On groups of finite Prüfer rank. III (Q6142698)

A group \(G\) has finite (Prüfer) rank \(r\) if every finitely generated subgroup of \(G\) can be generated by no more than \(r\) elements. A locally finite group of finite rank is almost locally solvable. The author, a distinguished authority on the theory of infinite groups, presents this paper as an extension of his numerous prior works concerning groups of finite rank, including references such as [\textit{B. A. F. Wehrfritz}, Publ. Mat., Barc. 65, No. 2, 599--613 (2021; Zbl 07405629); Rend. Circ. Mat. Palermo (2) 66, No. 3, 285--294 (2017; Zbl 1380.16004); Asian-Eur. J. Math. 1, No. 3, 431--438 (2008; Zbl 1173.20026); Ukr. Mat. Zh. 43, No. 7--8, 894--901 (1991; Zbl 0736.20002)]. In this paper, he proves that if \(G\) is a group of finite rank then there exists a characteristic subgroup \(K\) of \(G\) of finite index such that every finite image of the derived subgroup of \(K\) is nilpotent and every finite image of \(K\) is nilpotent by abelian. For Part II see [the author, Rend. Semin. Mat. Univ. Padova (to appear), \url{doi:10.4171/RSMUP/151}].