Related papers: The Tarski numbers of groups

The Tarski number of a non-amenable group G is the minimal number of pieces in a paradoxical decomposition of G. Until now the only numbers which were known to be Tarski numbers of some groups were 4 and 6. We construct a group with Tarski…

The Tarski number of an action of a group G on a set X is the minimal number of pieces in a paradoxical decomposition of it. For any k>3 we construct a faithful transitive action of a free group of rank k-1 with Tarski number k. Using…

The Tarski number of a group $G$ is the minimal number of the pieces of paradoxical decompositions of that group. Using configurations along with a matrix combinatorial property we construct paradoxical decompositions. We also compute an…

The Tarski number of a non amenable group is the smallest number of pieces needed for a paradoxical decomposition of the group. Non amenable groups of piecewise projective homeomorphisms were introduced by Monod, and non amenable finitely…

The $n$-th Zariski topology on a group $G$ is generated by the sub-base consiting of the cozero sets of monomials of degree $\le n$ on $G$. We prove that for each group $G$ the 2-nd Zariski topology is not discrete and present an example of…

This is an expostion of various aspects of amenability and paradoxical decompositions for groups, group actions and metric spaces. First, we review the formalism of pseudogroups, which is well adapted to stating the alternative of Tarski,…

An indecomposable decomposition of a torsion-free abelian group $G$ of rank $n$ is a decomposition $G=A_1\oplus\cdots\oplus A_t$ where $A_i$ is indecomposable of rank $r_i$ so that $\sum_i r_i=n$ is a partition of $n$. The group $G$ may…

A subset S of a finite group G invariably generates G if G = <hsg(s) j s 2 Si > for each choice of g(s) 2 G; s 2 S. We give a tight upper bound on the minimal size of an invariable generating set for an arbitrary finite group G. In response…

Let $G$ be a finite group and let $A_1,\ldots,A_k$ be a collection of subsets of $G$ such that $G=A_1\ldots A_k$ is the product of all the $A_i$'s with $|G|=|A_1|\ldots|A_k|$. We write $G=A_1\cdot\ldots\cdot A_k$ and call this a $k$-fold…

We develop methods to control the first-order theory of groups arising as certain direct limits of torsion-free hyperbolic groups, answering several questions in the literature. We construct simple torsion-free Tarski monsters $\Gamma$…

An $integral$ of a group $G$ is a group $H$ whose derived group (commutator subgroup) is isomorphic to $G$. This paper discusses integrals of groups, and in particular questions about which groups have integrals and how big or small those…

We classify those 2-groups G which factorise as a product of two disjoint cyclic subgroups A and B, transposed by an automorphism of order 2. The case where G is metacyclic having been dealt with elsewhere, we show that for each e>2 there…

Let v and w be nontrivial words in two free groups. We prove that, for all sufficiently large finite non-abelian simple groups G, there exist subsets C of v(G) and D of w(G) of size such that every element of G can be realized in at least…

This note provides a brief guide to the current state of the literature on Tarski's problems with emphasis on features that distinguish the approach based on combinatorial and algorithmic group theory from the topological approach to…

A 2-covering for a finite group $G$ is a set of proper subgroups of $G$ such that every pair of elements of $G$ is contained in at least one subgroup in the set. The minimal number of subgroups needed to 2-cover a group $G$ is called the…

We produce a simple group $G$ of cardinality $\aleph_1$ which is Artinian (every strictly descending chain of subgroups is finite), satisfies a Burnside law and such that for each uncountable subset $Y \subseteq G$ there exists a natural…

Let G and G' be absolutely almost simple algebraic groups of types B and C respectively, of rank at least 3, and defined over a number field K. We determine when G and G' have the same isomorphism or isogeny classes of maximal K-tori. This…

Let N be a minimal normal nonabelian subgroup of a finite group G. We will show that there exists a nontrivial irreducible character of N of degree at least 5 which is extendible to G. This result will be used to settle two open questions…

We study finite groups $G$ with the property that for any subgroup $M$ maximal in $G$ whose order is divisible by all the prime divisors of $|G|$, $M$ is supersolvable. We show that any nonabelian simple group can occur as a composition…

Every finite group $G$ has a normal series each of whose factors is either a solvable group or a direct product of nonabelian simple groups. The minimum number of nonsolvable factors attained on all possible such series is called the…