Quotients of Passman fours group and non-units of their group algebras (Q2666356)

The Unit Conjecture for group rings states that for a torsion free group \(G\) and a field \(K\) any unit in the group algebra \(KG\) is trivial, i.e., of shape \(kg\) for some \(k \in K\) and \(g \in G\). The conjecture is known to hold for unique product groups, but for arguably the easiest group which is not in this class it remained open for decades. This group is \(\Gamma = \langle x,y \ | \ (x^2)^y = x^{-2}, \ (y^2)^x = y^{-2} \rangle\) which the authors here call the fours group and which is also known as the Promislow group. Though it was recently shown that for \(K\) of positive characteristic \(K\Gamma\) does contain non-trivial units [\textit{G. Gardam}, Ann. Math. (2) 194, No. 3, 967--979 (2021; Zbl 1494.16026); \textit{A. G. Murray}, ``More counterexamples to the unit conjecture for group rings'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:2106.02147}], the conjecture remains open in characteristic \(0\), the case studied here. The authors consider the normal subgroup \(H_n = \langle x^{2^n}, y^{2^n}, (xy)^{2^n} \rangle\) of \(\Gamma\) and the quotient \(G_n = \Gamma/H_n\) for a positive integer \(n\). As a unit maps to a unit under the natural ring homomorphism \(\mathbb{C} \Gamma \rightarrow \mathbb{C}G_n\), conditions on units in \(\mathbb{C}G_n\) can be lifted to conditions on units of \(\mathbb{C}\Gamma\). The units of \(\mathbb{C}G_n\) are then studied using irreducible complex characters of \(G_n\) and the central idempotents of \(\mathbb{C}G_n\) and in particular conditions are obtained when elements of \(\mathbb{C}G_n\) a non-units. This allows to derive restrictions on the coefficients of a possible unit in \(\mathbb{C}\Gamma\) which are all listed in the introduction of the paper.