We introduce roots of indecomposable modules over group algebras of finite groups, and we investigate some of their properties. This allows us to correct an error in Landrock's book which has to do with roots of simple modules.

We count the number of strictly positive $B$-stable ideals in the nilradical of a Borel subalgebra and prove that the minimal roots of any $B$-stable ideal are conjugate by an element of the Weyl group to a subset of the simple roots. We also count the number of ideals whose minimal roots are conjugate to a fixed subset of simple roots.

The integers coprime to $n$ are called the {\it totatives} \rm of $n$. D. H. Lehmer and Paul Erd\H{o}s were interested in understanding when the number of totatives between $in/k$ and $(i+1)n/k$ are $1/k$th of the total number of totatives up to $n$. They provided criteria in various cases. Here we give an ``if and only if'' criterion which allows us to recover most of the previous results in this literature and to go beyond, as well to reformulate the problem in terms of combinatorial group theory. Our criterion is that the above holds if and only if for every odd character $\chi \pmod \kappa$ (where $\kappa:=k/\gcd(k,n/\prod_{p|n} p)$) there exists a prime $p=p_\chi$ dividing $n$ for which $\chi(p)=1$.

We show that several torsion free 3-manifold groups are not left-orderable. Our examples are groups of cyclic branched coverings of $S^3$ branched along links. The figure eight knot provides simple nontrivial examples. The groups arising in these examples are known as Fibonacci groups which we show not to be left-orderable. Many other examples of non-orderable groups are obtained by taking 3-fold branched covers of $S^3$ branched along various hyperbolic 2-bridge knots. %with various hyperbolic 2-bridge knots as branched sets. The manifold obtained in such a way from the $5_2$ knot is of special interest as it is conjectured to be the hyperbolic 3-manifold with the smallest volume.

For each finite group $G$ for which the integral group ring $\mathbb{Z}G$ has only trivial units, we give ring-theoretic conditions for a commutative ring $R$ under which the group ring $RG$ has nontrivial units. Several examples of rings satisfying the conditions and rings not satisfying the conditions are given. In addition, we extend a well-known result for fields by showing that if $R$ is a ring of finite characteristic and $RG$ has only trivial units, then $G$ has order at most 3.

Let $G$ be a finite group and $H$ be a subgroup. We say that $H$ is \emph{degree homogeneous }if, for each $\chi\in \Irr(G)$, all the irreducible constituents of the restriction $\chi_{H}$ have the same degree. Subgroups which are either normal or abelian are obvious examples of degree homogeneous subgroups. Following a question by E.~M. Zhmud', we investigate general properties of such subgroups. It appears unlikely that degree homogeneous subgroups can be characterized entirely by abstract group properties, but we provide mixed criteria (involving both group structure and character properties) which are both necessary and sufficient. For example, $H$ is degree homogeneous in $G$ if and only if the derived subgroup $H^{\prime}$ is normal in $G$ and, for every pair $\alpha,\beta$ of irreducible $G$-conjugate characters of $H^{\prime}$, all irreducible constituents of $\alpha^{H}$ and $\beta^{H}$ have the same degree.

Order components of a finite simple group were introduced in [4]. It was proved that some non-abelian simple groups are uniquely determined by their order components. As the main result of this paper, we show that groups $PSU_{11}(q)$ are also uniquely determined by their order components. As corollaries of this result, the validity of a conjecture of J. G. Thompson and a conjecture of W. Shi and J. Bi both on $PSU_{11}(q)$ are obtained.

The stable basin theorem was introduced by Basmajian and Miner as a key step in their necessary condition for the discreteness of a non-elementary group of complex hyperbolic isometries. In this paper we improve several of Basmajian and Miner's key estimates and so give a substantial improvement on the main inequality in the stable basin theorem.

We construct new examples of non-nil algebras with any number of generators, which are direct sums of two locally nilpotent subalgebras. Like all previously known examples, our examples are contracted semigroup algebras and the underlying semigroups are unions of locally nilpotent subsemigroups. In our constructions we make more transparent than in the past the close relationship between the considered problem and combinatorics of words.

Let $p$ be a prime number. Let $k$ be a finite field of characteristic $p$. The subset $X+X^2 k[[X]]$ of the ring $k[[X]]$ is a group under the substitution law $\circ $ sometimes called the Nottingham group of $k$; it is denoted by $\mathcal{R}_k$. The ramification of one series $\gamma\in\mathcal{R}_k$ is caracterized by its lower ramification numbers: $i_m(\gamma)=\ord_X \bigl(\gamma^{p^m} (X)/X - 1\bigr)$, as well as its upper ramification numbers: $$ u_m (\gamma) = i_0 (\gamma) + \frac{i_1 (\gamma) - i_0(\gamma)}{p} + \cdots + \frac{i_m (\gamma) - i_{m-1} (\gamma)}{p^m} , \quad (m \in \mathbb{N}). $$ By Sen's theorem, the $u_m(\gamma)$ are integers. In this paper, we determine the sequences of integers $(u_m)$ for which there exists $\gamma\in\mathcal{R}_k$ such that $u_m(\gamma)=u_m$ for all integer $m \geq 0$.

In this paper we consider collections of compact operators on a real or complex Banach space including linear operators on finite-dimensional vector spaces. We show that such a collection is simultaneously triangularizable if and only if it is arbitrarily close to a simultaneously triangularizable collection of compact operators. As an application of these results we obtain an invariant subspace theorem for certain bounded operators. We further prove that in finite dimensions near reducibility implies reducibility whenever the ground field is $\BR$ or $\BC$.

