An existence variety of regular semigroups is a class of regular semigroups which is closed under the operations of forming all homomorphic images, all regular subsemigroups and all direct products. In this paper we generalize results on varieties of inverse semigroups to existence varieties of orthodox semigroups.

In this final contribution to the investigation of commutator laws in groups, we answer some of the questions left open in the previous two papers. The principal result is the independence of the Jacobi-Witt-Hall type laws from the so-called standard set of laws. The main results of the earlier papers are summarised. An interlude corrects some of the numerous printing errors in the second of our papers.

Band sums of associative rings were introduced by Weissglass in 1973. The main theorem claims that the support of every Artinian band sum of rings is finite. This result is analogous to the well-known theorem on Artinian semigroup rings.

We consider (finite) groups in which every two-generator subgroup has cyclic commutator subgroup. Among other things, these groups are metabelian modulo their hypercentres, and in the corresponding quotient group all subgroups of the commutator subgroup are normal.

In a well-known paper, Hall and Higman proved the reduction theorem on a coprime order operator group acting on a finite group. This theorem plays an important role in local analysis of finite group theory. In this paper, we generalize the Hall-Higman reduction theorem by dropping the restrictive hypothesis (|G|, |H|) = 1 and determine the detailed structure of G completely.

Kronecker classes of algebraci number fields were introduced by W. Jehne in an attempt to understand the extent to which the structure of an extension K: k of algebraic number fields was influenced by the decomposition of primes of k over K. He found an important link between Kronecker equivalent field extensions and a certain covering property of their Galois groups. This surveys recent contributions of Group Theory to the understanding of Kronecker equivalence of algebraic number fields. In particular some group theoretic conjectures related to the Kronecker class of an extension of bounded degree are explored.

If G is a π-separable group and χ is an irreducible character of G, then Issacs gas defined an associated pair (W, γ), called a nucleus of χ. The nucleus is the last term in a certain chain of pairs (I, Ω), where I is a subgroup of G and Ω is an irreducible character of I. The length of this chain is an invariant of χ that we call the nuclear length. In this paper we study bounds on the nuclear length of χ as a function of the π-length of G and as a function of the character degree χ(1).

Given an infinite family of finite primitive groups, conditions are found which ensure that almost all the orbitals are not self-paired. If p is a prime number congruent to ±1(mod 10), these conditions apply to the groups P S L (2, p) acting on the cosets of a subgroup isomorphic to A5. In this way, infinitely many vertex-primitive ½-transitive graphs which are not metacirculants are obtained.

Regular maps of type {p, q}r and the associated groups Gp,q,r are considered for small values for p, q and r. In particular, it is shown that the groups G4,6,6 and G5,5,6 are Abelian-by-infinite, and there are infinitely many regular maps of each of the types {4, 6}6, {5, 5}6, {5, 6}6 and {6, 6}6.

There is a deeper structure to the ordinary character theory of finite solvable groups than might at first be apparent. Mauch of this structure, which has no analog for general finite gruops, becomes visible onyl when the character of solvable groups are viewes from the persepective of a particular set π of prime numbers. This purely expository paper discusses the foundations of this πtheory and a few of its applications. Included are the definitions and essential properties of Gajendragadkar's π-special characters and their connections with the irreducible πpartial characters and their associated Fong characters. Included among the consequences of the theory discussed here are applications to questions about the field generated by the values of a character, about extensions of characters of subgroups and about M-groups.

Coverings of certain simplical complexes constructed from subgroups of group G are related to covering groups of G.

We develop techniques to compute the homology of Quillen's complex of elementary abelian p-subgroups of a finite group in the case where the group has a normal subgroup of order divisible by p. The main result is a long exact sequence relating the homologies of these complexes for the whole group, the normal subgroup, and certain centralizer subgroups. The proof takes place at the level of partially-ordered sets. Notions of suspension and wedge product are considered in this context, which are analogous to the corresponding notions for topological spaces. We conclude with a formula for the generalized Steinberg module of a group with a normal subgroup, and give some examples.

A practical method is described for deciding whether or not a finite-dimensional module for a group over a finite field is reducible or not. In the reducible case, an explicit submodule is found. The method is a generalistaion of the Parker-Norton ‘Meataxe’ algorithm, but it does not depend for its efficiency on the field being small. The principal tools involved are the calculation of the nullspace and the characteristic polynomial of a matrix over a finite field, and the factorisation of the latter. Related algorithms to determine absolute irreducibility and module isomorphism for irreducibles are also described. Details of an implementation in the GAP system, together with some performance analyses are included.

Let X be an infinite set and T(X) be the full transformation semigroup on X. In [4] and [6] Howie gives a description of the subsemigroup of T(X) generated by its idempotents. In order to do this he defines, for α in T(X),

and refers to the cardinals s(α) = |S(α)|, d(α) = |Z(α)| and |c(α) = |C(α)| as the shift, the defect, and the collapse of α respectively. Then putting

he proves that the subsemigroup of T(X) generated by its idempotents is . Furthermore, both F and Q are generated by their idempotents

Any representation of a group G on a vector space V extends uniquely to a representation of G on the free metabelian Lie algebra on V. In this paper we study such representations and make some group-theoretic applications.

We provide character-free proofs of some results on idempotents in p-adic group rings, centering around Brauer's Second Main Theorem on Blocks.

The free product *CRSi of an arbitrary family of disjoint completely simple semigroups {Si}i∈i, within the variety CR of completely regular semigroups, is described by means of a theorem generalizing that of Kaďourek and Polák for free completely regular semigroups. A notable consequence of the description is that all maximal subgroups of *CRSi are free, except for those in the factors Si themselves. The general theorem simplifies in the case of free CR-products of groups and, in particular, free idempotent-generated completely regular semigroups.

The operators K, k, T and t are defined on the lattice of congruences on a Rees matrix semigroup S as follows. For ρ ∈ (S), ρK and ρk (ρT and ρt) are the greatest and the least congruences with the same kernel (trace) as ρ, respectively. We determine the semigroup generated by the operators K, k, T and t as they act on all completely simple semigroups. We also determine the network of congruences associated with a congruence ρ ∈ (S) and the lattice generated by it. The latter is then represented by generators and relations.

The Petersen graph on 10 vertices is the smallest example of a vertex-transitive graph which is not a Cayley graph. We consider the problem of determining the orders of such graphs. In this, the first of a series of papers, we present a sequence of constructions which solve the problem for many orders. In particular, such graphs exist for all orders divisible by a fourth power, and all even orders which are divisible by a square.

We provide a number of explicit examples of small volume hyperbolic 3-manifolds and 3-orbifolds with various geometric properties. These include a sequence of orbifolds with torsion of order q interpolating between the smallest volume cusped orbifold (q = 6) and the smallest volume limit orbifold (q → ∞), hyperbolic 3-manifolds with automorphism groups with large orders in relation to volume and in arithmetic progression, and the smallest volume hyperbolic manifolds with totally geodesic surfaces. In each case we provide a presentation for the associated Kleinian group and exhibit a fundamental domain and an integral formula for the co-volume. We discuss other interesting properties of these groups.