Structure of periodic finitary transformation groups (Q1892820)

A linear transformation \(g\) on a vector space \(V\) is called finitary if \(g\) acts identically on some subspace of finite codimension in \(V\). The set of all invertible finitary transformations on \(V\) is a normal subgroup \(FGL(V)\) of the group \(GL(V)\) of all invertible linear transformations. Any subgroup of \(FGL(V)\) is called a finitary transformation group (on the space \(V\)). The results obtained depend on the characteristic of the underlying field of the space \(V\); they are stated as follows: Theorem A. A periodic finitary transformation group \(G\) on a space \(V\) over a field \(k\) of characteristic 0 contains a normal subgroup \(N\) such that (1) the quotient group \(G/N\) is isomorphic to a finitary permutation group; (2) \(N\) can be represented as a subdirect product of finite-dimensional linear groups defined over the field \(k\). Theorem B. A periodic finitary transformation group \(G\) on a space \(V\) over a field \(k\) of characteristic \(p>0\) possesses a normal series \(O_p(G)=G_0\leq G_1\leq G_2\leq G_3\leq G\) such that (1) the quotient group \(G/G_3\) is solvable of derived length \(\leq 6\); (2) \(G_3/G_0=G_2/G_0\times K/G_0\) for some normal subgroup \(K\) in \(G\); moreover, the quotient group \(K/G_0\) can be represented as a direct product of classical type groups; (3) the quotient group \(G_2/G_1\) is isomorphic to a finitary permutation group; (4) the quotient group \(G_1/G_0\) can be represented as a subdirect product of finite-dimensional linear groups defined over the field \(k\). The study of classical type groups is one of the most important problems in the theory of periodic finitary transformation groups. When proving Theorems A and B, we obtain the following result, which sheds more light on the local structure of groups of classical type. Theorem C. A classical type group of characteristic \(p\) can be locally covered by a set \({\mathfrak L}\) consisting of finite perfect subgroups \(X\) which satisfy the following conditions: (1) the quotient group \(X/O_p (X)\) is isomorphic to a quasisimple classical group; (2) \(O_p (X)\) is nilpotent of class \(\leq 2\) and \((O_p (X))'\leq Z(X)\).