Tight subgroups of almost completely decomposable groups. (Q1415001)

An `almost completely decomposable group' is a torsion-free Abelian group that contains a finite rank completely decomposable group as a subgroup of finite index. A completely decomposable subgroup of an almost completely decomposable group \(X\) is called `regulating' if it has minimal index in \(X\). The theory of almost completely decomposable groups is built on the concept of regulating subgroup. The author proves Theorem~3.1: If an almost completely decomposable group \(G\) contains a completely decomposable subgroup \(V\) such that \(G/V\) is finite and generated by \(k\) elements, then \(G\) contains a regulating subgroup \(W\) such that \(G/W\) is generated by \(k\) elements. This is a sweeping generalization of the important case \(k=1\) that was estalished earlier by \textit{M. J. Campagna} [Commun. Algebra 28, No. 1, 83-92 (2000; Zbl 0948.20029)]. The author also establishes a new criterion for the tightness of a completely decomposable subgroup (tight = maximal with respect to being completely decomposable and having finite index). The author further shows by example that it can happen that an almost completely decomposable group \(G\) contains a tight subgroup \(V\) such that the exponent (or bound) of the quotient \(G/V\) is strictly less than the exponent of \(G\) modulo any regulating subgroup.