Let $P$ be a transitive permutation group of order $p^m$, $p$ an odd prime, containing a regular cyclic subgroup. The main result of this paper is a determination of the suborbits of $P$. The main result is used to give a simple proof of a recent result by J.~Morris on Cayley digraph isomorphisms.

Let $G_0$ and $G_1$ be countable abelian groups. Let $\gamma_i$ be an automorphism of $G_i$ of order two. Then there exists a unital Kirchberg algebra $A$ satisfying the Universal Coefficient Theorem and with $[1_A] = 0$ in $K_0 (A)$, and an automorphism $\alpha \in \Aut(A)$ of order two, such that $K_0 (A) \cong G_0$, such that $K_1 (A) \cong G_1$, and such that $\alpha_* \colon K_i (A) \to K_i (A)$ is $\gamma_i$. As a consequence, we prove that every $\mathbb{Z}_2$-graded countable module over the representation ring $R (\mathbb{Z}_2)$ of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ is isomorphic to the equivariant $K$-theory $K^{\mathbb{Z}_2} (A)$ for some action of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ on a unital Kirchberg algebra~$A$. Along the way, we prove that every not necessarily finitely generated $\mathbb{Z} [\mathbb{Z}_2]$-module which is free as a $\mathbb{Z}$-module has a direct sum decomposition with only three kinds of summands, namely $\mathbb{Z} [\mathbb{Z}_2]$ itself and $\mathbb{Z}$ on which the nontrivial element of $\mathbb{Z}_2$ acts either trivially or by multiplication by $-1$.

We generalize the well-known result that a square traceless complex matrix is unitarily similar to a matrix with zero diagonal to arbitrary connected semisimple complex Lie groups $G$ and their Lie algebras $\mathfrak{g}$ under the action of a maximal compact subgroup $K$ of $G$. We also introduce a natural partial order on $\mathfrak{g}$: $x\le y$ if $f(K\cdot x) \subseteq f(K\cdot y)$ for all $f\in \mathfrak{g}^*$, the complex dual of $\mathfrak{g}$. This partial order is $K$-invariant and induces a partial order on the orbit space $\mathfrak{g}/K$. We prove that, under some restrictions on $\mathfrak{g}$, the set $f(K\cdot x)$ is star-shaped with respect to the origin.

Let $G$ be a finitely generated, infinite group, let $p>1$, and let $L^p(G)$ denote the Banach space $\{ \sum_{x\in G} a_xx \mid \sum_{x\in G} |a_x |^p < \infty \}$. In this paper we will study the first cohomology group of $G$ with coefficients in $L^p(G)$, and the first reduced $L^p$-cohomology space of $G$. Most of our results will be for a class of groups that contains all finitely generated, infinite nilpotent groups.

Upper bounds of second order Dehn functions of asynchronously automatic groups are obtained.

We show here that the commutator subgroup of a free group of finite rank poses a basis of Bachmuth's type.

Suppose we are given a finite-dimensional vector space $V$ equipped with an $F$-rational action of a linearly algebraic group $G$, with $F$ a characteristic zero field. We conjecture the following: to each vector $v\in V(F)$ there corresponds a canonical $G(F)$-orbit of semisimple vectors of $V$. In the case of the adjoint action, this orbit is the $G(F)$-orbit of the semisimple part of $v$, so this conjecture can be considered a generalization of the Jordan decomposition. We prove some cases of the conjecture.

We determine an explicit cell decomposition of the wonderful compactification of a semi\-simple algebraic group. To do this we first identify the $B\times B$-orbits using the generalized Bruhat decomposition of a reductive monoid. From there we show how each cell is made up from $B\times B$-orbits.

Define a group $G$ to be in the class $\mathcal{S}$ if for any finitely generated subgroup $K$ of $G$ having the property that there is a positive integer $n$ such that $g^n \in K$ for all $g\in G$, $K$ has finite index in $G$. We show that a free product with amalgamation $A*_C B$ and an $\HNN$ group $A *_C$ belong to $\mathcal{S}$, if $C$ is in $\mathcal{S}$ and every subgroup of $C$ is finitely generated.

We embed the moduli space $Q$ of 5 points on the projective line $S_5$-equivariantly into $\mathbb{P} (V)$, where $V$ is the 6-dimensional irreducible module of the symmetric group $S_5$. This module splits with respect to the icosahedral group $A_5$ into the two standard 3-dimensional representations. The resulting linear projections of $Q$ relate the action of $A_5$ on $Q$ to those on the regular icosahedron.

No abstract.

As a consequence of a theorem of Rost-Springer, we establish that the cyclicity problem for central simple algebra of degree~5 on fields containg a fifth root of unity is equivalent to the study of anisotropic elements of order 5 in the split group of type~$E_8$.

We study a class of subgroups of $\PSL_2 (\mathbb{Z})$ which can be characterized in different ways, such as congruence groups, modular forms, modular curves, elliptic surfaces, lattices and graphs.

We explicitly describe, in terms of indecomposable $\mathbb{Z}_2 [G]$-modules, the Galois module structure of ideals in totally ramified biquadratic extensions of local number fields with only one break in their ramification filtration. This paper completes work begun in [Elder: Canad. J.~Math. (5) {\bf 50}(1998), 1007--1047].