On groups covered by locally nilpotent subgroups (Q2406451)

Let the group \(G\) be the union of finitely (or countably) many subgroups \(H_{i}\); one says \(G\) is covered by the \(H_{i}\). How do the properties of the subgroups \(H_{i}\) influence the properties of the group \(G\)? The paper under review addresses some question related to the following results of \textit{P.~Shumyatsky} [Rev.\ Mat.\ Iberoam.\ 32, No.~4, 1331--1339 (2016; Zbl 1361.20023)]: a profinite group is covered by countably many nilpotent (closed) subgroups if and only if it is finite-by-nilpotent; the set of commutators in a profinite group is covered by countably many nilpotent subgroups if and only if its derived subgroup is finite-by-nilpotent. The main results are the following. Let \(G\) be a profinite group, and let \({\mathcal N}\) be one of the following classes: pronilpotent groups, locally nilpotent profinite groups, strongly locally nilpotent groups. Then, the following are equivalent: \(G\) is covered by countably many \({\mathcal N}\)-subgroups, \(G\) is covered by finitely many \({\mathcal N}\)-subgroups, \(G\) is finite-by-\({\mathcal N}\). Furthermore, the following are equivalent: the set of commutators is covered by countably many \({\mathcal N}\)-subgroups, the set of commutators is covered by finitely many \({\mathcal N}\)-subgroups, the commutator subgroup is finite-by-\({\mathcal N}\). No analogues of the latter result are known for abstract groups (even for finite coverings). \textit{M. J. Tomkinson} has given a characterisation of abstract groups covered by finitely many nilpotent subgroups [Publ.\ Math.\ 40, No.3--4, 313--321 (1992; Zbl 0777.20012)].