On the rank of compact \(p\)-adic Lie groups. (Q539992)

The rank of a profinite group is the supremum, taken over all of its closed subgroups, of the minimum number of (topological) generators of these subgroups. A compact topological group admits the structure of a \(p\)-adic Lie group if and only if it contains an open pro-\(p\) subgroup of finite rank [see the book by \textit{J. D. Dixon} et al., Analytic pro-\(p\) groups. Revised and enlarged by Marcus du Sautoy and Dan Segal. 2nd ed. Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics 61. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1999; Zbl 0934.20001)]. The rank of a compact \(p\)-adic Lie group is greater than or equal to its dimension as a \(p\)-adic manifold. In the paper under review bounds for the dimension in terms of the rank are investigated. Proposition~1.2 uses results of \textit{T. J. Laffey} [Bull. Lond. Math. Soc. 5, 288-290 (1973; Zbl 0273.20013)] for finite \(p\)-groups to prove that if \(p\) is an odd prime, then in a torsion-free, compact \(p\)-adic Lie group rank and dimension are equal. Theorem~1.3 and Proposition~1.4 work under the milder assumption that the group has no non-trivial finite normal subgroups. In this case it is shown among other things that, given an odd prime \(p\), if a compact \(p\)-adic Lie group has no non-trivial elements of order dividing \(p-1\), then its rank equals its dimension.