Skip to main content

Questions tagged [abelian-groups]

For questions about groups whose elements commute.

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
0 votes
1 answer
557 views

Abelian groups and their subgroups

It is well known that every finite abelian group is a direct product of cyclic groups. So for every $n$ every finite abelian group of exponent $n$ is a direct product of cyclic groups of order at most ...
user avatar
15 votes
1 answer
567 views

Torsion-free abelian group $A$ such that $A \not \simeq A \oplus \Bbb Z \simeq A \oplus \Bbb Z^2$

Is there a torsion-free abelian group $A$ such that $A \not \simeq A \oplus \Bbb Z \simeq A \oplus \Bbb Z \oplus \Bbb Z$ (as groups)? Notice that $\Bbb Z$ is not cancellable, so $A \oplus \Bbb Z \...
Watson's user avatar
  • 1,742
6 votes
0 answers
346 views

Uncountable Mittag-Leffler condition?

Let $(X_\alpha)_{\alpha <\kappa}$ be an inverse system of abelian groups. If $\kappa = \omega$ (or by extension if $\kappa$ is of countable cofinality), then the Mittag-Leffler condition is a ...
Tim Campion's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
221 views

Sum of divisors and unitary divisors as the eigenvalue and the spectral norm of some addition matrix?

Let $n$ be a natural number and $D_n$ be the set of divisors. We can make this set to a ring by observing that each divisor $d$ has $$0 \le v_p(d) \le v_p(n)$$ Hence we can add two divisors $d,e$ by ...
user avatar
20 votes
4 answers
2k views

Categorical proof subgroups of free groups are free?

This is a crossport of this question from MSE. Is there a categorical proof that subgroups of free groups are free? How about the result that subgroups of free abelian groups are free abelian? What ...
Exterior's user avatar
  • 935
13 votes
1 answer
791 views

How nearly abelian are nilpotent groups?

It is not uncommon to read that "nilpotent groups are 'close to abelian'."1,2 Can this sentiment be made precise in the sense of the Turán and Erdős definition of "the probability that two elements of ...
Joseph O'Rourke's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
907 views

What is $\mathrm{Hom}(\mathbb{Q},\mathbb{Z}(p^{\infty}))$?

What is $\mathrm{Hom}(\mathbb{Q},\mathbb{Z}(p^{\infty}))$? I have a reference that says the group in question is $\mathbb{Q}_p,$ the additive group of the quotient field of the $p$-adic integers. Can ...
Chris Leary's user avatar
16 votes
4 answers
1k views

Zero-sum partition of an abelian group

This is a question I have been asking myself some 5 years ago. I later got bored by lack of progress, but maybe some additive combinatorialists here know further. I'm not claiming it is conceptual or ...
darij grinberg's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
276 views

How many elements of each order are there in this $p$-group? [closed]

Let $G$ be a countable Abelian $p$-group which equals a direct sum of at most countably many finite cyclic groups and at most countably many copies of the Prüfer $p$-group, where these finite cyclic ...
Keshav Srinivasan's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
417 views

Finite-by-torsion-free abelian groups (or compact abelian groups with finitely many components)

Here's a question I should know the answer to but don't: Suppose $1\to F \to G \to G/F \to 1$ is a short exact sequence of abelian groups with $F$ finite and $G/F$ torsion-free. Must the sequence ...
Sean Eberhard's user avatar
6 votes
0 answers
291 views

When is every element of a coend of abelian groups contained in one of the summands?

Let $I$ be a small category and let $D : I^{\mathrm{op}} \times I \to \mathsf{Ab}$ be a functor. The coend $$\int^{i \in I} D(i,i)$$ can be constructed as the direct sum $\bigoplus_{i \in I} D(i,i)$ ...
Martin Brandenburg's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
138 views

The group of sequences in $G^{\mathbb{N}}$ that converge to $(0,0,0,\dots)$

Let $G$ be a discrete abelian group and $G^{\mathbb{N}}$ be the direct product (with the product topology), which consists of sequences $(a_1,a_2,a_3,\dots)$ of elements of $G$. Let $G^{\infty}$ ...
J.K.T.'s user avatar
  • 517
23 votes
2 answers
1k views

Are the p-adics a direct summand of the direct product of the groups $\mathbb{Z}/p^n\mathbb{Z}$?

