A remark on generalized covering groups (Q1276487)

Let \({\mathcal N}_c\) be the variety of nilpotent groups of class at most \(c\) (\(c\geq 2\)) and \(G=Z_r\oplus Z_s\) be the direct sum of two finite cyclic groups. Let \(G\cong F/R\), \({\mathcal N}_cM(G)=(R\cap\gamma_{c+1}(F))/[R,{_cF}]\) where \(F\) is a free group, \(\gamma_{c+1}(F)\) is the \(i\)th term of the lower central series of \(F\). It is shown that if \(d=(r,s)\) is the greatest common divisor of \(r\) and \(s\) then \({\mathcal N}_cM(G)\cong Z_d\oplus Z_d\oplus\cdots\oplus Z_d\) (\(n\) copies), where \(n\) is the number of basic commutators of weight \(c+1\) on two letters. This result implies that if \((r,s)=d\neq 1\) then \(G\) does not have any \({\mathcal N}_c\)-covering group of every \(c\geq 2\).