Cellular covers of groups (Q856333)

The notion of cellularization with respect to a fixed object appeared in [\textit{A. K. Bousfield}, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 9, 207--220 (1977; Zbl 0361.18001)] and was developed by the first author for spaces in [Cellular spaces, null spaces and homotopy localization. Lect. Notes in Mathematics. 1622 Berlin: Springer (1995; Zbl 0842.55001)]. In the present paper, the authors study this concept in the category of groups. Fixing \(A\), a group \(G\) is said to be \(A\)-cellular if it belongs to the smallest class containing \(A\) and closed under isomorphisms and colimits. There exists an \(A\)-cellular group \(\text{cell}_A M\) and a natural morphism \(c: \text{cell}_A M \rightarrow M\), universal in the sense that any morphism \(T \rightarrow M\) from an \(A\)-cellular group factors uniquely through~\(c\). An explicit construction was provided in [\textit{J. L. Rodríguez} and \textit{J. Scherer}, Prog. Math. 196, 357--374 (2001; Zbl 0987.55011)]. To analyze which properties of the group \(M\) are preserved by all cellularization functors, it is useful to notice that \(G \rightarrow M\) is a cellularization morphism for some group \(A\) (i.e. \(G = \text{cell}_A M\)) if and only if it is so for \(A = G\). This leads the authors to define a cellular cover as a group homomorphism \(c: G \rightarrow M\) which induces an isomorphism \(c_*: \Hom(G, G) \cong \Hom(G, M)\). This parallels the approach to localization, where one studies morphisms \(M \rightarrow G\) inducing an isomorphism \(c^*: \Hom(G, G) \cong \Hom(M, G)\). The authors prove that any cellular cover of a finite group is finite. They also prove that any cellular cover of a nilpotent group is nilpotent and they show that the structure of its kernel is ruled by very restrictive conditions. Many other interesting results are given, together with illustrative examples. It is worthwhile noticing that the analogous questions for localization are either false [cf. \textit{A. Libman}, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 148, No. 3, 271--274 (2000; Zbl 0961.20043)], or open [\textit{M. Aschbacher}, in Ho, Chat Yin (ed.) et al., Finite groups 2003. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 1--27 (2004; Zbl 1142.20304)].