English

Closed subgroups of the infinite symmetric group

Group Theory 2007-06-13 v2

Abstract

Let S=Sym(\Omega) be the group of all permutations of a countably infinite set \Omega, and for subgroups G_1, G_2\leq S let us write G_1\approx G_2 if there exists a finite set U\subseteq S such that < G_1\cup U > = < G_2\cup U >. It is shown that the subgroups closed in the function topology on S lie in precisely four equivalence classes under this relation. Which of these classes a closed subgroup G belongs to depends on which of the following statements about pointwise stabilizer subgroups G_{(\Gamma)} of finite subsets \Gamma\subseteq\Omega holds: (i) For every finite set \Gamma, the subgroup G_{(\Gamma)} has at least one infinite orbit in \Omega. (ii) There exist finite sets \Gamma such that all orbits of G_{(\Gamma)} are finite, but none such that the cardinalities of these orbits have a common finite bound. (iii) There exist finite sets \Gamma such that the cardinalities of the orbits of G_{(\Gamma)} have a common finite bound, but none such that G_{(\Gamma)}=\{1\}. (iv) There exist finite sets \Gamma such that G_{(\Gamma)}=\{1\}. Some questions for further investigation are discussed.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0401305,
  title  = {Closed subgroups of the infinite symmetric group},
  author = {George M. Bergman and Saharon Shelah},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0401305},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

33 pages. See also http://math.berkeley.edu/~gbergman/papers and http://shelah.logic.at (pub. 823). To appear, Alg.Univ., issue honoring W.Taylor. Main results as before (greater length due to AU formatting), but some new results in \S\S11-12. Errors in subscripts between displays (12) and (13) fixed. Error in title of orig. posting fixed. 1 ref. added

R2 v1 2026-07-22T17:01:49.069Z