Questions tagged [abelian-groups]
For questions about groups whose elements commute.
28 questions
94
votes
2
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$A$ is isomorphic to $A \oplus \mathbb{Z}^2$, but not to $A \oplus \mathbb{Z}$
Are there abelian groups $A$ with $A \cong A \oplus \mathbb{Z}^2$ and $A \not\cong A \oplus \mathbb{Z}$?
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12
votes
2
answers
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Do all exact sequences $0 \rightarrow A \rightarrow A \oplus B \rightarrow B \rightarrow 0$ split for finitely generated abelian groups?
Suppose $A$ and $B$ are finitely generated Abelian groups. Are all exact sequences of the form $0 \rightarrow A \rightarrow A \oplus B \rightarrow B \rightarrow 0$ split?
If not, is there an example?
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37
votes
5
answers
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When is Aut(G) abelian?
Let $G$ be a group such that $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$ is abelian. Is then $G$ abelian?
This is a sort of generalization of the well-known exercise, that $G$ is abelian when $\operatorname{Aut}(G)$ is ...
- 63.1k
29
votes
0
answers
877
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The field of fractions of the rational group algebra of a torsion free abelian group
Let $G$ be a torsion free abelian group (infinitely generated to get anything interesting). The group algebra $\mathbb{Q}[G]$ is an integral domain. Let $\mathbb{Q}(G)$ be its field of fractions.
...
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15
votes
1
answer
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Is the class of additive groups of rings axiomatizable?
I know that it is impossible to axiomatize the multiplicative structures of rings, called $R$-semigroups. Is anything known about the first-order axiomatizability of the class of abelian groups which ...
- 1,445
10
votes
2
answers
865
views
Is there a non-degenerate quadratic form on every finite abelian group?
Let $G$ be a finite abelian group. A quadratic form on $G$ is a map $q: G \to \mathbb{C}^*$ such that $q(g) = q(g^{-1})$ and the symmetric function $b(g,h):= \frac{q(gh)}{q(g)q(h)}$ is a bicharacter, ...
72
votes
9
answers
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Is there a slick proof of the classification of finitely generated abelian groups?
One of the proofs that I've never felt very happy with is the classification of finitely generated abelian groups (which says an abelian group is basically uniquely the sum of cyclic groups of orders $...
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71
votes
28
answers
8k
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Results from abstract algebra which look wrong (but are true)
There are many statements in abstract algebra, often asked by beginners, which are just too good to be true. For example, if $N$ is a normal subgroup of a group $G$, is $G/N$ isomorphic to a subgroup ...
20
votes
5
answers
2k
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Constructively, is the unit of the “free abelian group” monad on sets injective?
Classically, we can explicitly construct the free Abelian group $\newcommand{\Z}{\mathbb{Z}}\Z[X]$ on a set $X$ as the set of finitely-supported functions $X \to \Z$, and so easily see that the unit ...
- 21.3k
16
votes
1
answer
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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 $\Gamma_2$ ...
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13
votes
1
answer
1k
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Classification of symtrivial modules over a PID
Let us call a module $M$ over a commutative ring $R$ symtrivial if the symmetry $M \otimes M \to M \otimes M, a \otimes b \mapsto b \otimes a$ equals the identity (the same notion applies to arbitrary ...
- 63.1k
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 ...
- 151k
12
votes
4
answers
1k
views
How many non-isomorphic abelian subgroups of the permutation group $S_n$?
I am interested in how many (pairwise non-isomorphic) subgroups of the permutation group $S_n$ are abelian. ($n \in \mathbb{N}$ arbitrary and possibly big)
Are you aware of any references which treat ...
- 263
11
votes
1
answer
498
views
Example of an uncountable sequence of abelian groups with nonvanishing $\varprojlim^2$?
$\DeclareMathOperator{\op}{\mathrm{op}}\DeclareMathOperator{\Ab}{\mathsf{Ab}}\DeclareMathOperator{\Vect}{\mathsf{Vect}}$Question 1: What is an example of a sequence $(X_\alpha)_{\alpha<\kappa}$ of ...
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10
votes
1
answer
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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.
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9
votes
0
answers
298
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An abstract zero-sum problem
I would like to know whether the problem described below has appeared in the literature and/or whether similar questions have been studied. I would be very happy to find some references or, if none ...
- 1,169
8
votes
1
answer
523
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Trivial group cohomology induces trivial cohomology of subgroups
From the answer to another question I asked (Projective representations of a finite abelian group) and from the structure theorem of finite abelian groups it follows that if $A$ is a finite abelian ...
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6
votes
0
answers
291
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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 $\bigoplus_{i \in I} D(i,i)$ ...
- 63.1k
5
votes
1
answer
313
views
Projective representations of a finite abelian group
Projective representations of a group $G$ are classified by the second group cohomology $H^2(G,U(1))$. If $G$ is finite and abelian, it is isomorphic to the direct product of cyclic groups
$$
G\cong ...
- 813
5
votes
1
answer
308
views
Quotient groups obtained by quotienting $G^n$ by $G^{n-1}$
Notation: For a group $G$, we write $G^n$ to denote the $n$-fold direct product of $G$ with itself.
Problem set up:
Consider, for a finite group $G$, and $n > 1$, the set $Q(G)_n$ of all ...
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5
votes
2
answers
907
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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 ...
- 549
4
votes
2
answers
449
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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 ...
- 2,049
4
votes
1
answer
588
views
Why does tensor product in Ab(V) require colimits in V?
In Tom Leinster's book on operads, he gives Ab(V), the category of abelian groups in a symmetric monoidal category V, as an example of a multicategory that doesn't arise from a monoidal category, ...
- 1,446
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 ...
- 43
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 ...
- 345
2
votes
1
answer
682
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One-dimension Algebraic groups
I am searching for a possible analogue of a result in algebraic groups in a non-commutative setting, so I am looking for different proofs of the following :
Let $K$ be an algebraically closed field. ...
- 1,555
2
votes
2
answers
474
views
Non-archimedean group over the reals
I have a totally ordered group $(\mathbb{R};\leq,\oplus,0,-)$ with the reals as base set satisfying monotonicity, i.e.
for all $x,y,z$ we have that if $y\leq z$ then $x\oplus y \leq x\oplus z$, and I ...
- 43
1
vote
0
answers
97
views
A duality of finite groups coming from a surjective homomorphism with finite kernel of algebraic tori
$\newcommand{\Hom}{{\rm Hom}}
\newcommand{\Gm}{{{\mathbb G}_{m,{\Bbb C}}}}
\newcommand{\X}{{\sf X}}
$ I am looking for a reference for the following lemma (for which I know a proof):
Lemma.
Let $\...
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