On groups of polynomial subgroup growth (Q1176643)

If \(\Gamma\) is a group, let \(a_ n(\Gamma)\) denote the cardinal of the set of all subgroups with finite index \(n\) in \(\Gamma\). If \(\Gamma\) is finitely generated, then \(a_ n(\Gamma)\) is finite. A basic problem is to determine the groups \(\Gamma\) for which the sequence \(a_ n(\Gamma)\) has polynomial growth. If this is the case \(\Gamma\) is said to have polynomial subgroup growth. One can of course restrict attention to groups that are residually finite. Using techniques from the theory of \(p\)-adic analytic groups, and the theory of algebraic groups, the authors establish the following Theorem: A finitely generated, residually nilpotent group has polynomial subgroup growth if and only if it is soluble of finite rank. They then remark that a forthcoming work shows that ``residually nilpotent'' may be replaced by ``residually finite''.