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Replacing finite groups by linear algebraic groups, we study an algebraic-geometric counterpart of the theory of free profinite groups. In particular, we introduce free proalgebraic groups and characterize them in terms of embedding…
We give necessary and sufficient conditions on the graph of a right-angled Artin group that determine whether the group is subgroup separable or not. Moreover, we investigate the profinite topology of the direct product of two free groups.…
Examples are given of profinite groups that are not strongly complete, and have other `bad' properties, yet have only finitely many open subgroups of each finite index. It is shown that a profinite group with the latter property must be…
We present a construction that yields infinite families of non-isomorphic semidirect products $N \rtimes F_m$ sharing a specified profinite completion. Within each family, $m \ge 2$ is constant and $N$ is a fixed group. For $m=2$ we can…
We give new and improved results on the freeness of subgroups of free profinite groups: A subgroup containing the normal closure of a finite word in the elements of a basis is free; Every infinite index subgroup of a finitely generated…
Just infinite groups play a significant role in profinite group theory. For each $c \geq 0$, we consider more generally JNN$_c$F profinite (or, in places, discrete) groups that are Fitting-free; these are the groups $G$ such that every…
We prove that if a Cartesian product of alternating groups is topologically finitely generated, then it is the profinite completion of a finitely generated residually finite group. The same holds for Cartesian producs of other simple groups…
We prove that certain Fuchsian triangle groups are profinitely rigid in the absolute sense, i.e. each is distinguished from all other finitely generated, residually finite groups by its set of finite quotients. We also develop a method…
Given an S-arithmetic group, we ask how much information on the ambient algebraic group, number field of definition, and set of places S is encoded in the commensurability class of the profinite completion. As a first step, we show that the…
We consider the structure of classes of curves on a projective simply connected surface for which fundamental groups of the complements admit free quotients having rank greater than one with irreducible components belonging to a selected…
We consider pairs of finitely presented, residually finite groups $P\hookrightarrow\G$ for which the induced map of profinite completions $\hat P\to \hat\G$ is an isomorphism. We prove that there is no algorithm that, given an arbitrary…
We show that the covolume of an irreducible lattice in a higher rank semisimple Lie group with the congruence subgroup property is determined by the profinite completion. Without relying on CSP, we additionally show that volume is a…
Let $G$ be a finitely generated solvable-by-finite linear group. We present an algorithm to compute the torsion-free rank of $G$ and a bound on the Pr\"{u}fer rank of $G$. This yields in turn an algorithm to decide whether a finitely…
A soluble pro-p group of finite rank is finitely axiomatizable in the class of all profinite groups if and only if for each open subgroup H, the image of Z(H) in the abelianization of H is finite, subject to some suitable hypothesis of…
The structure of finite and locally finite groups in which every element has prime power order (CP-groups) is well known. In this paper we note that the combination of our earlier results with the available information on the structure of…
We present examples of closed subsets of a free group such that their product is not closed in the profinite topology. We discuss how to characterize a subset of a free group which is closed in the profinite topology and its product with…
We give a description of finitely generated prosoluble subgroups of the profinite completion of $3$-manifold groups and virtually compact special groups.
We prove that there is no algorithm that can determine whether or not a finitely presented group has a non-trivial finite quotient; indeed, this remains undecidable among the fundamental groups of compact, non-positively curved square…
We construct a model structure on simplicial profinite sets such that the homotopy groups carry a natural profinite structure. This yields a rigid profinite completion functor for spaces and pro-spaces. One motivation is the \'etale…
We prove that a profinite group $G$ with positive rank gradient does not satisfy a group law. In the case when $G$ is a pro-$p$ group we show that $G$ contains a nonabelian dense free subgroup.