We study lattice embeddings for the class of countable groups $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ defined by the property that the largest amenable uniformly recurrent subgroup ${\mathcal{A}}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}}$ is continuous. When ${\mathcal{A}}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}}$ comes from an extremely proximal action and the envelope of ${\mathcal{A}}_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}}$ is coamenable in  $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ , we obtain restrictions on the locally compact groups $G$ that contain a copy of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ as a lattice, notably regarding normal subgroups of  $G$ , product decompositions of  $G$ , and more generally dense mappings from $G$ to a product of locally compact groups.

The class of all monolithic (that is, subdirectly irreducible) groups belonging to a variety generated by a finite nilpotent group can be axiomatised by a finite set of elementary sentences.

Leighton’s graph covering theorem states that a pair of finite graphs with isomorphic universal covers have a common finite cover. We provide a new proof of Leighton’s theorem that allows generalisations; we prove the corresponding result for graphs with fins. As a corollary we obtain pattern rigidity for free groups with line patterns, building on the work of Cashen–Macura and Hagen–Touikan. To illustrate the potential for future applications, we give a quasi-isometric rigidity result for a family of cyclic doubles of free groups.

Let γn = [x1,…,xn] be the nth lower central word. Denote by Xnthe set of γn -values in a group G and suppose that there is a number m such that $|{g^{{X_n}}}| \le m$ for each g ∈ G. We prove that γn+1(G) has finite (m, n) -bounded order. This generalizes the much-celebrated theorem of B. H. Neumann that says that the commutator subgroup of a BFC-group is finite.

In this paper we continue the study of right-angled Artin groups up to commensurability initiated in [CKZ]. We show that RAAGs defined by different paths of length greater than 3 are not commensurable. We also characterise which RAAGs defined by paths are commensurable to RAAGs defined by trees of diameter 4. More precisely, we show that a RAAG defined by a path of length n > 4 is commensurable to a RAAG defined by a tree of diameter 4 if and only if n ≡ 2 (mod 4). These results follow from the connection that we establish between the classification of RAAGs up to commensurability and linear integer-programming.

We show that in general for a given group the structure of a maximal hyperbolic tower over a free group is not canonical: we construct examples of groups having hyperbolic tower structures over free subgroups which have arbitrarily large ratios between their ranks. These groups have the same first order theory as non-abelian free groups and we use them to study the weight of types in this theory.

We study lattices in a product $G=G_{1}\times \cdots \times G_{n}$ of non-discrete, compactly generated, totally disconnected locally compact (tdlc) groups. We assume that each factor is quasi just-non-compact, meaning that $G_{i}$ is non-compact and every closed normal subgroup of $G_{i}$ is discrete or cocompact (e.g. $G_{i}$ is topologically simple). We show that the set of discrete subgroups of $G$ containing a fixed cocompact lattice $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ with dense projections is finite. The same result holds if $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ is non-uniform, provided $G$ has Kazhdan’s property (T). We show that for any compact subset $K\subset G$, the collection of discrete subgroups $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\leqslant G$ with $G=\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}K$ and dense projections is uniformly discrete and hence of covolume bounded away from $0$. When the ambient group $G$ is compactly presented, we show in addition that the collection of those lattices falls into finitely many $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$-orbits. As an application, we establish finiteness results for discrete groups acting on products of locally finite graphs with semiprimitive local action on each factor. We also present several intermediate results of independent interest. Notably it is shown that if a non-discrete, compactly generated quasi just-non-compact tdlc group $G$ is a Chabauty limit of discrete subgroups, then some compact open subgroup of $G$ is an infinitely generated pro-$p$ group for some prime $p$. It is also shown that in any Kazhdan group with discrete amenable radical, the lattices form an open subset of the Chabauty space of closed subgroups.

