CIT groups of finite Morley rank. II (Q1327037): Difference between revisions

[This review concerns also the two preceding items Zbl 0818.20029 and Zbl 0818.20030.] An \(\omega\)-stable group of finite Morley rank (a group of finite rank, for short) is a group whose first order theory is \(\omega\)-stable of finite Morley rank. (For the latter model theoretic notion, see e.g. \textit{A. Pillay} [An introduction to stability theory (Oxford Logic Guides 8, Claredon Press, Oxford, 1983; Zbl 0526.03014)].) Finite groups and algebraic groups over algebraically closed fields are examples of groups of finite rank. As was shown by A. Borovik and B. Poizat [see \textit{B. Poizat}, Groupes stables (Nur al-Mantiq wal-Ma'rifah, Villeurbanne, 1987; Zbl 0633.03019)] the groups of finite rank can be characterized in purely algebraic terms as the groups with dimension. A study of groups of finite rank started in the seventies in the papers of \textit{B. Zil'ber} [Fundam. Math. 95, 173-188 (1977; Zbl 0363.02060)] and \textit{G. Cherlin} [Ann. Math. Logic 17, 1-28 (1979; Zbl 0427.20001)] and has been extensively developed by A. Borovik, A. Nesin, B. Poizat and others. The main open problem in the field is the Cherlin-Zil'ber conjecture: any infinite simple group of finite rank is an algebraic group over an algebraically closed field. A. Borovik suggested an approach to the problem which is to rework the classification of finite simple groups, but for groups of finite rank instead. He believes that it is possible to develop for groups of finite rank a program similar to Brauer's program for the classification of finite simple groups in terms of the centralizers of involutions. One of the main obstacles here is that it is not known if every infinite simple group of finite rank has an involution. (In finite nonabelian simple groups there are involutions by Feit-Thompson.) The work under review is a contribution to Borovik's program. The authors consider groups which have involutions and such that the centralizer of any involution is a 2-group (CIT groups, for short). Finite CIT groups have been classified by \textit{M. Suzuki} [Ann. Math., II. Ser. 75, 105-145 (1962; Zbl 0106.24702)]. The authors generalize his analysis to groups of finite rank. The crucial point in the analysis is the notion of Zassenhaus group. A doubly transitive permutation group \(G\) is called a Zassenhaus group if the stabilizer of any three distinct points is trivial. Let \(B\) be the stabilizer of a point, \(T\) the stabilizer of two points, and \(T\leq B\). If \(T\) has a normal complement in \(B\) (the so called Frobenius kernel), one says that the Zassenhaus group \(G\) is split. It is known that every finite Zassenhaus group is split. W. Feit showed that in a finite simple Zassenhaus group the Frobenius kernel is a \(p\)-group, for some prime \(p\). Whenever the Frobenius kernel exists and is a \(p\)-group, one says that \(G\) is a split Zassenhaus group of characteristic \(p\). The main goal of the three papers under review is to prove the following result. Let \(G\) be an infinite CIT group of finite rank. Then one of the following holds: (1) \(G\) has a nontrivial normal 2- subgroup; (2) \(G= H\rtimes S\) where \(H\) is a definable, abelian \(2'\)- subgroup and \(S\) is a finite Sylow 2-subgroup of \(G\) with a unique involution that acts on \(H\) by inversions; (3) \(G\simeq \text{SL}_ 2 (K)\), for some algebraically closed field \(K\) of characteristic 2. In particular, of CIT groups the Cherlin-Zil'ber conjecture is true. In the first of the three papers it is proved that if \(G\) is an infinite \(\omega\)-stable split Zassenhaus group of characteristic 2 then (3) holds. The authors note that the paper can be considered as a study of certain \(\omega\)-stable simple split \(BN\)-pairs. In the second of the papers the authors show, for an infinite group \(G\) of finite rank, that if (1) does not hold and a Sylow 2-subgroup of \(G\) is finite then \(G\) is of the form described in (2). They also show that if (1) and (2) do not occur and the Sylow subgroups of \(G\) are disjoint then \(G\) is a split Zassenhaus group of characteristic 2 and so (3) holds. In the third of the papers it is shown that the Sylow 2-subgroups of \(G\) are necessarily disjoint, completing the proof of the main result. Also some groups of finite rank in the case (1) are studied further (namely, the groups \(G\) for which \(G/O_ 2 G\) is infinite and has involutions, where \(O_ 2 G\) is the largest normal 2-subgroup of \(G\)).