All Questions
26 questions
14
votes
2
answers
1k
views
If every definable class admits a group structure, must global choice hold?
It is a remarkable fact, due to Hajnal and Kertész and explained very well in this MathOverflow answer by user Ashutosh, that the axiom of choice is equivalent to the assertion that every nonempty set ...
- 236k
8
votes
0
answers
148
views
What is this quotient of the free product?
Previously asked at MSE. The construction here can generalize to arbitrary algebras (in the sense of universal algebra) in the same signature with the only needed tweak being the replacement of "...
- 20.9k
3
votes
1
answer
153
views
Is having a Frobenius pair first-order expressible in the language of groups?
I am trying to figure out whether or not the following property is first-order expressible in the language of groups.
$$\text{$G$ has a subgroup $H$ with which it forms a Frobenius pair $(H,G)$.}$$
My ...
- 133
9
votes
0
answers
275
views
Is “simplicity is elementary” still hard? (Felgner’s 1990 theorem on simple groups, and subsequent work)
I came across a reference in this MathOverflow answer to an intriguing result of Ulrich Felgner [1]: among finite non-Abelian groups, the property of being simple is first-order definable. According ...
- 21.3k
4
votes
1
answer
125
views
Logical generators of groups and $\mathrm{Aut}$-bases
An element $s$ of a group $G$ is a logical generator of $G$ iff every element of $G$ can be defined in the first order language of groups with $s$ as a parameter. In this case we may call $G$ a ...
- 2,233
8
votes
1
answer
896
views
Quantifier elimination for abelian groups
In the Wikipedia article (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantifier_elimination#cite_note-4) it is said that every abelian group has quantifier elimination property and a long old paper of W. Szmielew ...
- 2,233
7
votes
1
answer
143
views
Is there a pseudofinite group with a quantifier-free instance of the order property?
Recall that a group $G$ is pseudofinite if every first-order sentence $\varphi$ (in the language of groups) satisfied in $G$ is also satisfied in some finite group. Also recall that an instance of the ...
- 12.5k
12
votes
2
answers
583
views
Do there exist acyclic simple groups of arbitrarily large cardinality?
Recall that a group $G$ is acyclic if its group homology vanishes: $H_\ast(G; \mathbb Z) = 0$. Equivalently, $G$ is acyclic iff the space $BG$ is acyclic, i.e. $\tilde H_\ast(BG;\mathbb Z) = 0$.
In ...
- 63.9k
8
votes
2
answers
585
views
Is the equational theory of groups axiomatized by the associative law?
Consider the class of groups in the signature {*}. Is the equational theory of that class axiomatized by the associative law? I asked this on math stack exchange but I didn't receive a satisfactory ...
- 2,023
6
votes
2
answers
186
views
What can the approximation of a group by some class be used for?
Recall the following concept due to Malcev and Gromov. Let $C$ be some class of groups. A group $G$ is said to be approximable by the class $C$ if for every finite symmetric subset $F\subset G$ ...
- 163
17
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Why are model theorists so fond of definable groups?
My PhD was on so called "pure" model theory, and my advisor was not very much interested in applications of model theory to algebra. Now I feel the need to fill in the gap, and I'd like to educate ...
- 1,031
0
votes
0
answers
147
views
Groups implementable by finite field
I'm interested in finding all groups for which the group operation (and inverse map) may be implemented using finite field arithmetic.
I've done some searching and have come across "algebraic groups",...
7
votes
0
answers
177
views
Countable elementary sub-structure of the automorphism group of the binary rooted tree
Let $G$ be the automorphism group of the binary rooted tree.
The downward Löwenheim-Skolem theorem states that G has a countable elementary sub-structure.
My question is whether such sub-structure ...
- 1,378
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 ...
- 116
9
votes
1
answer
276
views
First order formulas for finite groups and invariant theory
Let $G$ be a finite group, and let $K$ be a field of characteristic zero.
Let $\phi(x_1,\ldots,x_n)$ be a first order formula in the language of group theory (so $\phi$ can be for example something of ...
- 5,039
6
votes
2
answers
706
views
Non-trivial problems about the trivial group
Is there any non-trivial problem (maybe open problem) about the trivial group?
I asked already a question about the Laws characterizing the trivial group. There is a description of such laws. As ...
- 2,233
8
votes
1
answer
312
views
Elementary extensions of direct product
I apologize if this question is elementary: Let $A$, $B$, and $A^{\prime}$ be groups such that $A^{\prime}$ is an elementary extension of $A$. Is it true that $A^{\prime}\times B$ is an elementary ...
- 2,233
12
votes
2
answers
621
views
Eliminating constant in Rado graph
Let $R$ denote the Rado graph, and let $c$ be a fixed vertex.
Question 1. Is the structure obtained by extending $R$ by the constant $c$ interpretable in $R$ without parameters?
By interpretable I ...
- 618
12
votes
0
answers
468
views
A question concerning model theory of groups
Several days ago, Professor Martin Bridson gave a very nice talk in my department. Some questions concerning his talk came into my brain Since I am neither a model theorist nor a algebraist, I am not ...
- 4,201
9
votes
1
answer
695
views
Extending an infinite simple group
Maybe the question does not fit here.
Yesterday in my logic course, I presented a nice example about an application of model theory to group theory. The example is due to Hodges and as following: For ...
- 4,201
2
votes
1
answer
330
views
Algebras admitting quantifier elimination
I apologize if this question is meaningless or trivial:
What are examples of Algebras admitting quantifier elimination? Especially are there Groups admitting quantifier elimination?
I need to say ...
- 2,233
25
votes
1
answer
3k
views
A preprint of Sela concerning the work of Kharlampovich-Miyasnikov
Yesterday, Z. Sela published a preprint in arXiv which claims that the solution of Olga Kharlampovich and Alexi Miyasnikov for the Tarski problem on decidablity of the first order theories of free ...
- 2,233
0
votes
3
answers
185
views
Negated varieties and their relatively free algebras
During the past days, I asked some questions in order to gain a clear understanding of the notion of "free algebras". I suppose that the question below is the most clear image of the concept I have ...
- 2,233
5
votes
3
answers
309
views
The existence of an algebra whose set of identities and first order theory are equivalent
Is there an algebra $A$ (for example a group) such that $Th(A)$ is logically equivalent to $id(A)$? In other words, is there an algebra $A$ such that
$$
Mod(Th(A))=Var(A)?
$$
Clearly finite algebras ...
- 2,233
2
votes
4
answers
555
views
relatively free groups in $Var(S_3)$
Suppose $S_3$ is the symmetric group of order 6. Which elements of the variety $Var(S_3)$ are relatively free?
This question is related to my previous question
Relatively free algebras in a variety ...
- 2,233
11
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Cherlin's "Main Conjecture"
Cherlin's "Main Conjecture" from his 1979 paper "Groups of Small Morley Rank" is the following: Every simple $\omega$-stable group is an algebraic group over an algebraically closed field. Zilber was ...
- 359