Let $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}\leqslant \text{Aut}(T_{d_{1}})\times \text{Aut}(T_{d_{2}})$ be a group acting freely and transitively on the product of two regular trees of degree $d_{1}$ and $d_{2}$. We develop an algorithm that computes the closure of the projection of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ on $\text{Aut}(T_{d_{t}})$ under the hypothesis that $d_{t}\geqslant 6$ is even and that the local action of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ on $T_{d_{t}}$ contains $\text{Alt}(d_{t})$. We show that if $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$ is torsion-free and $d_{1}=d_{2}=6$, exactly seven closed subgroups of $\text{Aut}(T_{6})$ arise in this way. We also construct two new infinite families of virtually simple lattices in $\text{Aut}(T_{6})\times \text{Aut}(T_{4n})$ and in $\text{Aut}(T_{2n})\times \text{Aut}(T_{2n+1})$, respectively, for all $n\geqslant 2$. In particular, we provide an explicit presentation of a torsion-free infinite simple group on 5 generators and 10 relations, that splits as an amalgamated free product of two copies of $F_{3}$ over $F_{11}$. We include information arising from computer-assisted exhaustive searches of lattices in products of trees of small degrees. In an appendix by Pierre-Emmanuel Caprace, some of our results are used to show that abstract and relative commensurator groups of free groups are almost simple, providing partial answers to questions of Lubotzky and Lubotzky–Mozes–Zimmer.

A tubular group G is a finite graph of groups with ℤ2 vertex groups and ℤ edge groups. We characterize residually finite tubular groups: G is residually finite if and only if its edge groups are separable. Methods are provided to determine if G is residually finite. When G has a single vertex group an algorithm is given to determine residual finiteness.

Quasi-Sturmian words, which are infinite words with factor complexity eventually $n+c$ share many properties with Sturmian words. In this article, we study the quasi-Sturmian colorings on regular trees. There are two different types, bounded and unbounded, of quasi-Sturmian colorings. We obtain an induction algorithm similar to Sturmian colorings. We distinguish them by the recurrence function.

On établit une décomposition de l’homologie stable des groupes d’automorphismes des groupes libres à coefficients polynomiaux contravariants en termes d’homologie des foncteurs. Elle permet plusieurs calculs explicites, qui recoupent des résultats établis de manière indépendante par O. Randal-Williams et généralisent certains d’entre eux. Nos méthodes reposent sur l’examen d’extensions de Kan dérivées associées à plusieurs catégories de groupes libres, la généralisation d’un critère d’annulation homologique à coefficients polynomiaux dû à Scorichenko, le théorème de Galatius identifiant l’homologie stable des groupes d’automorphismes des groupes libres à celle des groupes symétriques, la machinerie des $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6E4}$-espaces et le scindement de Snaith.

The residual closure of a subgroup H of a group G is the intersection of all virtually normal subgroups of G containing H. We show that if G is generated by finitely many cosets of H and if H is commensurated, then the residual closure of H in G is virtually normal. This implies that separable commensurated subgroups of finitely generated groups are virtually normal. A stream of applications to separable subgroups, polycyclic groups, residually finite groups, groups acting on trees, lattices in products of trees and just-infinite groups then flows from this main result.

A well-known conjecture is that all finitely presented groups have semistable fundamental groups at infinity. A class of groups whose members have not been shown to be semistable at infinity is the class ${\mathcal{A}}$ of finitely presented groups that are ascending HNN-extensions with finitely generated base. The class ${\mathcal{A}}$ naturally partitions into two non-empty subclasses, those that have “bounded” and “unbounded” depth. Using new methods introduced in a companion paper we show those of bounded depth have semistable fundamental group at infinity. Ascending HNN extensions produced by Ol’shanskii–Sapir and Grigorchuk (for other reasons), and once considered potential non-semistable examples are shown to have bounded depth. Finally, we devise a technique for producing explicit examples with unbounded depth. These examples are perhaps the best candidates to date in the search for a group with non-semistable fundamental group at infinity.