The p-adic integers $\mathbb{Z}_p$ can be thought of as a subgroup of the direct product group $P = \prod_{n \geq 1} \mathbb{Z}/p^n\mathbb{Z}$. Are they a direct summand of this group? That is, is ...
M T's user avatar
  • 2,721
4 votes
2 answers
553 views

Non-torsion part of the abelianisation of congruence subgroups

I've posted this question on math.stackexchange, but haven't gotten any responses so I'm trying here instead. Let $A = F_q[T]$ be the ring of polynomials in one variable with coefficients in a finite ...
Liam Baker's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
182 views

Can one turn finite-dimensional vector subspaces into a cancellative semigroup?

Let $V$ be a vector space over some field and let ${\rm Fin}\,V$ be the family of all finite-dimensional subspaces of $V$. Is it possible to turn ${\rm Fin}\,V$ into an commutative cancellative ...
Mark G.'s user avatar
  • 31
15 votes
3 answers
1k views

The existence of non-trivial homomorphisms $\prod_{n=1}^{\infty}\mathbb{Z}/\bigoplus_{n=1}^{\infty}\mathbb{Z}\to\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$

Let $\prod_{n=1}^{\infty}\mathbb{Z}$ be the Baer-Specker group and $\bigoplus_{n=1}^{\infty}\mathbb{Z}$ be the natural free abelian subgroup. It is known that if $G$ is a countable abelian group with ...
Jeremy Brazas's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
2k views

A group whose automorphism group is cyclic

Is there an Abelian group $A$ which is not locally cyclic whose automorphism group is cyclic ? This question was first posted here.
W4cc0's user avatar
  • 599
26 votes
3 answers
7k views

Subgroups of a finite abelian group

Let $$G=\mathbb{Z}/p_1^{e_1}\times\cdots\times\mathbb{Z}/p_n^{e_n}$$ be any finite abelian group. What are $G$'s subgroups? I can get many subgroups by grouping the factors and multiplying them by ...
user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

On the existence of a direct summand containing a fixed subgroup

Let $G$ be a finite abelian group, and $g_1, \ldots, g_n \in G$ such that the cyclic groups that they generate are in direct sum $\langle g_1 \rangle \oplus \cdots \oplus \langle g_n \rangle$. Is it ...
calc's user avatar
  • 133
5 votes
0 answers
190 views

Can an infinite abelian $p$-group be tall and thin?

Does there exist an abelian $p$-group $A$ with countable Ulm invariants and uncountable height? Here by height, I mean the minimal ordinal $\rho$ such that $p^\rho A$ is divisible [1]. For an ordinal ...
Tim Campion's user avatar
7 votes
1 answer
268 views

Additive group of local rings

Is there a theory or characterization for those finite $p$-groups that can be considered as the additive group of a finite local commutative ring with identity?
Lisa_K's user avatar
  • 155
6 votes
4 answers
2k views

Is a torsion-free abelian group finitely generated, if all of its localizations at primes $p$ are finitely generated over $\mathbb{Z}_p$?

Background: When proving that the group of $k$-isogenies $\mathrm{Hom}_k(A,B)$ between two abelian varieties is finitely generated, one first shows that the Tate map $$\mathbb{Z}_\ell\otimes_{\mathbb{...
Sam Lichtenstein's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
133 views

Irreducible non-Abelian subgroup of $\mathrm{U}_n(\mathbb{C})$, containing diagonal matrices

Consider an irreducible non-Abelian subgroup $\mathrm{H}$ of group of unitary matrices $\mathrm{U}_n(\mathbb{C})$, that contains the subgroup of diagonal matrices. Does there exist any result ...
Mini's user avatar
  • 85
7 votes
1 answer
516 views

Subgroups of the tensor product $A\otimes A$

I have this problem about subgroups of the tensor product of an abelian group $A$ with itself which arises from a complete different setting. I fell into this question studying quandles and quandle ...
marcos's user avatar
  • 467
8 votes
0 answers
309 views

A $\mathsf{ZF}$ example of a nonreflexive group which is isomorphic to its double dual?

