Some properties of marginal automorphisms of groups. (Q469116)

Let \(W\) be a non-empty subset of the free group \(F\) of countable rank. If \(G\) is any group, the verbal subgroup and the marginal subgroup of \(G\) with respect to \(W\) are denoted by \(W(G)\) and \(W^*(G)\), respectively. In the paper under review, the authors study the group \(\Aut_{W^*}(G)\) of all automorphisms of \(G\) acting trivially on the factor group \(G/W^*(G)\). If \(W=\{[x_1,x_2]\}\), we have \(W(G)=G'\) and \(W^*(G)=Z(G)\), so that in this case \(\Aut_{W^*}(G)\) coincides with the group \(\Aut_c(G)\) of all central automorphisms of \(G\). The main result of the paper shows that if \(G\) is a finite purely non-abelian \(p\)-group (where \(p\) is an odd prime number) and \(W\) is a non-empty subset of \(F\) such that \(G'\leq W(G)\) and \(W^*(G)\leq Z(G)\), then \(\Aut_{W^*}(G)\) is an elementary abelian \(p\)-group if and only if both abelian groups \(W^*(G)\) and \(G/W(G)\) have exponent \(p\). Recall here that a group is said to be purely non-abelian if it has no abelian non-trivial direct factors.