Let $g$ be an element of a finite group $G$ and let $R_{n}(g)$ be the subgroup generated by all the right Engel values $[g,_{n}x]$ over $x\in G$. In the case when $G$ is soluble we prove that if, for some $n$, the Fitting height of $R_{n}(g)$ is equal to $k$, then $g$ belongs to the $(k+1)$th Fitting subgroup $F_{k+1}(G)$. For nonsoluble $G$, it is proved that if, for some $n$, the generalized Fitting height of $R_{n}(g)$ is equal to $k$, then $g$ belongs to the generalized Fitting subgroup $F_{f(k,m)}^{\ast }(G)$ with $f(k,m)$ depending only on $k$ and $m$, where $|g|$ is the product of $m$ primes counting multiplicities. It is also proved that if, for some $n$, the nonsoluble length of $R_{n}(g)$ is equal to $k$, then $g$ belongs to a normal subgroup whose nonsoluble length is bounded in terms of $k$ and $m$. Earlier, similar generalizations of Baer’s theorem (which states that an Engel element of a finite group belongs to the Fitting subgroup) were obtained by the first two authors in terms of left Engel-type subgroups.

This note contains a (short) proof of the following generalisation of the Friedman–Mineyev theorem (earlier known as the Hanna Neumann conjecture): if $A$ and $B$ are nontrivial free subgroups of a virtually free group containing a free subgroup of index $n$, then $\text{rank}(A\cap B)-1\leq n\cdot (\text{rank}(A)-1)\cdot (\text{rank}(B)-1)$. In addition, we obtain a virtually-free-product analogue of this result.

Let $\mathfrak{F}$ be a class of finite groups and $G$ a finite group. Let ${\mathcal{L}}_{\mathfrak{F}}(G)$ be the set of all subgroups $A$ of $G$ with $A^{G}/A_{G}\in \mathfrak{F}$. A chief factor $H/K$ of $G$ is $\mathfrak{F}$-central in $G$ if $(H/K)\rtimes (G/C_{G}(H/K))\in \mathfrak{F}$. We study the structure of $G$ under the hypothesis that every chief factor of $G$ between $A_{G}$ and $A^{G}$ is $\mathfrak{F}$-central in $G$ for every subgroup $A\in {\mathcal{L}}_{\mathfrak{F}}(G)$. As an application, we prove that a finite soluble group $G$ is a PST-group if and only if $A^{G}/A_{G}\leq Z_{\infty }(G/A_{G})$ for every subgroup $A\in {\mathcal{L}}_{\mathfrak{N}}(G)$, where $\mathfrak{N}$ is the class of all nilpotent groups.

This note provides an affirmative answer to Problem 2.6 of Praeger and Schneider [‘Group factorisations, uniform automorphisms, and permutation groups of simple diagonal type’, Israel J. Math. 228(2) (2018), 1001–1023]. We will build groups $G$ (abelian, nonabelian and simple) for which there are two automorphisms $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC},\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}$ of $G$ such that the map

$$\begin{eqnarray}T=T_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}}\times T_{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}}:G\longrightarrow G\times G,\quad g\mapsto (g^{-1}g^{\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FC}},g^{-1}g^{\,\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FD}})\end{eqnarray}$$

We classify all possible JSJ decompositions of doubles of free groups of rank two, and we also compute the Makanin–Razborov diagram of a particular double of a free group and deduce that in general limit groups are not freely subgroup separable.

Let $G$ be a simple exceptional algebraic group of adjoint type over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p>0$ and let $X=\text{PSL}_{2}(p)$ be a subgroup of $G$ containing a regular unipotent element $x$ of $G$. By a theorem of Testerman, $x$ is contained in a connected subgroup of $G$ of type $A_{1}$. In this paper we prove that with two exceptions, $X$ itself is contained in such a subgroup (the exceptions arise when $(G,p)=(E_{6},13)$ or $(E_{7},19)$). This extends earlier work of Seitz and Testerman, who established the containment under some additional conditions on $p$ and the embedding of $X$ in $G$. We discuss applications of our main result to the study of the subgroup structure of finite groups of Lie type.

We prove that every finitely-generated right-angled Artin group embeds into some Brin–Thompson group nV. It follows that any virtually special group can be embedded into some nV, a class that includes surface groups, all finitely-generated Coxeter groups, and many one-ended hyperbolic groups.