Groups with finite torsion-free rank which have a locally nilpotent triple factorization (Q1904074)

In the investigation concerning factorized groups one often has to consider groups of the form \(G=AB=AM=BM\), where \(A\) and \(B\) are subgroups and \(M\) is a normal subgroup of \(G\). In particular, it is of interest to see under which conditions the group \(G\) satisfies a certain nilpotency requirement if the subgroups \(A\), \(B\) and \(M\) have the same property. It was proved by \textit{B. Amberg}, \textit{S. Franciosi} and the reviewer [Bull. Aust. Math. Soc. 37, 69-79 (1988; Zbl 0629.20011)]\ that \(G\) is locally nilpotent provided that \(A\), \(B\) and \(M\) are locally nilpotent and \(G\) has finite abelian section rank (i.e. \(G\) does not have infinite abelian sections of prime exponent). A similar conclusion was obtained by \textit{S. Franciosi} and the reviewer [Arch. Math. 61, No. 4, 313-318 (1993; Zbl 0793.20021)]\ when the group \(G\) is periodic and hyperabelian. A group \(G\) is said to have finite torsion-free rank if it has a series of finite length whose factors either are periodic or infinite cyclic. In this article the authors extend the above mentioned results proving that, if \(G=AB=AM=BM\) is a hyperabelian group with finite torsion-free rank factorized by three locally nilpotent subgroups \(A\), \(B\) and \(M\), where \(M\) is normal in \(G\), then also \(G\) is locally nilpotent. Here the condition that \(G\) has finite torsion-free rank cannot be omitted, since the second author [Akad. Nauk Ukr. Inst. Mat. Kiev, Preprint 82.53]\ exhibited a non-(locally nilpotent) group \(G=AB=AM=BM\), factorized by three abelian subgroups \(A\), \(B\), \(M\) (with \(M\) normal in \(G\)). The authors also show that, if \(G=AB\) is a hyperabelian group with finite torsion-free rank factorized by two locally nilpotent subgroups \(A\) and \(B\), then the Hirsch-Plotkin radical \(R\) of \(G\) is factorized, that is \(R=(A\cap R)(B\cap R)\) and \(A\cap B\leq R\).