Given a group $G$ denote by $G^\ast=\mathrm{Hom}(G,\Bbb Z)$ its dual and by $j\colon G\to G^{\ast\ast}$ the canonical homomorphism $g\mapsto (f\mapsto f(g))$. A group is reflexive iff $j$ is an ...
Alessandro Codenotti's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
329 views

Is there a free profinite abelian group on a profinite set?

Let $\mathit{Profinite}_{\mathrm{Ab}}$ be the category of profinite abelian groups, and let $\mathit{Profinite}_{\mathrm{Set}}$ be the category of profinite sets. Does the forgetful functor $$\mathit{...
Profinite Questioner's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
611 views

What are the LCA groups that are the Pontryagin dual of a locally profinite abelian group?

For certain subcategories of LCA groups, we have nice descriptions of the dual category under Pontryagin duality (all groups are implicitly assumed to be abelian): finite groups $\leftrightarrow$ ...
Lukas Heger's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
249 views

Two abelian groups, each being direct factor of the other

Let $M$ and $N$ be two abelian groups. Suppose that $M$ is a direct factor of $N$ (i.e. there are homomorphisms $i:M\rightarrow N$ and $p:N\rightarrow M$ such that $p\circ i=id_M$) and $N$ is also a ...
pi_1's user avatar
  • 1,463
2 votes
2 answers
4k views

Any factor group of a finite abelian group is isomorphic to some subgroup

If you visit this link, you'll see at the top of the PDF view. Basic properties of finite abelian groups: Every quotient group of a finite abelian group is isomorphic to a subgroup. If the above ...
Daniel Donnelly's user avatar
7 votes
0 answers
116 views

A conjecture on circular permutations of n elements in an abelian group of odd order

In 2013 I formulated the following conjecture in additive combinatorics. Conjecture. Let $G$ be an additive abelian group of odd order, and let $A$ be a subset of $G$ with $|A|=n>2$. Then, there is ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
5 votes
2 answers
387 views

Size of distinct sums in A

Let $G$ be an abelian group. Let $A\subset G$ be a finite set. $\sum_A$ is defined as: $$\left\{\sum_{b\in B}b \mid B\subset A\right\}$$ Is there any result similar to Freiman's Theorem for $\sum_A$? ...
Omid Hatami's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
293 views

Abelian torsion-free group with $\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}$ as automorphism group

Let $A$ be an abelian torsion-free group. If $A$ is isomorphic with the group of rational numbers whose denominators are powers of, say, $2$, then its automorphism group is isomorphic with $\mathbb{Z}...
Alex Doe's user avatar
  • 287
4 votes
2 answers
507 views

Co-finite type abelian groups

Suppose $B$ is an abelian group such that for every integer $n\ge 1$, the $n$-torsion subgroup $B[n]$ is finite. Let $B_{\rm tor} = \varinjlim_{n\ge 1} B[n]$ be the torsion subgroup of $B$. Is it ...
user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
501 views

Exact sequence of $n$th powers of abelian groups

Let $A,B,C$ be finitely generated abelian groups. Assume that there is an exact sequence $$0 \to C \to A^n \to B^n \to 0,$$where $A^n = A \oplus \dotsc \oplus A$ as usual. It is not assumed that $A^n \...
Martin Brandenburg's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
336 views

What are the almost periodic functions on the complex plane?

The almost periodic functions on the real line can be characterized as uniform limits of trigonometric functions. I was wondering whether a similar definition exists on the complex plane (a locally ...
Merry's user avatar
  • 173
4 votes
2 answers
449 views

Number of torsion-free abelian groups

Let $\mathfrak{c}$ be the cardinality of the continuum. How much Choice, if any, is needed to prove that there are $2^{\mathfrak{c}}$ distinct (mutually nonisomorphic) torsion-free abelian groups of ...
Bruce Blackadar's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
153 views

On decomposition of finite Abelian groups

It is easy to see that for any finite Abelian group $G$ and any numbers $a,b$ with $|G|=ab$ there exist a subgroup $A\subset G$ and a subset $B\subset G$ such that $|A|=a$, $|B|=b$ and $G=A+B$, where $...
Taras Banakh's user avatar
14 votes
1 answer
696 views

