Alternating quotients of the (3._q.r) triangle groups (Q4344682)

Higman established a result pertaining to the homomorphic images of all but finitely many of the alternating or symmetric groups. The investigation involved triangle groups that are isomorphic to the abstrct group with presentation \(\Delta(p,q,r)=\langle x,y:x^p=y^q=(xy)^r=1\rangle\), \(2\leq p\leq q\leq r\). A finitely presented group \(G\) possesses property \(H\) if there is some integer \(N>1\) such that either \(A_n\) or \(S_n\) is a homomorphic image of \(G\) for all \(n>N\). Clearly such a \(G\) must be infinite insoluble, hence \(1/p+1/q+1/r<1\). Higman stated his conjecture in terms of the above as: ``each triangle group \(\Delta(p,q,r)\) satisfying the above inequality contains among its homomorphic images all but finitely many of the alternating or symmetric groups.'' \textit{Q. Mushtaq} and \textit{H. Servatius} [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 48, No. 1, 77-86 (1993; Zbl 0737.20020)]\ defined a property, the so-called Property \(H\). The techniques of Mushtaq and Servatius and Higman have been utilized to generalize to a possibility for \(p\) odd and it is shown that for \(q\geq 3\), there are only finitely many \(r\) such that \(\Delta(3,q,r)\) fails to have property \(H\).