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24 - Positively discriminating groups

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2010

O. MacEdońska
Affiliation:
Institute of Mathematics, Silesian University of Technology
C. M. Campbell
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
M. R. Quick
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
E. F. Robertson
Affiliation:
University of St Andrews, Scotland
G. C. Smith
Affiliation:
University of Bath
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Summary

Abstract

A group is positively discriminating if any finite subset of positive equations u = v, which are not laws in G, can be simultaneously falsified in G. All known groups which are not positively discriminating satisfy positive laws. The question whether every group without positive laws must be positively discriminating is open. We give an affirmative answer to this question for the class of locally graded groups.

AMS Classification: 20E10 (primary), 20M07 (secondary).

An equation in a group is an expression of the form u = v, where u = u(x1,…,xn), v = v(x1, …, xn) are different words (v may be the empty word 1) in the free group F, freely generated by x1, x2, …. If n = 2, the equation is called binary and we use x, y instead of x1, x2. The equation is called positive if u and v are written without the inverses of the xi's. A positive equation is called balanced if the exponent sum of xi is the same in u and v for each fixed i. A balanced equation u = v is of degree n if the x-length of u and v is equal to n. We say that the n-tuple of elements g1, …, gn in G satisfies the equation u = v, if under the substitution xigi we get the equality u(g1, …, gn) = v(g1, …, gn).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

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