Systems of equations over finitely generated solvable groups (Q582391)

Let F be a free group with basis \(\{x_ 1,...,x_ n\}\) and let G be a group. Each element p of F yields an equation \(p(x_ 1,...,x_ n)=1\). This will, in general, have various solutions in G by substitution of elements of G for the variables \(x_ i\). The sets of all such solutions form a complete lattice L(G,n) in a natural way. The paper investigates when this lattice has finite length. In an earlier paper [Proc. Edinb. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 29, 69-73 (1986; Zbl 0584.20027)] \textit{M. H. Albert} and the second author showed that an Abelian group G for which L(G,n) is of finite length for all n must be either finitely generated or torsion- free. Here it is shown that a finitely generated nilpotent-by-finite group G has L(G,n) finite for all n. Conversely, it is shown that a finitely generated solvable group which has L(G,3) of finite length must be nilpotent-by-finite.