On the profinite topology on solvable groups

We show that the wreath product of a finitely generated abelian group with a polycyclic group is a LERF group. This theorem yields as a corollary that finitely generated free metabelian groups are LERF, a result due to Coulbois. We also show that a free solvable group of class 3 and rank at least 2 does not contain a strictly ascending HNN-extension of a finitely generated group. Since such groups are known not to be LERF, this settles, in the negative, a question of J. O. Button.

Factoriality and the Pin-Reutenauer procedure

We consider implicit signatures over finite semigroups determined by sets of pseudonatural numbers. We prove that, under relatively simple hypotheses on a pseudovariety V of semigroups, the finitely generated free algebra for the largest such signature is closed under taking factors within the free pro-V semigroup on the same set of generators. Furthermore, we show that the natural analogue of the Pin-Reutenauer descriptive procedure for the closure of a rational language in the free group with respect to the profinite topology holds for the pseudovariety of all finite semigroups. As an application, we establish that a pseudovariety enjoys this property if and only if it is full.

Finitely approximate groups and actions Part I: The Ribes–Zalesskiĭ property

We investigate extensions of S. Solecki's theorem on closing off finite partial isometries of metric spaces [11] and obtain the following exact equivalence: any action of a discrete group Γ by isometries of a metric space is finitely approximable if and only if any product of finitely generated subgroups of Γ is closed in the profinite topology on Γ.

ON THE PROFINITE TOPOLOGY ON COXETER GROUPS

Using geometric methods we describe a large class of subgroups of Coxeter groups which are closed in the profinite topology and discuss some related open problems.