma 3.1 of (J. Wiegold, J. Austral. Math. Soc., 17, no. 2 (1974),
133141), every soluble image, and every finite image, of G is the normal closure of a
single element.
J. Wiegold
This is proved in (J. Howie, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 173, no. 2 (2002), 167176).
5.56. b) Does there exist a locally nilpotent group of prime exponent that coincides
with its derived subgroup (and hence has no maximal subgroups)?
J. Wiegold
Yes, there exists. Every non-soluble variety V contains a non-trivial group coinciding
with the derived subgroup, the direct limit of the spectrum F F . . ., where F is
the free group in V on the free generators x1 , x2 , . . . and is the homomorphism given
by xi [x2i1 , x2i ]. As shown in (Yu. P. Razmyslov, Algebra and Logic, 10 (1971),
2129) the Kostrikin variety of locally nilpotent groups of prime exponent p > 5 is
unsoluble. (E. I. Khukhro, I. V. Lvov, Letter of June, 19, 1976.) The same was also
proved in (Yu. A. Kolmakov, Math. Notes, 35, no. 56 (1984), 389391). An example
answering the question was also produced in (M. R. Vaughan-Lee, J. Wiegold, Bull.
London Math. Soc., 13, no. 1 (1981), 4546).
5.60. Is an arbitrary soluble group that satisfies the minimum condition for normal
subgroups countable?
B. Hartley
Not always (B. Hartley, Proc. London Math. Soc., 33 (1977), 5575).
5.61. (Well-known problem). Does an arbitrary uncountable locally finite group have
only one end?
B. Hartley
Yes, it does (D. Holt, Bull. London Math. Soc., 13 (1981), 557560).
5.62. Is a group locally finite if it contains infinite abelian subgroups and all of them
are complementable?
S. N. Chernikov
Not always (N. S. Chernikov, Math. Notes, 28 (1980), 788792).
5.63. Prove that a finite group is not simple if it contains two non-identity elements
whose centralizers have coprime indices.
S. A. Chunikhin
This has been proved mod CFSG (L. S. Kazarin, in: Studies in Group Theory, Sverdlovsk, 1984, 8199 (Russian)).
5.64. Suppose that a finite group G is the product of two subgroups A1 and A2 .
Prove that if Ai contains a nilpotent subgroup of index 6 2 for i = 1, 2, then G is
soluble.
L. A. Shemetkov
This has been proved (L. S. Kazarin, Math. USSRSb., 38 (1981), 4759).
173
5.68. Let G be a finitely-presented group, and assume that G has polynomial growth
in the sense of Milnor. Show that G has soluble word problem.
P. E. Schupp
This has been shown (M. Gromov, Publ. Math. IHES, 53 (1981), 5373).
5.69. Is every lattice isomorphism between torsion-free groups having no non-trivial
cyclic normal subgroups induced by a group isomorphism?
B. V. Yakovlev
No (A. Yu. Olshanski, C. R. Acad. Bulgare Sci., 32 (1979), 11651166).
6.4. A group G is called of type (F P ) if the trivial G-module Z has a resolution
by finitely generated projective G-modules. Is it true that every torsion-free group of
type (F P ) has finite cohomological dimension?
R. Bieri
No (K. S. Brown, R. Geoghegan, Invent. Math., 77 (1984), 367381).
6.6. Let P, Q be permutation representations of a finite group G with the same
character. Suppose P (G) is a primitive permutation group. Is Q(G) necessarily
primitive? The answer is known to be affirmative if G is soluble.
H. Wielandt
No, not necessarily (mod CFSG) (R. M. Guralnick, J. Saxl, in: Groups, Combinatorics, Geometry, Proc. Durham, 1990, Cambridge Univ. Press, 1992, 364367).
6.7. Suppose that P is a finite 2-group. Does there exist a characteristic subgroup
L(P ) of P such that L(P ) is normal in H for every finite group H that satisfies
the following conditions: 1) P is a Sylow 2-subgroup of H, 2) H is S4 -free, and
3) CH (O2 (H)) 6 O2 (H)?
G. Glauberman
Yes, there exists (B. Stellmacher, Israel J. Math., 94 (1996), 367379).
6.8. Can a residually finite locally normal group be embedded in a Cartesian product
of finite groups in such a way that each element of the group has at most finitely
many central projections?
Yu. M. Gorchakov
Yes, it can (M. J. Tomkinson, Bull. London Math. Soc., 13 (1981), 133137).
6.12. a) Is a metabelian group countable if it satisfies the weak minimum condition
for normal subgroups?
b) Is such a group minimax if it is torsion-free?
D. I. Zaitsev
Yes, it is, in both cases (D. I. Zaitsev, L. A. Kurdachenko, A. V. Tushev, Algebra and
Logic, 24 (1985), 412436).
6.13. Is it true that if a non-abelian Sylow 2-subgroup of a finite group G has a
non-trivial abelian direct factor, then G is not simple?
A. S. Kondratiev
Yes, it is, mod CFSG (V. V. Kabanov, A. S. Kondratiev, Sylow 2-subgroups of finite
groups (a survey), Inst. Math. Mech. UNC AN SSSR, Sverdlovsk, 1979 (Russian)).
6.14. Are the following lattices locally finite: the lattice of all locally finite varieties
of groups? the lattice of all varieties of groups?
A. V. Kuznetsov
No, they are not (M. I. Anokhin, Izv. Math., 63, no. 4 (1999), 649665).
6.15. A variety is said to be pro-locally-finite if it is not locally finite while all of its
proper subvarieties are locally finite. An example the variety of abelian groups.
How many pro-locally-finite varieties of groups are there?
A. V. Kuznetsov
There are continuum of such varieties (P. A. Kozhevnikov, On varieties of groups of
large odd exponent, Dep. 1612-V00, VINITI, Moscow, 2000 (Russian)).
174
6.16. A variety is called sparse if it has at most countably many subvarieties. How
many sparse varieties of groups are there?
A. V. Kuznetsov
There are continuum of such varieties (P. A. Kozhevnikov, On varieties of groups of
large odd exponent, Dep. 1612-V00, VINITI, Moscow, 2000 (Russian); S. V. Ivanov,
A. M. Storozhev, Contemp. Math., 360 (2004), 5562).
6.17. Is every variety of groups generated by its finitely generated groups that have
soluble word problem?
A. V. Kuznetsov
No (Yu. G. Kleiman, Math. USSRIzv., 22 (1984), 3365).
6.18. (Well-known problem). Suppose that a class K of 2-generator groups generates
the variety of all groups. Is a non-cyclic free group residually in K? V. M. Levchuk
Not always (S. V. Ivanov, Geometric methods in the study of groups with given subgroup properties, Candidate Dissertation, Moscow University, 1988 (Russian)).
6.19. Let R be a nilpotent associative ring. Are the following two statements for a
subgroup H of the adjoint group of R always equivalent: 1) H is a normal subgroup;
2) H is an ideal of the groupoid R with respect to Lie multiplication? V. M. Levchuk
Not always. Let R be the free nilpotent of index 3 associative algebra over F2 on the
free generators x, y. Let S be the subalgebra generated by the elements [x, y 2 ] = xy 2 ,
[x, xy] = x (xy) = x(x y), [x, yx] = x (yx) = (x y)x, where [a, b] denotes
the commutator in the adjoint group with multiplication a b = a + b + ab, and
a b = ab ba is Lie multiplication. Let M, N be the subalgebras generated by S
and the elements x y and [x, y], respectively. The minimal subgroup of (R, ) that
contains x and is an ideal of the groupoid (R, ) equals hxi M = hxi + M , where
hxi = {0, x, x2 , x + x2 + x3 }, while the minimal normal subgroup containing x equals
hxi N = hxi + N . Neither is contained in the other. (E. I. Khukhro, Letter of July,
23, 1979.)
6.20. Does there exist a supersoluble group of odd order, all of whose automorphisms
are inner?
V. D. Mazurov
Yes, there does (B. Hartley, D. J. S. Robinson, Arch. Math., 35 (1980), 6774).
6.22. Construct a braid that belongs to the derived subgroup of the braid group but
is not a commutator.
G. S. Makanin
Let x = 1 , y = 2 be the standard generators of the braid group B3 ; then the
braid (xyxyx)12 (xy)12 (xyx)12 belongs to the derived subgroup of B3 but is not
a commutator (Yu. S. Semenov, Abstracts of the 10th All-Union Sympos. on Group
Theory, Minsk, 1986, p. 207 (Russian)).
6.23. A braid K of the braid group Bn+1 is said to be smooth if removing any of the
threads in K transforms K into a braid that is equal to 1 in Bn . It is known that
smooth braids form a free subgroup. Describe generators of this subgroup.
G. S. Makanin
They are described in (D. L. Johnson, Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc., 92 (1982),
425427).
175
6.25. (Well-known problem). Find an algorithm for calculating the rank of coefficientfree equations in a free group. The rank of an equation is the maximal rank of the
free subgroup generated by a solution of this equation.
G. S. Makanin
This was found (A. A. Razborov, Math. USSRIzv., 25 (1984), 115162).
6.34. Let o be an associative ring with identity. A system of its ideals A = {Aij | i, j
Z} is called a carpet of ideals if Aik Akj Aij for all i, j, k Z. If o is commutative,
then the set n (A) = {x SLn (o) | xij ij (mod Aij )} is a group, the (special )
congruenz-subgroup modulo the carpet A (the carpet subgroup). Under quite general
conditions, it was proved in (Yu. I. Merzlyakov, Algebra i Logika, 3, no. 4 (1964), 4959
(Russian); see also M. I. Kargapolov, Yu. I. Merzlyakov, Fundamentals of the Theory of
Groups, 3rd Ed., Moscow, Nauka, 1982, p. 145 (Russian)) that in the groups GLn and
SLn the mutual commutator subgroup of the congruenz-subgroups modulo a carpet
of ideals shifted by k and l steps is again the congruenz-subgroup modulo the same
carpet shifted by k + l steps. Prove analogous theorems a) for orthogonal groups;
b) for unitary groups.
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
These are proved (V. M. Levchuk, Sov. Math. Dokl., 42, no. 1 (1991), 8286; Ukrain.
Math. J., 44, no. 6 (1992), 710718).
6.35. (R. Bieri, R. Strebel). Let o be an associative ring with identity distinct from
zero. A group G is said to be almost finitely presented over o if it has a presentation
G = F/R where F is a finitely generated free group and the oG-module R/[R, R] Z o
is finitely generated. It is easy to see that every finitely presented group G is almost
finitely presented over Z and therefore also over an arbitrary ring o. Is the converse
true?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
No, it is not true (M. Bestvina, N. Brady, Invent. Math., 129, no. 3 (1997), 445470).
6.37. (H. Wielandt, O. H. Kegel). Is a finite group G soluble if it has soluble subgroups
A, B, C such that G = AB = AC = BC?
V. S. Monakhov
Yes, it is (mod CFSG) (L. S. Kazarin, Commun. Algebra, 14 (1986), 10011066).
176
6.38. a) Let k be a (commutative) field. Find all irreducible subgroups G of GLn (k)
having the property that G C 6= for every conjugacy class C of GLn (k). I conjecture that G = GLn (k) except in case n = char k = 2, the field
k is quadratically
0
0
closed, and G is conjugate to the group of all matrices of the form
,
0
0
where 6= 0 and 6= 0.
Peter M. Neumann
a) The conjecture is refuted (S. A. Zyubin, Algebra and Logic, 45, no. 5 (2006), 296
305).
6.42. Let H be a strongly 3-embedded subgroup of a finite group G. Suppose that
Z(H/O3 (H)) contains an element of order 3. Does Z(G/O3 (G)) necessarily contain
an element of order 3?
N. D. Podufalov
Yes, it does (mod CFSG) (W. Xiao, Sci. China (A), 33 (1990), 11721181).
6.43. Does the set of quasi-identities holding in the class of all finite groups possess
a basis in finitely many variables?
D. M. Smirnov
No (A. K. Rumyantsev, Algebra and Logic, 19 (1980), 297311).
6.44. Construct a finitely generated infinite simple group requiring more than two
generators.
