On asymmetrically decomposable groups. (Q1889558)

A subset \(A\) of a group \(G\) is said to be symmetric with respect to an element \(g\in G\) if \(A=gA^{-1}g\). A group is called asymmetrically decomposable if it can be decomposed into two subsets containing no infinite symmetric subsets. The author proves that if the commutator subgroup of a given group contains a finitely generated subgroup which is not nearly cyclic, then the group is not asymmetrically decomposable. This implies that the free group with two generators and every finitely generated periodic group are not asymmetrically decomposable.