$\mathbb{Z}$-module structure of the subring generated by an algebraic number

Let $a$ and $b$ be algebraic numbers which are not necessarily algebraic integers. Is there some invariant that allows us to determine whether $\mathbb Z[a]$ and $\mathbb Z[b]$ are isomorphic as $\...
user108921's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
70 views

Alternating $n$-homomorphism on abelian group is skew of $n$-cocycle

Let $A$ be a finitely generated abelian group. Let $c$ be a 2-cocycle on $A$, where $A$ acts trivially on $\mathbb{C}^\times$. It is well-known that the skew-map $$ c(a_1,a_2) \longmapsto \frac{c(a_1,...
Bipolar Minds's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
98 views

Hales' generalization of the stacked bases theorem (seeking a proof)

In his paper Analogues of the stacked bases theorem, published in the proceedings of a 1976 conference, A.W. Hales claimed some interesting generalizations of the stacked bases theorem for abelian ...
Jose Brox's user avatar
  • 2,992
4 votes
1 answer
383 views

Finite dimensional compact abelian group that is not a product of connected and a totally disconnected

Let $G$ be a compact abelian group. A compact abelian group is said to have dimension $n$ if $\dim_\mathbb{Q} \mathbb{Q}\otimes \hat G = n$. Equivalently one can show that this holds if $G$ is ...
TopGroups's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
276 views

Reference request: an elementary result on characters of finite abelian groups

The referee of a paper I submitted to a journal asked me to include a reference of the following elementary result on characters of finite abelian groups: Let $A$ be a finite abelian group of order $...
efs's user avatar
  • 3,107
6 votes
0 answers
147 views

When is $\{s_2-s_1,s_3-s_2,s_1-s_3\}\cap S$ non-empty for any $s_1,s_2,s_3\in S$?

A subset $S$ of an abelian group is a subgroup if and only if it is closed under taking differences; that is, the difference of any two elements of $S$ is in $S$. Suppose, however, that we only know ...
Seva's user avatar
  • 23k
6 votes
1 answer
389 views

Transcendence degree of the fraction field of $k[G]$ for torsion free abelian group $G$

Let $k$ be a field of characteristic $p$ and $G$ be a torsion free abelian group . Then the group ring $k[G]$ is an integral domain , let $k(G)$ denote its field of fractions . Then can we say ...
user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
163 views

Characteristically simple locally compact abelian groups

Say a topological group $G$ is topologically characteristically simple if there does not exist a closed subgroup $1 < K < G$ such that $K$ is invariant under all automorphisms of $G$ (here `...
Colin Reid's user avatar
  • 4,728
3 votes
2 answers
831 views

Divisible torsion $\mathbb{Z}$-modules

I am trying to prove that for any divisible torsion $\mathbb{Z}$-module $V$, this map $$f:\mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z}\otimes_E\text{Hom}(\mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z},V)\longrightarrow V\mbox{ defined by } f((q+\...
Fat's user avatar
  • 33
30 votes
1 answer
2k views

Do the algebraic integers form a free abelian group?

It is a well-known fact, proved in every introductory textbook on algebraic number theory, that if $K$ is an algebraic number field, i.e. a finite extension of $\mathbb{Q}$, then its ring $\mathcal{O}...
Robert Kucharczyk's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
190 views

Logic article on first-order invariants of abelian groups

I remember reading an article published in the 1970s by a Polish mathematician describing the first-order invariants of a torsion-free abelian group. I do not recollect the author's name, the title of ...
Phill Schultz's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
3k views

Automorphism group of a finite group

I would like to ask if there exists an explicit description of $\mathrm{Aut}(G)$, the group of automorphisms of a finite group $G$, in particular, when $G$ is abelian. E.g., if $G = \mathbb{Z}/m\...
Hair80's user avatar
  • 675
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

A possible mistake in Walter Rudin, "Fourier analysis on groups"

I have the following lemma 4.2.4 on page 80 in the book (we have locally compact abelian topological groups $G_1, G_2$ and their duals $\Gamma_1, \Gamma_2$): Suppose $E$ is a coset in $\Gamma_2$ ...
Petr Naryshkin's user avatar