J. Wiegold
This has been done (V. S. Guba, Siberian Math. J., 27 (1986), 670684).
6.46. If G is d-generator group having no non-trivial finite homomorphic images (in
particular, if G is an infinite simple d-generator group) for some integer d > 2, must
G G be a d-generator group?
J. S. Wilson
No, it must not (V. N. Obraztsov, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh, 123 (1993), 839855).
6.49. Is the minimal condition for abelian normal subgroups inherited by subgroups
of finite index? This is true for the minimal condition for (all) abelian subgroups
(J. S. Wilson, Math. Z., 114 (1970), 1921).
S. A. Chechin
No, not always. Let G = [(AB C D)(hgihti)](Y hxi), where A, B,
SC, D, Y
2
are quasicyclic
p-groups,
x
=
1,
while
g
and
t
are
of
infinite
order.
Let
A
=
n=1 han i,
S
S
S
S
p
B =
hb
i,
C
=
hc
i,
D
=
hd
i,
Y
=
hy
i
with
a
n+1 = an ,
n=1 n
n=1 n
n=1 n
n=1 n
p
bpn+1 = bn , cpn+1 = cn , dpn+1 = dn , yn+1
= yn . We impose the relations [ABCD, Y ] =
1
[ABC, g] = [ABD, t] = 1; [x, g] = gt1 ; [x, an ] = an b1
n ; [x, cn ] = cn dn ; [g, dn ] = bn ;
[t, cn ] = an ; [yn , g] = cn ; [yn , t] = dn . Then all abelian normal subgroups of G satisfy
the minimal condition for subgroups. The subgroup H = [(A B C D) (hgi
hti)]Y does not satisfy the minimal condition for abelian normal subgroups, since the
n
subgroups En = ABChg 2 i are normal in H and form a strictly decreasing chain.
(S. A. Chechin, Abstracts of 15th All-USSR Algebraic Conf., Krasnoyarsk, 1979).
6.52. Let f be a local screen of a formation which contains all finite nilpotent groups
and let A be a group of automorphisms of a finite group G. Suppose that A acts
f -stably on the socle of G/(G). Is it true that A acts f -stably on (G)?
L. A. Shemetkov
No, not always (A. N. Skiba, Siber. Math. J., 34 (1993), 953958).
177
What can be said about the kernel and the complement of a Frobenius group? In
particular, which groups can be kernels? complements?
V. P. Shunkov
Every group can be embedded into the kernel of a Frobenius group, and every rightorderable group can be a complement in a Frobenius group (V. V. Bludov, Siberian
Math. J., 38, no. 6 (1997), 10541056)
6.58. Are
a) the Aleshin p-groups and
b) the 2-generator Golod p-groups
conjugacy biprimitively finite groups?
V. P. Shunkov
a) Not always (A. V. Rozhkov, Math. USSRSb., 57 (1987), 437448).
b) Not always (A. V. Timofeenko, Algebra and Logic, 24 (1985), 129139).
6.63. An infinite group G is called a monster of the first kind if it has elements of
order > 2 and for any such an element a and for any proper subgroup H of G, there
is an element g in G \ H, such that ha, ag i = G. Classify the monsters of the first
kind all of whose proper subgroups are finite.
V. P. Shunkov
The centre of such a group coincides with the set of elements of order 6 2
(V. P. Shunkov, Algebra and Logic, 7 (1968), no. 1 (1970), 6669). An infinite group
all of whose proper subgroups are finite is a monster of the first kind if its centre
coincides with the set of elements of order 6 2 (A. I. Sozutov, Algebra and Logic, 36,
no. 5 (1997), 336348). There are continuously many such groups (A. Yu. Olshanskii,
Geometry of defining relations in groups, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991).
6.64. A group G is called a monster of the second kind if it has elements of order
> 2 and if for any such element a and any proper subgroup H of G there exists an
infinite subset Ma,H consisting of conjugates of a by elements of G \ H such that
ha, ci = G for all c Ma,H . Do mixed monsters (that is, with elements of both finite
and infinite orders) of the second kind exist? Do there exist torsion-free monsters of
the second kind?
V. P. Shunkov
Yes, they exist, in both cases (A. Yu. Olshanski, The geometry of defining relations
in groups, Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991).
178
7.1. The free periodic groups B(m, p) of prime exponent p > 665 are known to
possess many properties similar to those of absolutely free groups (see S. I. Adian,
The Burnside Problem and Identities in Groups, Springer, Berlin, 1979). Is it true
that all normal subgroups of B(m, p) are not free periodic groups?
S. I. Adian
Yes, it is true for all sufficiently large p (A. Yu. Olshanskii, in: Groups, rings, Lie and
Hopf algebras, Int. Workshop, Canada, 2001, Dordrecht, Kluwer, 2003, 179187);
this is also proved for all primes p > 1003 (V. S. Atabekyan, Fund. Prikl. Mat., 15,
no. 1 (2009), 321 (Russian)).
7.2. Prove that the free periodic groups B(m, n) of odd exponent n > 665 with m > 2
generators are non-amenable and that random walks on these groups do not have the
recurrence property.
S. I. Adian
Both assertions are proved (S. I. Adian, Math. USSRIzv., 21 (1982), 425434).
7.4. Is a finitely generated group with quadratic growth almost abelian?
V. V. Belyaev
Yes, it is (M. Gromov, Publ. Math. IHES, 53 (1981), 5373; J. A. Wolf, Diff. Geometry, 2 (1968), 421446).
7.6. Describe the infinite simple locally finite groups with a Chernikov Sylow 2-subgroup. In particular, are such groups the Chevalley groups over locally finite fields of
odd characteristic?
V. V. Belyaev, N. F. Sesekin
No, as every countably infinite locally finite p-group can be embedded as a maximal
p-subgroup of the simple Halls universal group U , the unique countable existentially
closed group in the class of all locally finite groups (K. Hickin, Proc. London Math.
Soc. (3), 52, no. 1 (1986), 5372). But if all Sylow 2-subgroups are Chernikov, then
this is true mod CFSG (O. H. Kegel, Math. Z., 95 (1967), 169195; V. V. Belyaev, in:
Investigations in Group Theory, Sverdlovsk, UNC AN SSSR, 1984, 3950 (Russian);
A. V. Borovik, Siberian Math. J., 24, no. 6 (1983), 843851; B. Hartley, G. Shute,
Quart. J. Math. Oxford (2), 35 (1984), 4971; S. Thomas, Arch. Math., 41 (1983),
103116). When all Sylow 2-subgroups are Chernikov, the same result, without using
CFSG, follows from (M. J. Larsen, R. Pink, J. Amer. Math. Soc., 24 (2011), 1105
1158 (also known as a preprint of 1998)).
7.7. (Well-known problem). Is the group G = a, b | a9 = 1, ab = b2 a2 finite? This
group contains F (2, 9), the only Fibonacci group for which it is not yet known whether
it is finite or infinite.
R. G. Burns
No, it is infinite, since F (2, 9) is infinite (M. F. Newman, Arch. Math., 54, no. 3 (1990),
209212).
7.8. Suppose that H is a normal subgroup of a group G, where H and G are subdirect
products of the same n groups G1 , . . . , Gn . Does the nilpotency class of G/H increase
with n?
Yu. M. Gorchakov
Yes, it does (E. I. Khukhro, Sibirsk. Mat. Zh., 23, no. 6 (1982), 178180 (Russian)).
7.12. Find all groups with a Hall 2 -subgroup.
R. L. Griess
These are found mod CFSG (Z. Arad, M. B. Ward, J. Algebra, 77 (1982), 234246).
179
180
7.42. A group U is called an Fq -group (where q (U )) if, for each finite subgroup
K of U and for any two elements a, b of order q in T = NU (K)/K, there exists c T
such that the group ha, bc i is finite. A group U is called an F -group if each subgroup
H of U is an Fq -group for every q (H) (V. P. Shunkov, 1977).
a) Is every primary F -group satisfying the minimum condition for subgroups
almost abelian?
b) Does every F -group satisfying the minimum condition for (abelian) subgroups
possess the radicable part?
A. N. Ostylovski
No. A counterexample to both questions is given by an infinite group all of whose
subgroups are conjugate and have prime order (A. Yu. Olshanski, Math. USSRIzv.,
16 (1981), 279289).
7.44. Does a normal subgroup H in a finite group G possess a complement in G if each
Sylow subgroups of H is a direct factor in some Sylow subgroup of G? V. I. Sergiyenko
Yes, it does, mod CFSG (W. Xiao, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 87, no. 1 (1993), 9798).
7.48. (Well-known problem). Suppose that, in a finite group G, each two elements
of the same order are conjugate. Is then |G| 6 6?
S. A. Syskin
Yes, it is, mod CFSG (P. Fitzpatrick, Proc. Roy. Irish Acad. Sect. A, 85, no. 1 (1985),
5358); see also (W. Feit, G. Seitz, Illinois J. Math., 33, no. 1 (1988), 103131) and
(R. W. van der Waall, A. Bensad, Simon Stevin, 65 (1991), 361374).
p1
Yes, it exists (A. Yu. Olshanskii, M. V. Sapir, Publ. Math. Inst. Hautes Etud.
Sci.,
96 (2002), 43169).
181
8.10. b) Is the group G = a, b | an = 1, ab = b3 a3 finite or infinite for n = 9 and
n = 15? All other cases known, see Archive, 7.7.
D. L. Johnson
Infinite (for n = 15: D. J. Seal, Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh (A), 92 (1982), 181192;
for n = 9 (and 15): M. I. Prishchepov, Commun. Algebra, 23 (1995), 50955117).
8.12. b) Let D0 denote the class of finite groups of deficiency zero, i. e. having a
presentation hX | Ri with |X| = |R|. Are the central factors of nilpotent D0-groups
3-generated?
D. L. Johnson, E. F. Robertson
No, not always (G. Havas, E. F. Robertson, Commun. Algebra, 24 (1996), 34833487).
8.13. Let G be a simple algebraic group over an algebraically closed field of characteristic p and G be the Lie algebra of G. Is the number of orbits of nilpotent elements
of G under the adjoint action of G finite? This is known to be true if p is not too
small (i. e. if p is not a bad prime for G).
R. W. Carter
Yes, it is (J. N. Spaltenstein; see Section 5.11 in R. W. Carter, Finite Groups of Lie
Type, John Wiley, 1985.)
8.14. a) Assume a group G is existentially closed in the class LNp of all locally finite
p-groups. Is it true that G is characteristically simple? This is true for G countable
in LNp (Berthold Maier, Freiburg); in fact, up to isomorphism, there is only one such
countable locally finite p-group.
O. H. Kegel
Not always (S. R. Thomas, Arch. Math., 44 (1985), 98109).
g -group is one whose every homomorphic image is an RN -group. Is the
8.17. An RN
g
class of RN -groups closed under taking normal subgroups?
Sh. S. Kemkhadze
No (J. S. Wilson, Arch. Math., 25 (1974), 574577).
8.18. Is every countably infinite abelian group a verbal subgroup of some finitely
generated (soluble) relatively free group?
Yu. G. Kleiman
Yes, it is (A. Storozhev, Commun. Algebra, 22, no. 7 (1994), 26772701).
8.20. What is the cardinality of the set of all varieties covering an abelian (nilpotent?
Cross? hereditarily finitely based?) variety of groups? The question is related to 4.46
and 4.73.
Yu. G. Kleiman
There are continually many varieties covering the variety A of abelian groups,
as well as the variety An of abelian groups of sufficiently large odd exponent n
(P. A. Kozhevnikov, On varieties of groups of large odd exponent, Dep. 1612-V00,
VINITI, Moscow, 2000 (Russian); S. V. Ivanov, A. M. Storozhev, Contemp. Math.,
360 (2004), 5562).
8.22. If G is a (non-abelian) finite group contained in a join A B of two varieties
A, B of groups, must there exist finite groups A A, B B such that G is a section
of the direct product A B?
L. G. Kovacs
Not always (A. Storozhev, Bull. Austral. Math. Soc., 51, no. 2 (1995), 287290).
