Subgroup Growth and Sieve Methods
direct products of finite simple groups of Lie typefinite simple groupspolynomial subgroup growthprofinite groupsprofinite PSG groupssieve methodssubgroups of finite index
Applications of sieve methods (11N36) Asymptotic results on counting functions for algebraic and topological structures (11N45) Simple groups: alternating groups and groups of Lie type (20D06) Subgroup theorems; subgroup growth (20E07) Limits, profinite groups (20E18) General structure theorems for groups (20E34)
This paper deals with the subgroup growth of profinite groups, in particular with profinite groups of polynomial subgroup growth (or PSG groups for short). The relevant definitions are as follows. Let \(G\) be a profinite group, and let \(a_n(G)\) be the number of open subgroups of \(G\) of index \(n\) in \(G\). If there is a real number \(\alpha\geq 0\) such that \(a_n(G)\leq n^\alpha\) for all \(n\), then \(G\) is a PSG group. In this case, its degree is given by \[ \deg(G)=\limsup_{n\to\infty}\frac{\log a_n(G)}{\log n}. \] The rank \(r(G)\) of \(G\) is defined to be the minimum of all integers \(r\) such that all open subgroups of \(G\) are topologically \(r\)-generated (\(r\) can be infinite). While finitely generated abstract PSG groups have been characterised as the virtually soluble groups of finite rank [\textit{A. Lubotzky} and \textit{A. Mann}, Invent. Math. 104, No. 3, 521-533 (1991; Zbl 0743.20040), \textit{A. Lubotzky, A. Mann} and \textit{D. Segal}, Isr. J. Math. 82, No. 1-3, 363-371 (1993; Zbl 0811.20027), \textit{A. Mann} and \textit{D. Segal}, Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 61, No. 3, 529-545 (1990; Zbl 0722.20021)], no such complete characterisation of profinite PSG groups is known. For example, every profinite group of finite rank is PSG (Mann and Segal, loc.\ cit.), but the converse is not true. The author proves a structure theorem for profinite PSG groups which reduces the problem to the case when \(G\) is a direct product of infinitely many finite simple groups of Lie type (with bounded Lie rank and bounded degree of their underlying fields over the prime field). The rest of the paper deals with this `semisimple' case. The author applies sieve methods from analytic number theory to get some control on the subgroup growth of groups of the form \(\prod_{p\in P}\text{PSL}(2,p)\), where \(P\) is a suitable infinite set of primes. This allows him to prove that every real number \(\alpha\geq 1\) occurs as the degree of such a \(G\). This is in contrast with the case of finitely generated abstract groups, where degrees strictly between \(1\) and \(\frac32\) cannot occur, as the author claims. Another consequence of the investigation is the fact that such groups \(G\) can have arbitrarily slow non-polynomial subgroup growth (which also differs from the conjectured behaviour of finitely generated abstract groups).
- Variations on polynomial subgroup growth
- Permutation groups with restricted stabilizers
- Polynomial index growth groups
- BOUNDED GENERATION AND SUBGROUP GROWTH
- Profinite groups with linear subgroup growth.
- On the degree of groups of polynomial subgroup growth
- Profinite Groups with Polynomial Subgroup Growth
- SIEVE METHODS IN GROUP THEORY III: Aut(Fn)
- Sieve methods in group theory. I: Powers in linear groups.
- Discrete groups of slow subgroup growth
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