Quasi-Boolean groups (Q6889799)

A profinite group \(G\) is said to be real projective if the set of its involutions is closed and every real embedding problem for \(G\) has a solution. An embedding problem for \(G\) consists of two finite groups \(A\) and \(B\) and continuous homomorphisms \(\phi : G \to A\) and \(\alpha : B \to A\) such that \(\alpha\) is surjective. A solution to such a problem is a continuous homomorphism \(\tilde \phi : G \to B\) such that \(\phi = \alpha \circ \tilde \phi\). An embedding problem is real if for every involution \(t \in G\) such that \(\phi(t) \ne 1\) there is an involution \(b \in B\) such that \(\alpha(b) = \phi(t)\); in other words, involutions do not prohibit the existence of a solution. \N\N\NThe main result is the following:\N \NTheorem 1.7. For a pro-\(2\) group \(G\) the following are equivalent: \begin{itemize}\N\item \(G\) is quasi-Boolean, \N\item \(G\) is real projective,\N\item \(G\) is the maximal pro-\(2\) quotient of a real projective profinite group, \N\item \(G\) is cohomologically quasi-Boolean. \end{itemize}\N\NWe refer to the paper for the relevant definitions. As pointed out by the authors, this result yields a presentation in terms of generators and relations for real projective groups, characterizes them in purely cohomological terms and allows to explicitly reconstruct them from their cohomology rings modulo \(2\).