182
8.26. We call a variety passable if there exists an unrefinable chain of its subvarieties
which is well-ordered by inclusion. For example, every variety generated by its finite
groups is passable this is an easy consequence of (H. Neumann, Varieties of groups,
Berlin et al., Springer, 1967, Chapter 5). Do there exist non-passable varieties of
groups?
A. V. Kuznetsov
Yes, they exist (M. I. Anokhin, Moscow Univ. Math. Bull., 51, no. 1 (1996), 4849).
8.28. Is the variety of groups finitely based if it is generated by a finitely based
quasivariety of groups?
A. V. Kuznetsov
No, not always (M. I. Anokhin, Sb. Math., 189, no. 78 (1998), 11151124).
8.32. Suppose G is a finitely
group such that, for any set of primes and
generated
any subgroup H of G, if G/ H G is a finite -group then |G : H| is a finite -number.
Is G nilpotent? This is true for finitely generated soluble groups.
J. C. Lennox
Not always (V. N. Obraztsov, J. Austral. Math. Soc. (A), 61, no. 2 (1996), 267288).
8.35. Determine the conjugacy classes of maximal subgroups in the sporadic simple
groups
a) F24
;
b) F2 .
V. D. Mazurov
a) They are determined mod CFSG (S. A. Linton, R. A. Wilson, Proc. London Math.
Soc., 63, no. 1 (1991), 113164).
b) They are determined mod CFSG (R. A. Wilson, J. Algebra, 211 (1999), 114).
8.37. (R. Griess). a) Is M11 a section in O N ?
, and F2 .
b) The same question for M24 in F2 ; J1 in F1 and in F2 ; J2 in F23 , F24
V. D. Mazurov
a) Yes (A. A. Ivanov, S. V. Shpektorov, Abs. 18 All-Union Algebra Conf., Part 1, Kishinev, 1985, 209 (Russian); S. Yoshiara, J. Fac. Sci. Univ. Tokyo (IA), 32 (1985),
105141).
b) No (R. A. Wilson, Bull. London Math. Soc., 18 (1986), 349350).
8.39. b) Describe the irreducible subgroups of SL6 (q).
V. D. Mazurov
They are described mod CFSG (A. S. Kondratiev, Algebra and Logic, 28 (1989), 122
138; P. Kleidman, Low-dimensional finite classical groups and their subgroups, Harlow, Essex, 1989).
8.46. Describe the automorphisms of the symplectic group Sp2n over an arbitrary
commutative ring. Conjecture: they are all standard.
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
The conjecture was proved (V. M. Petechuk, Algebra and Logic, 22 (1983), 397405).
8.47. Do there exist finitely presented soluble groups in which the maximum condition
for normal subgroups fails but all central sections are finitely generated?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
Yes (Yu. V. Sosnovski, Math. Notes, 36 (1984), 577580).
8.48. If a finite group G can be written as the product of two soluble subgroups of
odd index, then is G soluble?
V. S. Monakhov
Yes, it is (mod CFSG) (L. S. Kazarin, Commun. Algebra, 14 (1986), 10011066).
183
1 z1 r
No, not always: let H be the group of matrices of the form 0 1 z2 , where
0 0 1
z1 , z2 Z and r R. Then H is locally compact in the natural topology and
contains a central subgroup topologically isomorphic to R, but L(H) is not connected
(Yu. V. Tsybenko, Abstracts of 17th All-USSR Algebraic Conf., Part 1, Minsk, 1983,
213 (Russian)).
8.63. Suppose that the space of all closed subgroups of a locally compact group G is
-compact in the E-topology. Is it true that the set of closed non-compact subgroups
of G is at most countable?
I. V. Protasov
Yes, it is (A. G. Piskunov, Ukrain. J. Math., 40 (1988), 679683).
8.66. Construct examples of residually finite groups which would separate Shunkovs
classes of groups with (a, b)-finiteness condition, (weakly) conjugacy biprimitively
finite groups and (weakly) biprimitively finite groups (see, in particular, 6.57). Can
one derive such examples from Golods construction?
A. I. Sozutov
Such examples are constructed (L. Hammoudi, Nil-alg`ebres non-nilpotentes et groupes
periodiques infinis (Doctor Thesis), Strasbourg, 1996; A. V. Rozhkov, Finiteness conditions in groups of automorphisms of trees (Doctor of Sci. Thesis), Krasnoyarsk,
1997; Algebra and Logic, 37, no. 3 (1998), 192203).
8.70. Let A, B be polycyclic-by-finite groups. Let G = A H B where H is cyclic. Is
G conjugacy separable?
C. Y. Tang
Yes, it is (L. Ribes, D. Segal, P. A. Zalesskii, J. London Math. Soc. (2), 57, no. 3
(1998), 609628).
184
185
8.87. Find all hereditary local formations F of finite groups satisfying the following
condition: every finite minimal non-F-group is biprimary. A finite group is said to be
biprimary if its order is divisible by precisely two distinct primes. L. A. Shemetkov
They are found (V. N. Semenchuk, Problems of Algebra: Proc. of the Gomel State
Univ., no. 1 (15) (1999), 92102 (Russian)).
9.2. Is G = a, b | al = bm = (ab)n = 1 conjugacy separable?
R. B. J. T. Allenby
Yes, it is (B. Fine, G. Rosenberger, Contemp. Math., 109 (1990), 1118).
9.3. Suppose that a countable locally finite group G contains no proper subgroups
isomorphic to G itself and suppose that all Sylow subgroups of G are finite. Does G
possess a non-trivial finite normal subgroup?
V. V. Belyaev
186
9.21. Let P be a maximal parabolic subgroup of the smallest index in a finite group
G of Lie type E6 , E7 , E8 , or 2 E6 and let X be a subgroup such that P X = G. Is it
true that X = G?
V. D. Mazurov
Yes, it is true (mod CFSG) (C. Hering, M. W. Liebeck, J. Saxl, J. Algebra, 106, no. 2
(1987), 517527).
9.26. a) Describe the finite groups of 2-local 3-rank 1 which have 3-rank at least 3.
A. A. Makhnev
Described in (A. A. Makhnev, Siber. Math. J., 29 (1988), 951959).
9.27. Let M be a subgroup of a finite group G, A an abelian 2-subgroup of M , and
suppose that Ag is not contained in M for some g from G. Determine the structure
of G under the hypothesis that hA, Ax i = G whenever the subgroup Ax , x G, is
not contained in M .
A. A. Makhnev
It is described mod CFSG (V. I. Zenkov, Algebra and Logic, 35, no. 3 (1996), 160163).
9.30. (Well-known problem). A finite set of reductions ui vi of words on a
finite alphabet = 1 is called a group set of reductions if length (ui ) > length (vi )
or length (ui ) = length (vi ) and ui > vi in the lexicographical ordering, and every
word in can be reduced to the unique reduced form which does not depend on
the sequence of reductions. Do there exist group sets of reductions satisfying the
condition length (vi ) 6 1 for all i, which are different from 1) sets of trivial reductions
x x 1, = 1, 2) multiplication tables xy z of finite groups, and 3) their
finite unions?
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
Yes, they exist (J. Avenhaus, K. Madlener, F. Otto, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 297
(1986), 427443).
9.33. (F. K
ummich, H. Scheerer). If H is a closed subgroup of a connected locallycompact group G such that HX = HX for every closed subgroup X of G, then is H
normal?
Yu. N. Mukhin
Yes, it is (C. Scheiderer, Monatsh. Math., 98 (1984), 7581).
9.34. (S. K. Grosser, W. N. Herfort). Does there exist an infinite compact p-group in
which the centralizers of all elements are finite?
Yu. N. Mukhin
No, it does not exist, in view of the connection of this problem with the Restricted
Burnside Problem (S. K. Grosser, W. N. Herfort, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 283, no. 1
(1984), 211224) and because of the positive solution to the latter (E. I. Zelmanov,
Math. USSRIzv., 36 (1991), 4160; Math. USSRSb., 72 (1992), 543565).
9.41. a) Let be a countably infinite set. For k > 2, we define a k-section of to be
a partition of into a union of k infinite subsets. Then does there exist a transitive
permutation group on that is transitive on k-sections but intransitive on ordered
k-sections?
P. M. Neumann
Yes, there does. Let U be a non-principal ultrafilter in P() and let G = {g
Sym() | Fix(g) U }. It is not hard to prove that G is transitive on k-sections but
not on ordered k-sections for any k in the range 2 6 k 6 0 . (P. M. Neumann, Letter
of October, 5, 1989 .)
187
9.46. Let G be a locally compact group of countable weight and L(G) the space of
all its closed subgroups equipped with the E-topology. Then is L(G) a k-space?
I. V. Protasov
Yes (I. V. Protasov, Dokl. Akad. Nauk Ukr. SSR Ser. A, 10 (1986), 6466 (Russian)).
9.48. In a null-dimensional locally compact group, is the set of all compact elements
closed?
I. V. Protasov
Yes, it is (G. A. Willis, Math. Ann., 300 (1994), 341363).
188
9.62. In any group G, the cosets of all of its normal subgroups together with the
empty set form the block lattice C(G) with respect to inclusion, which, for infinite
|G|, is subdirectly irreducible and, for finite |G| > 3, is even simple (D. M. Smirnov,
A. V. Reibold, Algebra and Logic, 23, no. 6 (1984), 459470). How large is the class
of such lattices? Is every finite lattice embeddable in the lattice C(G) for some finite
group G?
D. M. Smirnov
For each g G the filter {x C(G) | g x} is modular (and even arguesian); the
variety generated by the block lattices of groups does not contain all finite lattices
(D. M. Smirnov, Siberian Math. J., 33, no. 4 (1992), 663668).
9.63. Is a finite group of the form G = ABA soluble if A is an abelian subgroup and
B is a cyclic subgroup?
Ya. P. Sysak
Yes, it is soluble (mod CFSG) (D. L. Zagorin, L. S. Kazarin, Dokl. Math., 53, no. 2
(1996), 237239).
9.67. (A. Tarski). Let Fn be a free group of rank n; is it true that T h(F2 ) = T h(F3 )?
A. D. Taimanov
Yes, it is (O. Kharlampovich, A. Myasnikov, J. Algebra, 302, (2006), 451552; Z. Sela,
Geom. Funct. Anal., 16 (2006), 707730).
9.73. Let F be any local formation of finite soluble groups containing all finite nilpotent groups. Prove that H F K = KH F for any two subnormal subgroups H and K of
an arbitrary finite group G.
L. A. Shemetkov
This has been proved, even without the hypothesis of solubility of F (S. F. Kamornikov, Dokl. Akad. Nauk BSSR, 33, no. 5 (1989), 396399 (Russian)).
9.74. Find all local formations F of finite groups such that every finite minimal nonF-group is either a Shmidt group (that is, a non-nilpotent finite group all of whose
proper subgroups are nilpotent) or a group of prime order.
L. A. Shemetkov
They are found (S. F. Kamornikov, Siberian Math. J., 35, no. 4 (1994), 713721).
9.79. (A. G. Kurosh). Is every group with the minimum condition countable?
V. P. Shunkov
No (V. N. Obraztsov, Math. USSRSb., 66 (1989), 541553).
9.80. Are the 2-elements of a group with the minimum condition contained in its
locally finite radical?
V. P. Shunkov
Not necessarily (A. Yu. Olshanski, The geometry of defining relations in groups,
Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1991).
9.81. Does there exist a simple group with the minimum condition possessing a
non-trivial quasi-cyclic subgroup?
V. P. Shunkov
Yes, there exists (V. N. Obraztsov, Math. USSRSb., 66 (1989), 541553).
189
9.82. An infinite group, all of whose proper subgroups are finite, is called quasifinite. Is it true that an element of a quasi-finite group G is central if and only if it
is contained in infinitely many subgroups of G?
V. P. Shunkov
No (K. I. Lossov, Dep. no. 5529-V89, VINITI, Moscow, 1988 (Russian)).
10.1. Let p be a prime number. Describe the groups of order p9 of nilpotency class 2
which contain subgroups X and Y such that |X| = |Y | = p3 and any non-identity
elements x X, y Y do not commute. An answer to this question would yield a
description of the semifields of order p3 .
