Let G = A*HB be the free product of the groups A and B amalgamating the proper subgroup H and let R be a ring with 1. If H is finite and G is not finitely generated we show that any non-zero ideal I of R(G) intersects non-trivially with the group ring R(M), where M = M(I) is a subgroup of G which is a free product amalgamating a finite normal subgroup. This result compares with A. I. Lichtman's results in [6] but is not a direct generalisation of these.

We show that x = 59 is the largest positive integer for which the fourth-powerfree part of x2 + 2 is at most 100. This implies the solution of the problem, posed recently by J. H. E. Cohn, to prove that (x, y) = (1, 1) is the only solution in nonnegative integers to the diophantine equation x2 – 3y4 = –2, as well as a new solution to the problem, posed a long time ago by the same J. H. E. Cohn and solved before by R. Bumby and N. Tzanakis, to prove that (x, y) = (1, 1), (11, 3) are the only solutions in nonnegative integers to the diophantine equation 2x2 – 3y4 = – 1.

Let A be a Banach algebra with unit 1 and let B be a Banach algebra which is a subalgebra of A and which contains 1. In [5]Barnes gave sufficient conditions for B to be inverse closed in A. In this paper we consider single elements and study the question of how the spectrum relative to B of an element in B relates to the spectrum of the element relative to A.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the general nonlinear nth order differential-difference equation

and derive an inequality of Lyapunov type. Later we use this inequality to find conditions to ensure that the oscillatory solutions of equation (1) tend to zero as t → ∞. The conditions that ensure that the oscillatory solutions of equation (1) tend to zero, also cause all solutions of equation

to be non-oscillatory.

A number of formulae are known which exhibit the asymptotic behaviour as t→∞ of the solutions of

The aim of thisnote is to unify a group of such formulae, relating to the case in which F(t) iS on the whole positive, and suitably continuous though not necessarily analytic.

In this paper G is a nondiscrete compact abelian group with character group Г and M(G) the usual convolution algebra of Borel measures on G. We designate the following subspaces of M(G) employing the customary notations: Ma(G) those measures which are absolutely continuous with respect to Haar measure; MS(G) the space of measures concentrated on sets of Haar measure zero and Md(G) the discrete measures.

When the theory of Hankel transforms is applied to the solution of certain mixed boundary value problems in mathematical physics, the problems are reduced to the solution of dual integral equations of the type

where α and ν are prescribed constants and f(ρ) is a prescribed function of ρ [1]. The formal solution of these equations was first derived by Titchmarsh [2]. The method employed by Titchmarsh in deriving the solution in the general case is difficult, involving the theory of Mellin transforms and what is essentially a Wiener-Hopf procedure. In lecturing to students on this subject one often feels the need for an elementary solution of these equations, especially in the cases α = ± 1, ν = 0. That such an elementary solution exists is suggested by Copson's solution [3] of the problem of the electrified disc which corresponds to the case α = –l, ν = 0. A systematic use of a procedure similar to Copson's has in fact been made by Noble [4] to find the solution of a pair of general dual integral equations, but again the analysis is involved and long. The object of the present note is to give a simple solution of the pairs of equations which arise most frequently in physical applications. The method of solution was suggested by a procedure used by Lebedev and Uflyand [5] in the solution of a much more general problem.

Let p be an odd prime and let f(x) be a complex-valued function such that f(x+p) = f(x) for all integers x. Write e(x) = exp(2πix/p), and define l/x by , where We consider the sum

where is the Legendre symbol. The sum is zero if as is clear on replacing x by bjax. Salié has found a result which can be written in the form

when h2 ≡ 4ab(modp).

Let G be a group with a finite set of generators x1, x2,…,xn and a recursive set of defining relators in the generators. Then an endomorphism η of G is completely determined by the images of the generators , and hence by the n-tuple of words in x, (w1,…,wn). This allows the formulation of algorithmic problems about endomorphisms and automorphisms. For example, can one decide if a given n-tuple of words represents an endomorphism, and if so, an automorphism? Some results on these questions may be found in [2] and [12]. Here we shall be concerned with a similar problem: given that an n-tuple of words represents an automorphism of the group G, does there exist an algorithm which decides if the automorphism is inner?

Let A be a complex Banach algebra with unit e of norm one. We show that A can be represented on a compact Hausdorff space ω which arises entirely out of the algebraic and norm structures of A. This space induces an order structure on A that is preserved by the representation. In the commutative case, ω is the spectrum of A, and we have a generalization of Gelfand's representation theorem for commutative complex Banach algebras with unit. Various aspects of this representation are illustrated by considering algebras of n × n complex matrices.

