Groups with finitely many homomorphic images of finite rank. (Q2809239)

This paper is dedicated to proving the following theorem. Let \(G\) be a strongly locally graded group admitting an ascending normal series whose factors have finite rank (where a group \(X\) has finite rank if there is a bound on the minimal number of generators of the finitely generated subgroups of \(X\)). If \(G\) has only finitely many non-isomorphic homomorphic images of finite rank, then \(G\) is a Chernikov group (that is, \(G\) is a soluble-by-finite group satisfying the minimal condition on subgroups).NEWLINENEWLINE The class of strongly locally graded groups is fully defined in the paper under review, but is too involved to include here. To give a flavour of what the authors have proved, we remark that this class contains all locally soluble-by-finite groups and is closed under various closure operators, including the subgroup operator and the homomorphic image operator. It also contains all FC-hypercentral groups.NEWLINENEWLINE The Charin group, the split extension of a Prüfer \(p\)-group \(P\) and a faithful, irreducible \(\mathrm{GF}(q)P\)-module for \(p\) and \(q\) distinct primes, is a metabelian group whose homomorphic images fall into only 3 isomorphism classes and yet it clearly is not Chernikov. Thus the condition in the theorem, that \(G\) has an ascending normal series with factors of finite rank, cannot be omitted, even is the very special case of metabelian groups.