S. N. Adamov, A. N. Fomin
They are described (V. A. Antonov, Preprint, Chelyabinsk, 1999 (Russian)).
10.6. Is it true that in an abelian group every non-discrete group topology can be
strengthened up to a non-discrete group topology such that the group becomes a
complete topological group?
V. I. Arnautov
This is true for group topologies satisfying the first axiom of countability (E. I. Marin,
in: Modules, Algebras, Topologies (Mat. Issledovaniya, 105), Kishinev, 1988, 105119
(Russian)), but this may not be true in general, see Archive, 12.2.
10.7. Is it true that in a countable group G, any non-discrete group topology satisfying the first axiom of countability can be strengthened up to a non-discrete group
topology such that G becomes a complete topological group?
V. I. Arnautov
Yes, it is (V. I. Arnautov, E. I. Kabanova, Siberian Math. J., 31 (1990), 110).
10.9. Let p be a prime number and let Lp denote the set of all quasivarieties each
of which is generated by a finite p-group. Is Lp a sublattice of the lattice of all
quasivarieties of groups?
A. I. Budkin
No, not always (S. A. Shakhova, Math. Notes, 53, no. 3 (1993), 345347).
10.14. a) Does every group satisfying the minimum condition on subgroups satisfy
the weak maximum condition on subgroups?
b) Does every group satisfying the maximum condition on subgroups satisfy the
weak minimum condition on subgroups?
D. I. Zaitsev
a) No, not always (V. N. Obraztsov, Math. USSRSb., 66, no. 2 (1990), 541553).
b) No, not always (V. N. Obraztsov, Siberian Math. J., 32, no. 1 (1991), 7984).
10.24. A braid is said to be coloured if its strings represent the identity permutation.
Is it true that links obtained by closing coloured braids are equivalent if and only if
the original braids are conjugate in the braid group?
G. S. Makanin
2
2
No. For non-oriented links: the braid words 1 and 1 both represent the Hopf link
but are not conjugate in the braid group (easy to see using the Burau representation).
For oriented links see Example 4 in (J. Birman, Braids, links, and mapping class
groups (Ann. Math. Stud. Princeton, 82), Princeton, NJ, 1975, p. 100). (V. Shpilrain, Letters of May, 28, 1998 and January, 20, 2002 ).
190
10.30. Does there exist a non-right-orderable group which is residually finite p-group
for a finite set of prime numbers p containing at least two different primes? If a group
is residually finite p-group for an infinite set of primes p, then it admits a linear order
(A. H. Rhemtulla, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 41, no. 1 (1973), 3133).
N. Ya. Medvedev
Yes, it exists (P. A. Linnell, J. Algebra, 248 (2002) 605607).
10.33. For HN N -extensions of the form G = t, A | t1 Bt = C, , where A is
a finitely generated abelian group and : B C is an isomorphism of two of its
subgroups, find
a) a criterion to be residually finite;
b) a criterion to be Hopfian.
Yu. I. Merzlyakov
a) Such a criterion is found (S. Andreadakis, E. Raptis, D. Varsos, Arch. Math., 50
(1988), 495501.
b) Such a criterion is found (S. Andreadakis, E. Raptis, D. Varsos, Commun. Algebra,
20 (1992), 15111533).
10.37. Suppose that G is a finitely generated metabelian group all of whose integral homology groups are finitely generated. Is it true that G is a group of finite
rank? The answer is affirmative if G splits over the derived subgroup (J. R. J. Groves,
Quart. J. Math., 33, no. 132 (1982), 405420).
G. A. Noskov
Yes, it is (D. H. Kochloukova, Groups St. Andrews 2001 in Oxford, Vol. II, Cambridge
Univ. Press, 2003, 332343).
10.41. (Well-known problem). Let be an almost polycyclic group with no nontrivial finite normal subgroups, and let k be a field. The complete ring of quotients Q(k) is a matrix ring Mn (D) over a skew field. Conjecture: n is the least
common multiple of the orders of the finite subgroups of . An equivalent formulation (M. Lorenz) is as follows: (G0 (k)) = (G0 (k)F ), where G0 (k) is the
Grothendieck group of the category of finitely-generated k-modules, G0 (k)F is the
subgroup generated by classes of modules induced from finite subgroups of , and
is the Goldie rank. There is a stronger conjecture: G0 (k) = G0 (k)F G. A. Noskov
The strong conjecture G0 (k) = G0 (k)F has been proved (J. A. Moody, Bull. Amer.
Math. Soc., 17 (1987), 113116).
10.48. Let V be a vector space of finite dimension over a field of prime order. A subset R of GL(V ) {0} is called regular if |R| = |V |, 0, 1 R and vx 6= vy for any
non-trivial vector v V and any distinct elements x, y R. It is obvious that , , g
transform a regular set into a regular one, where x = x1 for x 6= 0 and 0 = 0,
x = 1 x, xg = xg 1 and g is a non-zero element of the set being transformed.
We say that two regular subsets are equivalent if one can be obtained from the other
by a sequence of such transformations.
a) Study the equivalence classes of regular subsets.
b) Is every regular subset equivalent to a subgroup of GL(V ) together with 0?
N. D. Podufalov
a) They were studied (N. D. Podufalov, Algebra and Logic, 30, no. 1 (1991), 6269).
b) No. A regular set is closed with respect to multiplication if and only if the corresponding (, )-transitive plane is defined over a near-field. (N. D. Podufalov, Letter
of February, 13, 1989.)
191
192
11.6. Let p be an odd prime. Is it true that every finite p-group possesses a set of
generators of equal orders?
C. Bagi
nski
No, it is not true (E. A. OBrien, C. M. Scoppola, M. R. Vaughan-Lee, Proc. Amer.
Math. Soc., 134, no. 12 (2006), 34573464).
2
193
11.25. a) Does there exist a local product (different from the class of all finite groups
and from the class of all finite soluble groups) of Fitting classes each of which is not
local and is not a formation? See the definition of the product of Fitting classes in
(N. T. Vorobev, Math. Notes, 43, No 12 (1988), 9194).
N. T. Vorobev
Yes, there exists (N. T. Vorobev, A. N. Skiba, Problems in Algebra, 8, Gomel, 1995,
5558 (Russian)).
11.26. Does there exist a group which is not isomorphic to outer automorphism
group of a metabelian group with trivial center?
R. Gobel
No, given any group G there is a metabelian group M with trivial center such
that Out M
obel, A. Paras, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 149, no. 3 (2000)
= G (R. G
251266), and if G is finite or countable then M above can be chosen countable
(R. G
obel, A. Paras, in: Abelian Groups and Modules, Proc. Int. Conf. Dublin, 1998,
Birkh
auser, Basel, 1999, 309317).
11.27. What are the minimum numbers of generators for groups G satisfying S 6
G 6 Aut S where S is a finite simple non-abelian group?
K. Gruenberg
The number d(G) is found (mod CFSG) for every such a group G. In particular,
d(G) = max{2, d(G/S)} and d(G) 6 3 (F. Dalla Volta, A. Lucchini, J. Algebra, 178,
no. 1 (1995), 194223).
11.29. f) Let F be a free group and f = ZF (F 1) the augmentation ideal of the
integral group ring ZF . For any normal subgroup R of F define the corresponding
ideal r = ZF (R 1) = id (r 1 | r R). One may identify, for instance, F (1 + rf) =
R , where F is naturally imbedded into ZF and 1 + rf = {1 + a | a rf}. Is the
quotient group (F (1 + r + fn ))/R n (F ) always abelian?
N. D. Gupta
Yes, it is (N. D. Gupta, Yu. V. Kuzmin, J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 78, no. 1 (1992),
165172).
11.33. a) Let G(q) be a simple Chevalley group over a field of order q. Prove
that there exists m such that the restriction of every non-one-dimensional complex
representation of G(q m ) to G(q) contains all irreducible representations of G(q) as
composition factors.
A. E. Zalesskii
This is proved in (D. Gluck, J. Algebra, 155, no. 2 (1993), 221237).
11.35. Suppose that H is a finite linear group over C and h is an element of H of
prime order p which is not contained in any abelian normal subgroup. Is it true that
h has at least (p 1)/2 different eigenvalues?
A. E. Zalesskii
Yes, it is (G. R. Robinson, J. Algebra, 178, no. 2 (1995), 635642).
11.37. b) Can the free Burnside group B(m, n), for any m and n = 2l 1, be
given by defining relations of the form v n = 1 such that for any natural divisor d of
n distinct from n the element v d is not trivial in B(m, n)?
S. V. Ivanov
Yes, it can (S. V. Ivanov, Int. J. Algebra Comput., 4, no. 12 (1994), 1308).
11.42. Does there exist a torsion-free group having exactly three conjugacy classes
and containing a subgroup of index 2?
A. V. Izosov
Yes, it exists (A. Minasyan, Comment. Math. Helv., 84 (2009), 259296).
194
11.43. For a finite group X, we denote by k(X) the number of its conjugacy classes.
Is it true that k(AB) 6 k(A)k(B)?
L. S. Kazarin
No, it is not true in general: let G = ha, b | a30 = b2 = 1, ab = a1 i
= D60 be the
6
195
11.68. Can every fully ordered group be embedded in a fully ordered group (continuing the given order) with only 3 classes of conjugate elements?
B. Neumann
No, not every (V. V. Bludov, Algebra and Logic, 44, no. 6 (2005), 370380).
11.74. Let G be a non-elementary hyperbolic group and let Gn be the subgroup
generated by the nth powers of the elements of G.
a) (M. Gromov). Is it true that G/Gn is infinite for some n = n(G)?
T
b) Is it true that
Gn = {1}?
A. Yu. Olshanski
n=1
a) Yes, it is; b) Yes, it is (S. V. Ivanov, A. Yu. Olshanskii, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc.,
348, N 6 (1996), 20912138).
11.75. Let us consider the class of groups with n generators and m relators. A subclass of this class is called dense if the ratio of the number of presentations of the
form ha1 , . . . , an | R1 , . . . , Rm i (where |Ri | = di ) for groups from this subclass to the
number of all such presentations converges to 1 when d1 + + dm tends to infinity. Prove that for every k < m and for any n the subclass of groups all of whose
k-generator subgroups are free is dense.
A. Yu. Olshanski
This is proved (G. N. Arzhantseva, A. Yu. Olshanski, Math. Notes, 59, no. 4 (1996),
350355).
11.79. Let G be a finite group of automorphisms of an infinite field F of characteristic p. Taking integral powers of the elements of F and the action of G define the
action of the group ring ZG of G on the multiplicative group of F . Is it true that any
subfield of F that contains the images of all elements of F under the action of some
fixed element of ZG \ pZG contains infinitely many G-invariant elements of F ?
K. N. Ponomarev
Yes (K. N. Ponomarev, Siber. Math. J., 33 (1992), 10941099).
11.82. Let R be the normal closure of an element r in a free group F with the natural
length function and suppose that s is an element of minimal length in R. Is it true
that s is conjugate to one of the following elements: r, r1 , [r, f ], [r1 , f ] for some
f F?
V. N. Remeslennikov
No, not always (J. McCool, Glasgow Math. J., 43, no. 1 (2001), 123124).
11.91. Prove that a hereditary formation F of finite soluble groups is local if every
finite soluble non-simple minimal non-F-group is a Shmidt group (that is, a non-nilpotent finite group all of whose proper subgroups are nilpotent). V. N. Semenchuk
This is proved (A. N. Skiba, Dokl. Akad. Nauk Belorus. SSR, 34, no. 11 (1990),
982985 (Russian)).
11.93. Is the variety of all lattices generated by the block lattices (see Archive, 9.62)
of finite groups?
D. M. Smirnov
No, it is not (D. M. Smirnov, Siberian Math. J., 33, no. 4 (1992), 663668).
11.97. Are there only finitely many finite simple groups with a given set of all
different values of irreducible characters on a single element?
S. P. Strunkov
No; all complex irreducible characters of the groups L2 (2m ), m > 2, take the values
0, 1 on involutions (V. D. Mazurov).
196
Then f (G), (G) may be called the order and Eulerian polynomials of G. Substituting
pm , q m , . . . for xp , xq , . . . in these polynomials we get the mth power of the order of G
and the number of ordered m-tuples of elements that generate G respectively.
