Let R be a ring with 1 and En (R) be the subgroup of GLn(R) generated by the matrices I + reij, r ∈ R, i ≠ j. We prove that the subgroup of consisting of the matrices of shape , where and , is (2, 3, 7)-generated whenever R is finitely generated and n, are large enough.

The Spelling Theorem of B. B. Newman states that for a one-relator group (a1, … | Wn), any nontrivial word which represents the identity must contain a (cyclic) subword of W±n longer than Wn−1. We provide a new proof of the Spelling Theorem using towers of 2-complexes. We also give a geometric classification of reduced disc diagrams in one-relator groups with torsion. Either the disc diagram has three 2-cells which lie almost entuirly along the bounday, or the disc diagram looks like a ladder. We use this ladder theorem to prove that a large class of one-relator groups with torsion are locally quasiconvex.

Let S be a subset of a group G such that S−1 = S. Denote by gr (S) the subgroup of G generated by S, and by ls(g) the length of an element g ∈ gr(S) relative to the set S. Suppose that V is a finite subset of a free group F of countable rank such that the verbal subgroup V (F) is a proper subgroup of F. For an arbitrary group G, denote by (G) the set of values in G of all the words from the set V. In the present paper, for amalgamated products G = A *HB such that A ≠ H and the number of double cosets of B by H is at least three, the infiniteness of the set {ls(g) | g ∈ gr(S)}, where S = (G) ∪ (G)−1, is estabilished.

Properties such as automaticity, growth and decidability are investigated for the class of finitely generated semigroups which have regular sets of unique normal forms. Knowledge obtained is then applied to the task of demonstrating that a class of semigroups derived from free inverse semigroups under certain closure operations is not automatic.

We show that if G is a finitely generated profinite group such that [x1, x2, …, xk] is Engel for any x1, x2, …, xk ∈ G, then γ(G) is locally nilpotent, and if [x1, x2, …, xk] has finite order for any x1, x2, …, xk ∈ G then, under some additional assumptions, γk(G) is locally finite.

Two projective nonsingular complex algebraic curves X and Y defined over the field R of real numbers can be isomorphic while their sets X(R) and Y(R) of R-rational points could be even non homeomorphic. This leads to the count of the number of real forms of a complex algebraic curve X, that is, those nonisomorphic real algebraic curves whose complexifications are isomorphic to X. In this paper we compute, as a function of genus, the maximum number of such real forms that a complex algebraic curve admits.

In a group G, um (G) denotes the subgroup of the elements which normalize every subnormal subgroup of G with defect at most m. The m-Wielandt series of G is then defined in a natural way. G is said to have finite m-Wielandt length if it coincides with a term of its m-Wielandt series. We investigate the structure of infinite groups with finite m-Wielandt length.

One of the converse statements to Lagrange's theorem is that, for each subgroup H of G and any prime factor p of |G: H|, there exists a subgroup K such that H≤K≤G with |K: H | = p. This paper treats integers n such that all groups of order n have this property.

A group G is locally graded if every finitely generated nontrivial subgroup of G has a nontrivial finite image. Let N (2, k)* denote the class of groups in which every infinite subset contains a pair of elements that generate a nilpotent subgroup of class at most k. We show that if G is a finitely generated locally graded N (2, k)*-group, then there is a positive integer c depending only on k such that G/Zc (G) is finite.

We provide a wedge decomposition of the homotopy type of the p-subgroup complex in the case of a finite solvable group G. In particular, this includes a new proof of the result of Quillen which says that this complex is contractible if and only if there is a non-trivial normal p-subgroup in G. We also provide reduction formulas for the G-module structure of the homology groups. Our results are obtained with diagram-methods by gluing the p-subgroup complex of G along the p-subgroup complex of = G/N for a normal p′-subgroup of G.

Let N be a finitely generated normal subgroup of a finitely generated group G. We show that if the trivial subgroup is tame in the factor group G/N, then N is that in G. We also give a short new proof of the fact that quasiconvex subgroups of negatively curved groups are tame. The proof utilizes the concept of the geodesic core of the subgroup and is related to the Dehn algorithm.

We show that diagrammatically reducible two-complexes are characterized by the property: every finity subconmplex of the universal cover collapses to a one-complex. We use this to show that a compact orientable three-manifold with nonempty boundary is Haken if and only if it has a diagrammatically reducible spine. We also formulate an nanlogue of diagrammatic reducibility for higher dimensional complexes. Like Haken three-manifolds, we observe that if n ≥ 4 and M is compact connected n-dimensional manifold with a traingulation, or a spine, satisfying this property, then the interior of the universal cover of M is homeomorphic to Euclidean n-space.

In this paper a necessary and sufficient condition will be given for groups to be ν-isologic, with respect to a given variety of groups ν. Its is also shown that every ν-isologism family of a group contains a ν-Hopfian group. Finally we show that if G is in the variety ν, then every ν-covering group of G is a Hopfian group.

A group G belongs to the class W if G has non-nilpotent proper subgroups and is isomorphic to all of them. The main objects of study are the soluble groups in W that are not finitely generated. It is proved that there are no torsion-free groups of this sort, and a reasonable classification is given in the finite rank case.

The object of this paper is to study the sequence of torsion-free ranks of the quotients by the terms of the lower central series of a finitely generated group. This gives rise to the introduction into the study of finitely generated, residually torison-free nilpotent groups of notions relating to the Gelfand-Kirillov dimension. These notions are explored here. The main result concerning the sequences alluded to is the proof that there are continuously many such sequences.

An example is given of a finitely generated group G for which G ≅ G*cG, where C is infinite cyclic.

This paper reports on a facility of the ANU NQ program for computation of nilpotent groups that satisfy an Engel-n identity. The relevant details of the algorithm are presented together with results on Engel-n groups for moderate values of n.

We study some challenging presentations which arise as groups of deficiency zero. In four cases we settle finiteness: we show that two presentations are for finite groups while two are for infinite groups. Thus we answer three explicit questions in the literature and we provide the first published deficiency zero presentation for a group with derived length seven. The tools we use are coset enumeration and Knuth-Bebdix rewriting, which are well-established as methods for proving finiteness or otherwise of a finitely presented group. We briefly comment on their capabilities and compare their performance.

In previous work [2] calculations of subquadratic second order Dehn functions for various groups were carried out. In this paper we obtain estimates for upper and lower bounds of second order Dehn functions of HNN-extensions, and use these to exhibit an infinite number of different superquadratic second order Dehn functions. At the end of the paper several open questions concerning second order Dehn functions of groups are discussed.

We survey the current state of knowledge of bounds in the restricted Burnside problem. We make two conjectures which are related to the theory of PI-algebras.