English

On the Congruence Subgroup Problem for integral group rings

Group Theory 2013-09-05 v1

Abstract

Let GG be a finite group, ZG\Z G the integral group ring of GG and \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) the group of units of ZG\Z G. The Congruence Subgroup Problem for \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) is the problem of deciding if every subgroup of finite index of \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) contains a congruence subgroup, i.e. the kernel of the natural homomorphism \U(ZG)\U(ZG/mZG)\U(\Z G) \rightarrow \U(\Z G/m\Z G) for some positive integer mm. The congruence kernel of \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) is the kernel of the natural map from the completion of \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) with respect to the profinite topology to the completion with respect to the topology defined by the congruence subgroups. The Congruence Subgroup Problem has a positive solution if and only if the congruence kernel is trivial. We obtain an approximation to the problem of classifying the finite groups for which the congruence kernel of \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) is finite. More precisely, we obtain a list LL formed by three families of finite groups and 19 additional groups such that if the congruence kernel of \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) is infinite then GG has an epimorphic image isomorphic to one of the groups of LL. About the converse of this statement we at least know that if one of the 19 additional groups in LL is isomorphic to an epimorphic image of GG then the congruence kernel of \U(ZG)\U(\Z G) is infinite. However, to decide for the finiteness of the congruence kernel in case GG has an epimorphic image isomorphic to one of the groups in the three families of LL one needs to know if the congruence kernel of the group of units of an order in some specific division algebras is finite and this seems a difficult problem.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1309.0974,
  title  = {On the Congruence Subgroup Problem for integral group rings},
  author = {Mauricio Caicedo and Ángel del Río},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1309.0974},
  year   = {2013}
}

Comments

28 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-22T01:20:26.727Z