It is known that if G is p-solvable, then (G) is a product of a polynomial in xp
and a polynomial in the remaining variables. Consequently, if G is solvable, (G) is
the product of a polynomial in xp by a polynomial in xq by . . . . Are the converses of
these statements true a) for solvable groups? b) for p-solvable groups? G. E. Wall
Yes, the converses are true: a) for solvable groups (E. Detomi, A. Lucchini, J. London Math. Soc. (2), 70 (2004), 165181); b) for p-solvable groups (E. Damian,
A. Lucchini, Commun. Algebra, 35 (2007), 34513472).
11.105. a) Let V be a variety of groups. Its relatively free group of given rank has a
presentation F/N , where F is absolutely free of the same rank and N fully invariant
in F . The associated Lie ring L (F/N ) has a presentation L/J, where L is the free
Lie ring of the same rank and J an ideal of L. Is J always fully invariant in L?
G. E. Wall
2 4
No, not always; the ideal J is not fully invariant for F/(F ) , that is, for V = B4 B2
(D. Groves, J. Algebra, 211, no. 1 (1999), 1525).
11.106. Can every periodic group be embedded in a simple periodic group?
R. Phillips
Yes (A. Yu. Olshanskii, Ukrain. Math. J., 44 (1992), 761763).
11.108. Is every locally finite simple group absolutely simple? A group G is said
to be absolutely simple if the only composition series of G is {1, G}. For equivalent
formulations see (R. E. Phillips, Rend. Sem. Mat. Univ. Padova, 79 (1988), 213
220).
R. Phillips
No, not every (U. Meierfrankenfeld, in: Proc. Int. Conf. Finite and Locally Finite
Groups, Istanbul, 1994, Kl
uwer, 1995, 189212).
197
198
12.10. (P. Neumann). Can the free group on two generators be embedded in Sym (N)
so that the image of every non-identity element has only a finite number of orbits?
A. M. W. Glass
Yes, it can (H. D. Macpherson, in: Ordered groups and infinite permutation groups,
Partially based on Conf. Luminy, France, 1993 (Mathematics and its Applications,
354), Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1996, 221230).
12.14. If T is a countable theory, does there exist a model A of T such that the
theory of Aut (A) is undecidable?
M. Giraudet, A. M. W. Glass
Yes, moreover, every first order theory having infinite models has a model whose
automorphism group has undecidable existential theory (V. V. Bludov, M. Giraudet,
A. M. W. Glass, G. Sabbagh, in Models, Modules and Abelian Groups, de Gruyter,
Berlin, 2008, 325328).
12.22. a) Let (G) be the augmentation ideal of the integer group ring of an arbitrary
group G. Then Dn (G) = G (1 + n (G)) contains the nth lower central subgroup
n (G) of G. Is it true that Dn (G)/n (G) is central in G/n (G)?
N. D. Gupta, Yu. V. Kuzmin
No, not always; moreover, Dn (G)/n (G) need not be contained in any term of the
upper central series of G/n (G) with fixed number (N. D. Gupta, Yu. V. Kuzmin,
J. Pure Appl. Algebra, 104, no. 1 (1995), 191197).
12.24.PGiven a ring R with identity, the automorphisms of R[[x]] sending x to
199
12.36. Let p be a prime, V an n-dimensional vector space over the field of p elements,
and let G be a subgroup of GL(V ). Let S = S[V ] be the symmetric algebra on V ,
the dual of V . Let T = S G be the ring of invariants and let bm be the P
dimension of
bm tm is a
the homogeneous component of degree m. Then the Poincare series
m>0
P
ai (1 t)i about t = 1
rational function with a Laurent power series expansion
i>n
where an = 1 .
|G|
Conjecture: an+1 =
12.39. (W. J. Shi). Must a finite group and a finite simple group be isomorphic if
they have equal orders and the same set of orders of elements?
A. S. Kondratiev
Yes, they must (M. C. Xu, W. J. Shi, Algebra Colloq., 10 (2003), 427443;
A.V. Vasilev, M.A. Grechkoseeva, V.D. Mazurov, Algebra Logic, 48 (2009), 385409).
12.44. (P. Hall). Is there a non-trivial group which is isomorphic with every proper
extension of itself by itself?
J. C. Lennox
Yes, such groups exist of cardinality any regular cardinal (R. Gobel, S. Shelah, Math.
Proc. Cambridge Philos. Society (2), 134, no. 1 (2003), 2331).
12.45. (P. Hall). Must a non-trivial group, which is isomorphic to each of its nontrivial normal subgroups, be either free of infinite rank, simple, or infinite cyclic?
(Lennox, Smith and Wiegold, 1992, have shown that a finitely generated group of this
kind which has a proper normal subgroup of finite index is infinite cyclic.) J. C. Lennox
No (V. N. Obraztsov, Proc. London Math. Soc., 75 (1997), 7998).
12.46. Let F be the nonabelian free group on two generators x, y. For a, b C, |a| =
|b| = 1, let a,b be the automorphism of CF defined by a,b (x) = ax, a,b (y) = by.
Given 0 6= CF , can we always find a, b C \ {1} with |a| = |b| = 1 such that
CF a,b ()CF 6= 0?
P. A. Linnell
No, not always (A. V. Tushev, Ukrain. Mat. J., 47, no. 4 (1995), 571572).
200
12.47. Let k be a field, let p be a prime, and let G be the Wreath product Zp Z (so
the base group has exponent p). Does kG have a classical quotient ring? (i. e. do the
non-zero-divisors of kG form an Ore set?)
P. A. Linnell
No, it does not (P. A. Linnell, W. L
uck, T. Schick, in: High-dimensional manifold
topology. Proc. of the school, ICTP (Trieste, 2001), World Scientific, River Edge,
NJ, 2003, 315321).
12.71. Let d(G) denote the smallest cardinality of a generating set of the group G. Let
A and B be finite groups. Is there a finite group G such that A, B 6 G, G = hA, Bi,
and d(G) = d(A)+d(B)? The corresponding question has negative answer in the class
of solvable groups (L. G. Kovacs, H.-S. Sim, Indag. Math., 2, no. 2 (1991), 229232).
L. Ribes
No, not always (A. Lucchini, J. Group Theory, 4, no. 1 (2001), 5358).
201
202
12.96. Find a non-empty Fitting class F and a non-soluble finite group G such that
G has no F-injectors.
L. A. Shemetkov
Found by E. Salomon (Mainz Univ., unpublished); his example is presented in 7.1
of (A. Ballester-Bolinches, L. M. Ezquerro, Classes of finite groups, Springer, 2006).
12.97. Let F be the formation of all finite groups all of whose composition factors are
isomorphic to some fixed simple non-abelian group T . Prove that F is indecomposable
into a product of two non-trivial subformations.
L. A. Shemetkov
It is proved (O. V. Melnikov, Problems in Algebra, 9, Gomel, 1996, 4247 (Russian)).
12.98. Let F be a free group of finite rank, R its recursively defined normal subgroup.
Is it true that
a) the word problem for F/R is soluble if and only if it is soluble for F/[R, R]?
b) the conjugacy problem for F/R is soluble if and only if it is soluble for F/[R, R]?
c) the conjugacy problem for F/[R, R] is soluble if the word problem is soluble for
F/[R, R]?
V. E. Shpilrain
a) Yes, it is; b) No, it is not; c) No, it is not (M. I. Anokhin, Math. Notes, 61, no. 12
(1997), 38).
12.102. Is every proper factor-group of a group of Golod (see 9.76) residually finite?
V. P. Shunkov
No, not every (L. Hammoudi, Algebra Colloq., 5 (1998), 371376).
13.10. Is there a function f : N N such that, for every soluble group G of derived
length k generated by a set A, the validity of the identity x4 = 1 on each subgroup
generated by at most f (k) elements of A implies that G is a group of exponent 4?
V. V. Bludov
No, there is not (G. S. Deryabina, A. N. Krasilnikov, Siberian Math. J., 44, no. 1
(2003), 5860).
13.11. Is a torsion-free group almost polycyclic if it has a finite set of generators
a1 , . . . , an such that every element of the group has a unique presentation in the form
ak11 aknn , where k1 , . . . , kn Z?
V. V. Bludov
No, not always (A. Muranov, Trans. Amer. Math. Soc., 359 (2007), 36093645).
13.16. Is every locally nilpotent group with minimum condition on centralizers hypercentral?
F. O Wagner
Yes, it is (V. V. Bludov, Algebra and Logic, 37, no. 3 (1998), 151156).
13.18. Let F be a finitely generated non-Abelian free group and let G be the Cartesian (unrestricted) product of countable infinity of copies of F . Must the Abelianization G/G of G be torsion-free?
A. M. Gaglione, D. Spellman
No, it may contain elements of order 2 (O. Kharlampovich, A. Myasnikov, in: Knots,
braids, and mapping class groups papers dedicated to Joan S. Birman (New York,
1998), Amer. Math. Soc., Providence, RI, 2001, 7783).
13.21. a) Is there an infinite finitely generated residually finite p-group, in which the
order |g| of an arbitrary element g does not exceed f ((g)), where (g) is the length
of g with respect to a fixed set of generators and f (n) is a function growing at n
slower than any power function n , > 0?
R. I. Grigorchuk
Yes, there is (A. V. Rozhkov, Dokl. Math., 58, no. 2 (1998), 234237).
203
204
13.47. Can every countable abelian group with finitely many involutions be partitioned into two subsets that are dense in every group topology?
I. V. Protasov
Yes, it can (E. G. Zelenyuk, Ukrain. Math. J., 51, no. 1 (1999), 4450).
13.54. b) Is it true that every group is embeddable in the kernel of some Frobenius
group (see Archive, 6.53)?
A. I. Sozutov
Yes, it is true (V. V. Bludov, Siberian Math. J., 38, no. 6 (1997), 10541056).
13.56. (A. Shalev). Let G be a finite p-group of sectional rank r, and an automorphism of G having exactly m fixed points. Is the derived length of G bounded by a
function depending on r and m only?
E. I. Khukhro
Yes, it is (A. Jaikin-Zapirain, Israel J. Math., 129 (2002), 209220).
13.58. Let be an automorphism of prime order p of a nilpotent (periodic) group G
such that CG () is a group of finite sectional rank r. Does G possess a normal
subgroup N which is nilpotent of class bounded by a function of p only and is such
that G/N is a group of finite sectional rank bounded in terms of r and p?
This was proved for p = 2 in (P. Shumyatsky, Arch. Math., 71 (1998), 425432).
E. I. Khukhro
Yes, it does (E. I. Khukhro, J. London Math. Soc., 77 (2008), 130148).
13.61. We call a metric space narrow if it is quasiisometric to a subset of the real
line, and wide otherwise. Let G be a group with the finite set of generators A, and
let = (G, A) be the Cayley graph of G with the natural metric. Suppose that,
after deleting any narrow subset L from , at most two connected components of the
graph \ L can be wide, and there exists at least one such a subset L yielding exactly
two wide components in \ L. Is it true that is quasiisometric to an Euclidean or
a hyperbolic plane?
V. A. Churkin
No, it is not true in general (O. V. Bogopolskii, Preprint, Novosibirsk, 1998 (Russian)). See also new problem 14.98.
13.62. Let U and V be non-cyclic subgroups of a free group. Does the inclusion
[U, U ] 6 [V, V ] imply that U 6 V ?
V. P. Shaptala
No, it does not (M. J. Dunwoody, Arch. Math., 16 (1965), 153157).
13.63. Let e (G) denote the set of orders of elements of a group G. For N let
h() denote the number of non-isomorphic finite groups G with e (G) = . Is there
a number k such that, for every , either h() 6 k, or h() = ?
W. J. Shi
3r
No, there is no such number: h(e (L3 (7 ))) = r + 1 for any r > 0 (A. V. Zavarnitsine,
J. Group Theory, 7, no. 1 (2004), 8197).
13.66. Let F be a
a) free;
b) free metabelian
group of finite rank. Let M denote the set of all endomorphisms of F with noncyclic images. Can one choose two elements g, h F such that, for every , M ,
equalities (g) = (g) and (h) = (h) imply that = , that is, the endomorphisms
in M are uniquely determined by their values at g and h?