We principally consider rings R of the form R = S[G], generated as a ring by the subring S of R and the subgroup G of the group of units of R normalizing S. (All our rings have identities except the nilrings.) We wish to deduce that certain semiprime images of R are Goldie rings from ring theoretic information about S and group theoretic information about G. Usually the latter is given in the form that G/N has some solubility or finiteness property, where N is some specified normal subgroup of G contained in S. Note we do not assume that N = G∩S; in particular N = 〈1〉 is always an option.

We say that a group G has finite lower central depth (or simply, finite depth) if the lower central series of G stabilises after a finite number of steps.

In [1], we proved that if G is a finitely generated soluble group in which each two generator subgroup has finite depth then G is a finite-by-nilpotent group. Here, in answer to a question of R. Baer, we prove the following stronger version of this result.

Canonically associated to a real symplectic vector space are several associative algebras. The Weyl algebra (generated by the Heisenberg commutation relations) has been the subject of much study; see [1] for example. The exponential Weyl algebra (generated by the canonical commutation relations in exponential form) has been less well studied; see [8].

The fundamental work on approximation in weighted spaces of continuous functions on a completely regular space has been done mainly by Nachbin ([5], [6]). Further investigations have been made by Summers [10], Prolla ([7], [8]), and other authors (see the monograph [8] for more references). These authors considered functions with range contained in the scalar field or a locally convex topological vector space. In the present paper we prove some approximation results without local convexity of the range space.

In [5] we exhibited the construction of faithful irreducible matrix representations of p-groups E and constructed their extensions to a semidirect product E. H, in case E and H satisfied suitable conditions. One of the major conditions was that the prime p had to be odd.

In this paper we assume the same conditions as in [5], but now with p = 2, in order to see if similar results can be obtained. Henceforth we will work with the following hypothesis.

Since the pioneering work of W. G. Bade [3, 4] a great deal of work has been done on bounded Boolean algebras of projections on a Banach space ([11, XVII.3.XVIII.3], [21, V.3], [16], [6], [12], [13], [14], ]17], [18], [23], [24]). Via the Stone representation space of the Boolean algebra, the theory can be studied through Banach modules over C(K), where K is a compact Hausdorff space. One of the key concepts in the theory is the notion of Bade functionals. If X is a Banach C(K)-module and x ε X, then a Bade functional of x with respect to C(K) is a continuous linear functional α on X such that, for each a in C(K) with a ≥ 0, we have

(i) α (ax) ≥0,

(ii) if α (ax) = 0, then ax = 0.

In this paper we shall discuss maximal nonparabolic and maximal normal nonparabolic subgroups of the modular group Г = 〈ω, φ; ω2 =φ3 = 1〉. The modular group may also be defined as the group of fractional linear transformations w = (az+b)/(cz+d), where a, b, c, d are rational integers with ad − bc = 1. Here, a maximal nonparabolic subgroup of Г is a subgroup that contains no parabolic elements and any proper subgroup of Г which contains S contains parabolic elements. Similarly, a maximal normal nonparabolic subgroup is a normal nonparabolic subgroup of Г which is not contained in any larger normal nonparabolic subgroup of Г.

The title is somewhat misleading, since the classical modular group Г= PSL(2, ℤ) is certainly not a subgroup of GL(2, ℤ). What is meant of course are the faithful representations of F as a subgroup of GL(2, ℤ), where Г is to be thought of as the free product of a cyclic group of order 2 and a cyclic group of order 3. No such representation is possible as a subgroup of SL(2, ℤ); it is necessary to have matrices of determinant −1 as well.

All rings in this paper are associative but not necessarily with an identity. The ring R with an identity adjoined will be denoted by R#.

To denote that I is an ideal (right ideal, left ideal) of a ring R we write I ◃ R (I <rR, I <1R).

A ring R is called right (left) fully idempotent if for every I <rR (I<1R), I = I2.

At the conference “Methoden der Modul und Ringtheorie” in Oberwolfach, Germany in 1993, J. Clark raised the question as to whether every right fully idempotent ring is left fully idempotent (see also [3]). A similar question was raised by S. S. Page in [5]. In this note we answer the questions in the negative.

We start with some general observations most of which are perhaps well known. We include their simple proofs for completeness.

The combinatorial investigation of graphs embedded on surfaces leads one to consider a pair of permutations (σ, α) that generate a transitive group [7]. The permutation α is a fixed-point-free involution and the pair is called a map. When this condition on α is dropped the combinatorial object that arises is called a hypermap. Both maps and hypermaps have a topological description: for maps a classical reference is [13] and for hypermaps such a description can be found in [4] and [6]; a brief account of it will be given below. However, the relationship between maps and hypermaps is not simply that the latter generalize the former. Actually, with every hypermap there is associated a map, its bipartite map, and conversely every bipartite map arises in this way. We do not enter into the details of this question; we refer the reader to the work of Walsh [16]. In this sense hypermaps are, at the same time, a generalization and a special case of maps.