On rational and concise words.

DOI10.1016/J.JALGEBRA.2015.02.003MaRDI QIDQ2341308zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Pavel Shumyatsky, Robert Guralnick

Publication date 24 April 2015

Published in Journal of Algebra (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1406.7175

commutators concise words equations over groups group words multilinear commutator words residually finite groups solutions of equations verbal subgroups weakly rational words

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Residual properties and generalizations; residually finite groups (20E26) Word problems, other decision problems, connections with logic and automata (group-theoretic aspects) (20F10) Commutator calculus (20F12) Algebraic geometry over groups; equations over groups (20F70)

Abstract: A group-word w is called concise if whenever the set of w-values in a group G is finite it always follows that the verbal subgroup w(G) is finite. More generally, a word w is said to be concise in a class of groups X if whenever the set of w-values is finite for a group G in X, it always follows that w(G) is finite. P. Hall asked whether every word is concise. Due to Ivanov the answer to this problem is known to be negative. It is still an open problem whether every word is concise in the class of residually finite groups. A word w is rational if the number of solutions to the equation w=g is the same as the number of solutions to w=g^e for every finite group G and for every e relatively prime to |G|. We observe that any rational word is concise in the class of residually finite groups. Further we give a sufficient condition for rationality of a word. This is used to produce a new family of words that are concise in the class of residually finite groups.

Review text

Let \(w=w(x_1,\ldots,x_r)\) be a group-word in variables \(x_1,\ldots,x_r\). For any group \(G\), let \(G_w=\{w(g_1,\ldots,g_r)\mid g_1,\ldots,g_r\in G\}\) denote the set of \(w\)-values in \(G\) and \(w(G)=\langle G_w\rangle\) the corresponding verbal subgroup of \(G\). The word \(w\) is said to be concise in a given class of groups \(\mathcal C\) if, for all groups \(G\) in \(\mathcal C\), the following holds: \(|G_w|<\infty\) implies \(|w(G)|<\infty\). A word is called concise if it is concise in the class of all groups. A conjecture attributed to P. Hall stated that every word is concise, but this turned out not to be true; a counterexample was constructed by \textit{S. V. Ivanov} [Sov. Math. 33, No. 6, 59-70 (1990); translation from Izv. Vyssh. Uchebn. Zaved., Mat. 1989, No. 6(325), 60-70 (1989; Zbl 0697.20016)]. On the other hand, multilinear commutator words (also called outer-commutator words) have been known to be concise since the 1970s. More recently, in the context of investigations regarding verbal width, it was asked whether every word is concise in the class of residually finite groups; see [\textit{D. Segal}, Words. Notes on verbal width in groups. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2009; Zbl 1198.20001)]. The word \(w\) is said to be weakly rational if for every finite group \(G\) and every integer \(e\) relatively prime to \(|G|\), the set \(G_w\) is closed under taking \(e\)th powers. The word \(w\) is said to be rational if for every finite group \(G\), every \(g \in G\) and every integer \(e\) relatively prime to \(| G |\), the number of solutions of the equation \(w(x_1,\ldots,x_r)=g\) is the same as the number of solutions of the equation \(w(x_1,\ldots,x_r)=g^e\). Clearly, every rational word is weakly rational. In the paper under review, the authors observe that every weakly rational word is concise in the class of residually finite groups. More precisely, they employ a classical theorem of Schur to show: there is a function \(f\colon\mathbb N\to\mathbb N\) such that, if \(w\) is weakly rational, then every residually finite group \(G\) with \(m=|G_w|<\infty\) satisfies \(|w(G)|<f(m)\). The authors speculate that all multilinear commutator words could be rational. After discussing examples and non-examples of (weakly) rational words, they provide a new construction of such words: if \(w'=[w,x_0]\), where \(w=w(x_1,\ldots,x_r)\) is a word that is (weakly) rational and \(x_0\) is a new variable, then \(w'\) is (weakly) rational. The proof is based on a classical formula, going back to Frobenius, that expresses the number of solutions to certain group equations in terms of characters. The paper is well written, informative and provides a stimulus to further research in the area.

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