V. E. Shpilrain
a) Yes, one can (D. Lee, J. Algebra, 247 (2002), no. 2, 509540).
b) No, not always (E. I. Timoshenko, Math. Notes, 62, no. 56 (1998), 767770).
205
206
14.49. Is SL3 (Z) a factor group of the modular group P SL2 (Z)? Since the latter is
isomorphic to the free product of two cyclic groups of orders 2 and 3, the question
asks if SL3 (Z) can be generated by two elements of orders 2 and 3.
M. Conder
No, it is not (M. C. Tamburini, P. Zucca, Atti Accad. Naz. Lincei Cl. Sci. Fis. Mat.
Natur. Rend. Lincei (9) Mat. Appl., 11, no. 1 (2000), 57; Ya. N. Nuzhin, Math.
Notes, 70, no. 12 (2001), 7178). M. Conder has shown, however, that SL3 (Z) has a
subgroup of index 57 that is a factor group of the modular group P SL2 (Z). Also it
has been shown in (M. C. Tamburini, J. S. Wilson, N. Gavioli, J. Algebra, 168 (1994),
353370) that SLd (Z) is a factor group of the modular group P SL2 (Z) for all d > 28.
14.50. (Z. I. Borevich). A subgroup A of a group G is said to be paranormal
(respec
tively, polynormal ) if Ax 6 hAu | u hA, Ax ii (respectively, Ax 6 Au | u Ahxi )
for any x G. Is every polynormal subgroup of a finite group paranormal?
A. S. Kondratiev
Not always (V. I. Mysovskikh, Dokl. Math., 60 (1999), 7172).
14.52. It is known that if a finitely generated group is residually torsion-free nilpotent,
then the group is residually finite p-group, for every prime p. Is the converse true?
Yu. V. Kuzmin
Not always (B. Hartley, in: Symposia Mathematica, Bologna, Vol. XVII, Convegno
sui Gruppi Infiniti, INDAM, Roma, 1973, Academic Press, London, 1976, 225234).
14.55. a) Prove that the Nottingham group J = N (Z/pZ) (as defined in Archive,
12.24) is finitely presented for p > 2.
C. R. Leedham-Green
Proved for p > 2 (M. V. Ershov, J. London Math. Soc., 71 (2005), 362378).
14.58. b) Suppose that A is a periodic group of regular automorphisms of an abelian
group. Is A finite if A is generated by elements of order 3?
V. D. Mazurov
Yes, it is (A. Kh. Zhurtov, Siberian Math. J., 41, no. 2 (2000), 268275).
14.60. Suppose that H is a non-trivial normal subgroup of a finite group G such that
the factor-group G/H is isomorphic to one of the simple groups Ln (q), n > 3. Is it
true that G has an element whose order is distinct from the order of any element in
G/H?
V. D. Mazurov
This is true for n 6= 4 (A. V. Zavarnitsine, Siberian Math. J., 49 (2008), 246256), and
false for n = 4 (A. V. Zavarnitsine, Siberian Electron. Math. Rep., 5 (2008), 6874).
14.62. Suppose that H is a non-soluble normal subgroup of a finite group G. Does
there always exist a maximal soluble subgroup S of H such that G = H NG (S)?
V. S. Monakhov
Yes, it always exists mod CFSG (V. I. Zenkov, V. S. Monakhov, D. O. Revin, Algebra
and Logic, 43, no. 2 (2004), 102108).
14.63. What are the composition factors of non-soluble finite groups all of whose
normalizers of Sylow subgroups are 2-nilpotent, in particular, supersoluble?
V. S. Monakhov
Described (L. S. Kazarin, A. A. Volochkov, Mathematics in Yaroslavl Univ.: Coll. of
Surveys to 30-th Anniv. of Math. Fac., Yaroslavl, 2006, 243255 (Russian)).
207
14.66. (Well-known problem). Let G be a finite soluble group, (G) the set of primes
dividing the order of G, and (G) the maximum number of primes dividing the order
of some element. Does there exist a linear bound for |(G)| in terms of (G)?
A. Moreto
Yes, it does (T. M. Keller, J. Algebra, 178, no. 2 (1995), 643652).
14.71. Consider a free group F of finite rank and an arbitrary group G. Define the
G-closure clG (T ) of any subset T F as the intersection of the kernels of
T all those
homomorphisms : F G of F into G that vanish on T : clG (T ) = {Ker |
: F G; T Ker }. Groups G and H are called geometrically equivalent if
for every free group F and every subset T F the G- and H-closures of T coincide:
clG (T ) = clH (T ). It is easy to see that if G and H are geometrically equivalent
then they have the same quasiidentities. Is it true that if two groups have the same
quasiidentities then they are geometrically equivalent? This is true for nilpotent
groups.
B. I. Plotkin
No, not always (V. V. Bludov, Abstracts of the 7th Int. Conf. Groups and Group
Rings, Suprasl, Poland, 1999, p. 6; R. Gobel, S. Shelah, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc.,
130 (2002), 673674 (electronic); A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov, J. Algebra,
234, no. 1 (2000), 225276). The latter paper contains also necessary and sufficient
conditions for geometrical equivalence.
14.77. Let p be a prime number and X a finite set of powers of p containing 1. Is it
true that X is the set of all lengths of the conjugacy classes of some finite p-group?
J. Sangroniz
Yes, it is (J. Cossey, T. Hawkes, Proc. Amer. Math. Soc., 128, no. 1 (2000), 4951).
14.80. Is the lattice of all totally local formations of finite groups modular? The
definition of a totally local formation see in (L. A. Shemetkov, A. N. Skiba, Formatsii
algebraicheskikh system, Moscow, Nauka, 1989 (Russian)).
A. N. Skiba, L. A. Shemetkov
Yes, even distributive (V. G. Safonov, Commun. Algebra, 35 (2007), 34953502).
14.86. Does there exist an infinite locally nilpotent p-group that is equal to its
commutator subgroup and in which every proper subgroup is nilpotent? J. Wiegold
No, it does not exist (A. O. Asar, J. Lond. Math. Soc. (2), 61, no. 2 (2000), 412422).
14.88. We say that an element u of a group G is a test element if for any endomorphism of G the equality (u) = u implies that is an automorphism of G. Does a
free soluble group of rank 2 and derived length d > 2 have any test elements?
B. Fine, V. Shpilrain
Yes, it does (E. I. Timoshenko, Algebra and Logic, 45, no. 4 (2006), 254260.)
14.92. (I. D. Macdonald). Every finite p-group has at least p 1 conjugacy classes
of maximum size. I. D. Macdonald (Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc., 26 (1983), 233
239) constructed groups of order 2n for any n > 7 with just one conjugacy class
of maximum size. Are there any examples with exactly p 1 conjugacy classes of
maximum size for odd p?
G. Fern
andezAlcober
Yes, there are, for p = 3 (A. Jaikin-Zapirain, M. F. Newman, E. A. OBrien, Israel J.
Math., 172, no. 1 (2009), 119123).
208
209
15.8. a) (S. M. Ulam). Consider the usual compact group SO(3) of all rotations of
a 3-dimensional Euclidean space, and let G denote this group viewed as a discrete
group. Can G act non-trivially on a countable set?
P. de la Harpe
Yes, it can (S. Thomas, J. Group Theory, 2 (1999), 401434); another proof is in
(Yu. L. Ershov, V. A. Churkin, Dokl. Math., 70, no. 3 (2004), 896898).
15.10. (Yu. I. Merzlyakov). Is the group of all automorphisms of the free group Fn
that act trivially on Fn /[Fn , Fn ] linear for n > 3?
V. G. Bardakov
No, it is not: for n > 5 (A. Pettet, Cohomology of some subgroups of the automorphism group of a free group, Ph.D. Thesis, 2006), and for n > 3 (V. G. Bardakov,
R. Mikhailov, Commun. Algebra, 36, no. 4 (2008), 14891499).
15.14. Do there exist finitely generated branch groups (see 15.12)
a) that are non-amenable?
c) that contain F2 ?
k
d) that have exponential growth?
L. Bartholdi, R. I. Grigorchuk, Z. Suni
a), c), d) Such groups do exist (S. Sidki, J. S. Wilson, Arch. Math., 80, no. 5 (2003),
458463).
15.24. Suppose that a finite p-group G has a subgroup of exponent p and order pn .
Is it true that if p is sufficiently large relative to n, then G contains a normal subgroup
of exponent p and order pn ?
J. L. Alperin and G. Glauberman (J. Algebra, 203, no. 2 (1998), 533566) proved
that if a finite p-group contains an elementary abelian subgroup of order pn , then
it contains a normal elementary abelian subgroup of the same order provided p >
4n7, and the analogue for arbitrary abelian subgroups is proved in (G. Glauberman,
J. Algebra, 272 (2004), 128153).
Ya. G. Berkovich
Yes, it is true if p > n. By induction, G contains a subgroup H of exponent p and
order pn which is normal in a maximal subgroup M of G. Then H 6 p1 (M ). The
elements of order p of p1 (M ) constitute a normal subgroup of G, which contains H.
(A. Mann, Letter of 1 October 2002.)
15.25. A finite group G is said to be rational if every irreducible character of G
takes only rational values. Are the Sylow 2-subgroups of the symmetric groups S2n
rational?
Ya. G. Berkovich
Yes, they are. A Sylow 2-subgroup Tn of S2n is the wreath product of the one for
S2n1 with the group C of order 2. If Tn is rational, then the wreath product of Tn
with C is also rational by Corollary 70 in (D. Kletzing Structure and representations
of Q-groups (Lecture Notes in Math., 1084), Springer, Berlin, 1984). The result
follows by induction. (A. Mann, Letter of 1 October 2002 ).
15.27. Is it possible that Aut G
= Aut H for a finite p-group G of order > 2 and a
proper subgroup H < G?
Ya. G. Berkovich
Yes, it is possible (T. Li, Arch. Math., 92 (2009), 287290) for |G| = 2|H| = 32.
15.34. Is any free product of linearly ordered groups with an amalgamated subgroup
right-orderable?
V. V. Bludov
Yes, it is (V. V. Bludov, A. M. W. Glass, Math. Proc. Cambridge Philos. Soc., 146
(2009), 591601).
210
15.39. Axiomatizing the basic properties of subnormal subgroups, we say that a functor associating with every finite group G some non-empty set (G) of its subgroups
is an ET P -functor if
1
1) (A) (B) and (B) (A) for any epimorphism : A 7 B, as well
as {H R | R (G)} (H) for any subgroup H 6 G;
2) (H) (G) for any subgroup H (G);
3) (G) is a sublattice of the lattice of all subgroups of G.
Let be an ET P -functor. Does there exist a hereditary formation F such that
(G) coincides with the set of all F-subnormal subgroups in any finite group G? This
is true for finite soluble groups (A. F. Vasilev, S. F. Kamornikov, Siberian Math. J.,
42, no. 1 (2001), 2533).
A. F. Vasilev, S. F. Kamornikov
Not always (S. F. Kamornikov, Math. Notes, 89, no. 34 (2011), 340348).
15.44. b) Is the ring of invariants K[M (n)m ]GL(n) CohenMacaulay in all characteristics? (Here M (n)m is the direct sum of m copies of the space of n n matrices.)
A. N. Zubkov
Yes, it is (M. Hashimoto, Math. Z., 236 (2001), 605623).
15.60. Is it true that any finitely generated p -isolated subgroup of a free group is
separable in the class of finite p-groups? It is easy to see that this is true for cyclic
subgroups.
D. I. Moldavanski
No, it is not (V. G. Bardakov, Siberian Math. J., 45, no. 3 (2004), 416419).
15.63. b) Let Fn be the free group of finite rank n on the free generators x1 , . . . , xn .
An element u Fn is called positive if u belongs to the semigroup generated by
the xi . An element u Fn is called potentially positive if (u) is positive for some
automorphism of Fn . Finally, u Fn is called stably potentially positive if it is
potentially positive as an element of Fm for some m > n. Are there stably potentially
positive elements that are not potentially positive? A. G. Myasnikov, V. E. Shpilrain
No, there are none (A. Clark, R. Goldstein, Commun. Algebra, 33, no. 11 (2005),
40974104).
211
15.76. a) If is a variety of groups, then let 0 denote the category of all free groups
of finite rank in . It is proved (G. Mashevitzky, B. Plotkin, E. Plotkin J. Algebra,
282 (2004), 490512) that if is the variety of all groups, then every automorphism
of the category 0 is an inner one. The same is true if is the variety of all abelian
groups. Is this true for the variety of nilpotent groups of class 2?
An automorphism of a category is called inner if it is isomorphic to the identity
automorphism. Let s : 1 be a function defining this isomorphism. Then for
every object A we have an isomorphism sA : A (A) and for any morphism of
objects : A B we have () = sB s1
B. I. Plotkin
A .
Yes, it is, even for the variety of nilpotent groups of any class n (A. Tsurkov, Int. J.
Algebra Comput., 17 (2007), 12731281).
15.86. A group G is called discriminating if for any finite set of nontrivial elements of
the direct square GG there is a homomorphism GG G which does not annihilate
any of them (G. Baumslag, A. G. Myasnikov, V. N. Remeslennikov). A group G is
called squarelike if G is universally equivalent (in the sense of first order logic) to a
discriminating group (B. Fine, A. M. Gaglione, A. G. Myasnikov, D. Spellman). Must
every squarelike group be elementarily equivalent to a discriminating group?
D. Spellman
Yes, it must (O. Belegradek, J. Group Theory, 7, no. 4 (2004), 521532; B. Fine,
A. M. Gaglione, D. Spellman, Archiv Math., 83, no. 2 (2004), 106112).
16.8. The width w(G ) of the derived subgroup G of a finite non-abelian group
G is the smallest positive integer m such that every element of G is a product of
6 m commutators. Is it true that the maximum value of the ratio w(G )/|G| is 1/6
(attained at the symmetric group S3 )?
V. G. Bardakov
Yes, it is (T. Bonner, J. Algebra, 320 (2008), 31653171).
16.17. Is it true that a non-abelian simple group cannot contain Engel elements other
than the identity element?
V. V. Bludov
No, it can: since an involution is an Engel element in any 2-group, counterexamples
are provided by non-abelian simple 2-groups; see Archive, 4.74(a). (V. V. Bludov,
Letter of 30 March 2006.)
212
213
16.67. Conjecture: Given any integer k, there exists an integer n0 = n0 (k) such
that if n > n0 then the symmetric group of degree n has at least k different ordinary
irreducible characters of equal degrees.
A. Moreto
This is proved (D. Craven, Proc. London Math. Soc., 96 (2008), 2650).
16.75. Can a non-abelian one-relator group be the group of all automorphisms of
some group?
M. V. Neshchadim
Yes, it can: in (D. J. Collins, Proc. London Math. Soc. (3), 36 (1978), no. 3, 480493)
it was proved that for integers r, s such that (r, s) = 1, |r| 6= |s|, and r s is even, the
group G = ha, b | a1 br a = bs i is isomorphic to Aut(Aut(G)) (V. A. Churkin, Letter
of 5 April 2006 ).
16.106. Let e (G) denote the set of orders of elements of a group G, and h() the
number of non-isomorphic finite groups G with e (G) = . Do there exist two finite
groups G1 , G2 such that e (G1 ) = e (G2 ), h(e (G1 )) < , and neither of the two
groups G1 , G2 is isomorphic to a subgroup or a quotient of a normal subgroup of the
other?
W. J. Shi
Yes, there exist: for example, G1 = L15 (260 ).3 and G2 = L15 (260 ).5 (M. A. Grechkoseeva, Algebra and Logic, 47, no. 4 (2008), 229241).
16.109. Is there a polynomial time algorithm for solving the word problem in the
group Aut Fn (with respect to some particular finite presentation), where Fn is the
free group of rank n > 2?
V. E. Shpilrain
Yes, there is (S. Schleimer, Comment. Math. Helv., 83 (2008), 741765).
214
Index of names
Abasheev B. L. A: 7.30
Abdollahi A. 11.46, 15.1, 16.1, 16.1,
16.83, 17.112, 17.2, 18.57, A: 9.50,
16.61
Adamov S. N. A: 10.1
Adeleke S. A. 14.8
Adyan S. I. 4.2, 4.5, 7.3, A: 1.24, 1.63,
1.82, 2.13, 2.15, 2.39, 3.9, 4.1,
4.35, 7.12, 7.2, 13.34
Agalakov S. A. A: 2.19
Akbari S. 16.1
Akhmedov N. S. 4.42
Aleev R. Zh. 11.13, 12.1, 13.1, 14.13,
A: 12.1
Allenby R. B. J. T. 9.1, A: 9.2
Alperin J. 4.24, 16.33, 17.46, A: 3.64,
4.76, 8.49, 15.24
Alperin R. 13.39, 16.2
Amberg B. 7.56, 13.27, 18.25
Amir G. 16.74
Anashin V. S. 10.25
Andreadakis S. A: 10.33
Angel O. 16.74
Anokhin M. I. 13.2, A: 6.14, 8.26, 8.28,
12.98
Anosov D. V. 8.8, A: 8.8
Antonov V. A. 6.12, A: 10.1, 11.4
Arad Z. 16.34, 16.3, A: 3.39, 7.12
Arnautov V. I. 10.8, 14.45, A: 10.6,
10.6, 10.7, 10.7, 12.2, 12.2
Artamonov V. A. 4.67, 11.5, 13.3
Artemovich O. D. A: 4.21
Artin E. A: 1.11, 17.14
Asar A. O. 16.56, 17.13, A: 4.36,
14.86
Aronszajn N. 2.48, 18.71
Arzhantseva G. N. 18.6, A: 15.4, 11.75
Aschbacher M. 11.3, 11.60, A: 2.37,
5.41
Ashmanov I. S. 17.79, A: 2.45
Atabekyan V. S. 11.36, 17.79, 18.7,
A: 1.83, 7.1, 8.53
Auslander L. A: 1.34
Avenhaus J. A: 9.30
Azarov D. N. A: 11.10
Babai L. 17.41
Bachmuth S. A: 5.49
215
Bryukhanova E. G. 7.31
Bubboloni D. 18.23
Budkin A. I. 2.40, 10.10, 13.1415,
14.26, 15.36, 16.20, 17.3334,
A: 3.15, 3.52, 5.51, 10.9, 12.5,
14.25
Bugeaud Y. 13.65
Burger M. 18.24, A: 4.45
Burichenko V. P. 9.59, 9.60, 12.49,
16.31, 16.58, 17.50, 18.2528
Burns R. G. 2.82, 15.92, A: 7.7
Burnside W. 15.2
Busetto G. 12.6
Button J.O. 16.2
Buttsworth R. N. 16.51, A: 2.25
Buturlakin A. A. 16.25
Calegari D. 17.107, 18.24, 18.3942
Cameron P. J. 9.6970, 11.45, 13.2931,
16.45, A: 13.28
Camina A. 14.46, 14.46
Camina R. A: 12.24, 13.36
Cannonito F. B. 5.1516, 7.19, 7.21
Cao Zhenfu 13.65
Caprace P.-E. 14.13, 18.70
Caranti A. 11.46, A: 11.46
Carlisle D. A: 12.36
Carmichael R. D. 18.90
Cartan E. 16.58
Carter R. W. A: 8.13
Casolo C. 9.64, 14.65
Cavenagh N. J. 17.35
Chankov E. I. 9.56, 11.94
Charin V. S. 8.60, 8.86, A: 3.58
Chase S. A: 2.4
Chatterji I. 10.40, 18.111
Chechin S. A. A: 6.49, 6.49
Ch`en G. 16.1
Cherep A. A. A: 6.57
Cherepanov E. A. 11.36
Chermak A. L. 9.72
Chernikov N. S. 6.48, 7.5456, 11.114,
13.60, 14.97, 15.97, 16.105, 17.120,
18.3, A: 2.69, 5.19, 5.62
Chernikov S. N. 2.80, 15.97, A: 5.62
Chevalley C. 2.56, 3.42
Chou C. 8.9
Chunikhin S. A. A: 5.63
Churkin V. A. 7.57, 10.71, 14.98, 18.36,
A: 2.31, 3.11, 7.36, 7.57, 13.61,
15.8, 16.75
216
Clare F. A: 1.68
Clark A. A: 15.63
Cohen A. M. 17.16
Cohen D. E. A: 1.85, 5.28
Cohn P. M. A: 2.38
Collatz L. 18.47
Collins D. J. 5.21, 10.70, A: 5.22, 16.75
Comerford L. A: 14.48
Comfort W. W. 13.48
Conder M. 14.73, 16.46, A: 14.49, 14.49
Conrad J. 17.62
Conrad P. 16.47
Cooper C. D. H. 6.47
Corner A. L. S. 17.21
Cornulier Y. 16.52
Cossey J. A: 5.17, 14.77
Cossidente A. 10.28
Coulbois T. 14.48
Cowling M. 14.6
Coxeter H. S. M. 18.90
Craven D. A: 16.67
Crawley-Boevey W. W. A: 12.36
Crestani E. 15.33
Crosby P. G. 17.12
Curran M. J. A: 12.78
Curtis C. 16.39
Cutolo G. 18.5456
Cuypers H. A: 12.76
Dade E. C. 18.102
Dalla Volta F. A: 11.27
Damian E. A: 11.104
Darafsheh M. R. 16.36, A: 16.37, 16.37
Dardano U. 9.64
Dark R. S. 17.47, A: 2.21
Day M. M. A: 8.6
de Bruijn N. G. 17.22
De Giovanni F. 13.2223, 14.36, 16.38
de Groot A: 2.36
De la Harpe P. 14.610, 15.58, A: 5.2,
15.4, 15.8
Deaconescu M. A: 15.43
Dennis R. K. 14.15
Deryabina G. S. A: 1.81, 13.10, 13.34
Detomi E. A: 11.104
Dicks W. A: 5.28, 11.110
Diekert V. 9.25
Digne F. 17.16
Dixon J. D. 6.1011, 18.36
Dixon M. 18.37
Doerk K. 14.30
Doktorov I. P. A: 4.27
Dolbak L. V. 11.88
Dolfi S. 14.65
Donkin S. 15.44, 16.39
Droste M. 10.32
Dugas M. 10.53, A: 7.22
Dunfield N. M. 17.107
Dunwoody M. J. A: 5.28, 13.62
Durakov E. B. 11.13
Dyer M. N. A: 4.54
Edmunds C. C. 14.14
Eggert N. 17.52
Egorychev G. P. A: 2.18
`
Eidinov
M. I. A: 2.88
Emaldi M. A: 11.128
Epstein D. B. A. 18.13
Erfanian A. 17.116
Ershov A. V. A: 7.30
Ershov Yu. L. 1.1920, 11.66, A: 1.18,
3.13, 15.8
Ershov M. 14.3334, 14.55, 14.93, 15.6,
18.107108, A: 13.36
Evans D. M. A: 13.28
Evans R. J. 10.32
Ezquerro L. M. 14.28, A: 12.96
Faghihi A. 11.46
Fang X. G. 11.80
Farbman S. P. 17.25
Fedorov A. N. A: 5.50
Fein B. A: 7.16
Feit W. 4.65, 6.10, 18.97, A: 7.48
Felsch V. 18.90
Felsch W. 14.95
Fern
andezAlcober G. 14.8991, A: 14.92
Fesenko I. B. 14.9394, A: 12.24
Fine B. A: 9.2, 14.88, 15.86, 15.86
Fitzpatrick P. A: 2.43, 7.48
Flavell P. 18.106
Fomin A. N. 7.5052, 9.6971, 10.65,
14.67, A: 10.1, 10.66
Fon-Der-Flaass D. G. 8.77
Fong P. A: 4.76
Fontaine J.-M. A: 12.24
Formanek E. 12.92, A: 2.16
Forster P. 18.8
` I. A: 3.21
Fridman E.
Frobenius G. 12.92
Greendlinger M. D.
1.1314, 1.17
217
1.12,
A: 1.11,
Hagenah C. 9.25
Hales A. W. 16.104
Hall J. I. A: 12.76
Hall M. 16.7
Hall P. 2.45, 4.6, 7.6, 10.16, 14.89,
17.101, A: 2.45, 4.5960, 12.31,
12.4445
Hammoudi L. 9.76, A: 8.66, 12.102
Harada K. 18.64
218
Harpe de la P.
14.610, 15.58,
A: 5.2, 15.4, 15.8
Hartley B. 5.59, 8.7879, 11.22, 11.49,
11.109, 11.111, 11.113, 12.27, 12.29,
13.69, 15.2021, 17.81, 17.119,
A: 1.75, 3.14, 4.76, 5.18, 5.6061,
5.60, 6.20, 7.6, 7.37, 8.8081, 8.80,
11.110, 11.110, 14.52
Hashimoto M. 15.44, A: 15.44
Hassani A. 15.95
Hauck P. 14.30
Havas G. 11.80, A: 8.12, 9.50
Hawkes T. A: 14.77
Heffernan R. 17.77
Heineken H. 11.17, A: 2.63, 12.91,
12.91, 16.62
Helling H. 8.8283
Herfort W. N. A: 3.39, 9.34, 9.34,
12.70, 12.70
Hering C. A: 9.21
Herrman C. 12.75
Hertzig D. A: 1.72
Hewitt P. R. 13.59
Hickin K. K. 8.79, 12.11, A: 7.6
Higman G. 6.21, 12.32, 14.10, 17.101,
18.33, A: 1.14, 4.76, 5.22
Hilbert D. 6.11, 14.22
Hilton P. A: 8.84, 12.93
Hirzebruch F. 15.56
Hjorth G. A: 13.28
Hoechsmann K. A: 12.1
Hog C. A: 7.57
H
ohnke H.-J. 12.92
Holland W. C. A: 3.19
Holt D. 7.52, A: 5.61
Houghton C. H. 16.52
Howie J. 15.94, A: 5.53
Huber M. 11.45
Humphreys J. E. 16.39
Humphries S. P. A: 14.102
Huppert B. 15.71, 18.99
17.1,
219
Labute J. P. 5.27
Lam C. H. 15.55
Ladisch F. 18.1
220
Lady E. L. 11.5051
Larsen M. J. A: 1.75, 7.6
Laubie F. A: 12.24
Laudenbach F. 18.87
Lausch H. 8.30, A: 9.18
Ledermann W. 18.82
Lee D. 13.66, 16.110
Leedham-Green C. R. 14.5557, 14.95,
15.48, 16.103, 17.6365
Leemans D. 11.80
Leinen F. 12.27, 12.28
Lennox J. C. 11.31, 12.43, A: 8.32,
12.4445
Lenyuk S. V. A: 12.5
Levai L. 14.53
Levchuk V. M. 7.2728, 8.31, 10.1920,
15.46, 18.68, A: 6.18, 6.19, 6.34,
12.42
Levich E. M. 3.47, A: 1.69
Levin F. 16.96
Li C. H. 14.73, 15.47
Li T. A: 15.27
Liebeck M. W. 7.17, 14.54, 18.117,
A: 5.41, 9.21
Likharev A. G. 18.68
Liman F. N. 8.33
Limanski V. V. A: 2.10
Lin V. 14.102, A: 14.102
Linnell P. A. 8.34, 11.28, 15.49, 16.52,
18.13, A: 2.33, 4.54, 5.9, 5.10,
10.30, 12.4647, 12.47, 14.102
Linton S. A. 11.46, A: 8.35
Lisitsa A. P. 18.89
Liu W. 14.46
Longobardi P. 15.1
Lorensen K. A: 12.93
Lorenz M. A: 10.41
Lossov K. I. A: 2.75, 4.45, 9.82
L
ubeck F. 7.17
Lubotzky A. 14.34, 18.108, A: 4.67,
13.36
Lucchini A. 16.53, 17.125, A: 11.27,
11.104, 12.71
L
uck N. A: 12.47
Lusztig G. A: 2.51, 7.57
Lvov I. V. A: 2.41, 5.56
Lyndon R. 11.10, A: 5.29, 11.10
221
Miller C. 5.16
Milnor J. A: 4.5, 5.68
Minasyan A.
8.69, 16.101, 18.70,
A: 11.42
Mines R. 10.52
Minkowski H. 4.42
Mishina A. P. A: 2.47, 3.3031
Mislin G. 10.40, 18.111
Miyamoto M. 15.2
Mochizuki H. Y. A: 2.62, 5.49
Moldavanski D. I.
3.34, 11.6263,
A: 3.33, 3.33, 15.60
Monakhov V. S. 10.34, 15.61, 17.56,
17.9192, A: 6.37, 8.48, 11.64,
14.6263, 14.62
Monod N. 15.5
Montgomery D. 6.11
Monti V. 18.34
Moody J. A. A: 10.41
Moreto A. 14.6465, 15.62, A: 14.66,
16.67
Morigi M. 15.11, 17.125
Morley L. 14.8
Moskalenko A. I. A: 3.35
Mozes S. A: 4.45
Mukhametyanov I. T. 14.67
Mukhin Yu. N. 3.38, 5.36, 9.32, 9.35,
9.3638, A: 3.35, 3.37, 9.3334
Muktibodh A. S. 17.47
Muranov A. A: 13.11, 14.13
Murski V. M. A: 2.40
Muzychuk M. 16.3
Myasnikov A. G. 1.19, 11.6566, 13.39,
13.4142, 14.1822, 15.63, 16.7072,
16.70, 16.71, 18.72, A: 1.29, 9.67,
13.18, 13.40, 13.40, 14.71, 15.63,
15.86
Mycielski J. 16.6869, 17.9394, 18.71
Mysovskikh V. I. A: 14.50
222
223
Prishchepov M. I. A: 8.10
Procesi C. 14.37
Protasov I. V. 8.59, 8.62, 9.45, 9.47,
9.49, 11.81, 13.2526, 13.4445,
13.45, 13.4849, 15.7780, 17.51,
17.102, A: 1.76, 3.37, 8.61, 8.63,
9.46, 9.46, 9.48, 13.4647
Pudl
ak P. A: 5.3
Puglisi O. 12.27, 12.28
Pyatetski-Shapiro I. I. 11.9
Pyber L. 7.17, 12.56, 14.5354, 14.73,
14.7476, 17.41
Ross K. A: 3.35
Rothaus O. S. 18.87
Rowley P. J. 12.62
Rozhkov A. V.
9.77, 13.55, 16.79,
A: 6.58, 8.66, 13.21
Rubin M. 12.13
Rudko V. P. 12.21
Rudloff Ch. 11.32
Rudvalis A. A: 4.77
Rukolaine A. V. 10.50
Rumyantsev A. K. 8.64, A: 6.43
Rychkov S. V. 10.5155, 11.8990
Quillen D. A: 13.36
Qian G. 17.111
Sabbagh G. A: 12.14
Sadovski L. E. 2.6768, A: 2.66
Safonov V. G. A: 14.80
Sakai S. 14.9
Saksonov A. I. 3.5051
Salomon E. A: 12.96
Sangroniz J. 14.44, 17.77, A: 11.43,
14.77
Sapir M. V. 17.107108, 18.88, A: 5.22,
8.7
Sarkisyan O. A. A: 4.4
Saveleva N. V. 13.50
Saxl J. 9.56, 14.69, A: 6.6, 9.21
Schacher M. A: 7.16
Scheerer H. A: 9.33
Scheiderer C. A: 9.33, 12.70
Schick T. 16.52, A: 12.47, 14.102
Schleimer S. A: 16.109
Schlitt G. 17.24
Schmid P. 9.23, 17.2, 18.114116,
A: 4.12
Schupp P. E. 16.110, A: 4.45, 4.60,
5.68
Schwerdtfeger H. A: 4.70
Scoppola C. M. 17.47, 18.34, A: 11.6
Scott L. L. 7.17, A: 16.55
Scott P. A: 5.53
Seal D. J. A: 8.10
Segal D. 12.56, 17.109110, A: 4.52,
4.53, 5.6, 7.37, 8.70, 11.57, 11.57,
12.90
Segev Y. 11.52
Seitz G. A: 7.48
Seksenbaev K. A: 1.84
Sela Z. 13.12, 14.19, A: 9.67
Selberg A. A: 2.4950
Selkin M. V. 16.82
Semenchuk V. N. 12.72, A: 8.87, 11.91
Radulescu F. 14.9
Raptis E. A: 10.33
Razborov A. A. A: 1.18, 6.25
Razmyslov Yu. P. A: 5.56, 9.50
Rehmann U. 10.36
Reibold A. V. A: 9.62
Remeslennikov V. N. 4.50, 5.4748,
7.58, 11.6566, 11.8384, 13.39,
13.4142, 14.1822, 14.42, 16.70,
17.104, A: 2.16, 2.17, 2.46, 4.49,
4.5153, 4.62, 5.46, 5.49, 11.82,
13.40, 14.71, 15.86
Revin D. O. 5.65, 17.4345, 17.44,
17.45, 17.103, 18.3132, 18.68,
18.84, A: 3.62, 13.33, 14.62
Rhemtulla A. H. 2.82, 15.1, 17.31, 18.4,
A: 10.30
Ribes L. A: 8.70, 12.7071, 12.70
Riedl J. M. 15.72
Riese U. 9.23
Rips E. 11.52, A: 2.59
Ritter J. A: 12.1
Robertson E. F. 8.12, A: 8.12, 8.12
Robinson D. J. S. 9.5153, A: 6.20, 9.54
Robinson G. R. 4.14, 13.43, A: 11.35
Roggenkamp K. W. 4.5556, 9.55,
12.80, A: 4.54, 12.80
Romankov V. A.
11.8688, 16.92,
17.82, 17.86, 18.72, 18.8587, 18.86,
A: 2.64, 3.8, 4.49, 8.71, 11.54,
11.55
Romanovski N. S.
3.47, 11.8586,
16.80, 17.105, A: 2.54, 5.29, 6.36
Roseblade J. E. 11.31
Rosenberger G. 14.14, A: 9.2
224
225
Tuma J. A: 5.3
Turull A. 5.30, 16.9899, 18.102
Tushev A. V. 15.91, 18.103, A: 6.12,
9.12, 12.46, 12.90
Tyutyanov V. N. 10.34, 17.112, 18.30
Ulam S. M. A: 15.8
Vaillant A. G. A: 14.27
Valiev M. K. 4.20, A: 1.17
van der Kallen W. 10.38
van der Waall R. W. A: 7.48
Vannier J. P. 17.14
Vapne Yu. E. A: 3.29
Varsos D. A: 10.33
Vaserstein L. N. 14.15, 16.2123
Vasilev A. F.
14.2829,
15.38,
17.3739, 18.2930, A: 11.21, 11.24,
12.7, 15.39
226
Weiss R. 14.73
White S. 14.8
Whitehead 10.70, 17.86
Wiegold J. 4.66, 4.69, 5.52, 5.5456,
6.45, 11.102, 14.95, 15.31, 15.92,
16.100101, 17.113116, A: 1.64,
4.6768, 5.53, 5.56, 5.56, 6.44,
12.45, 14.86
Wielandt H. 9.64, 14.43, 15.52, 17.43,
A: 6.6, 6.37
Wilkens B. 17.46
Wille R. J. 6.29
Willems W. 3.50
Williams J. S. A: 5.11
Willis G. A. A: 9.48
Wilson J. S. 7.41, 9.68, 11.18, 12.95,
18.104105, A: 2.23, 4.68, 6.46,
8.17, 8.76, 9.54, 11.103, 12.90,
14.49, 15.14, 15.75
Wilson R. A. A: 8.35, 8.37, 11.53,
15.43, 15.75, 16.55
Wintenberger J.-P. A: 12.24
Wise D. T. 8.68
Wisliceny J. 5.26
Woldar A. J. 16.1
Wolf J. A. A: 7.4
Wolf T. R. 15.2, 15.62
Wright C. R. B. A: 3.8
227