Central series
In
This article uses the language of group theory; analogous terms are used for Lie algebras.
A general group possesses a lower central series and upper central series (also called the descending central series and ascending central series, respectively), but these are central series in the strict sense (terminating in the trivial subgroup) if and only if the group is
Definition
A central series is a sequence of subgroups
such that the successive quotients are
A central series is analogous in
A group need not have a central series. In fact, a group has a central series if and only if it is a nilpotent group. If a group has a central series, then there are two central series whose terms are extremal in certain senses. Since A0 = {1}, the center Z(G) satisfies A1 ≤ Z(G). Therefore, the maximal choice for A1 is A1 = Z(G). Continuing in this way to choose the largest possible Ai + 1 given Ai produces what is called the upper central series. Dually, since An = G, the commutator subgroup [G, G] satisfies [G, G] = [G, An] ≤ An − 1. Therefore, the minimal choice for An − 1 is [G, G]. Continuing to choose Ai minimally given Ai + 1 such that [G, Ai + 1] ≤ Ai produces what is called the lower central series. These series can be constructed for any group, and if a group has a central series (is a nilpotent group), these procedures will yield central series.
Lower central series
The lower central series (or descending central series) of a group G is the descending series of subgroups
- G = G1 ⊵ G2 ⊵ ⋯ ⊵ Gn ⊵ ⋯,
where, for each n,
- ,
the subgroup of G generated by all commutators with and . Thus, , the
This should not be confused with the
- ,
not . The two series are related by . For instance, the symmetric group S3 is solvable of class 2: the derived series is S3 ⊵ {e, (1 2 3), (1 3 2)} ⊵ {e}. But it is not nilpotent: its lower central series S3 ⊵ {e, (1 2 3), (1 3 2)} does not terminate in {e}. A nilpotent group is a solvable group, and its derived length is logarithmic in its nilpotency class (Schenkman 1975, p. 201,216).
For infinite groups, one can continue the lower central series to infinite
- .
If for some ordinal λ, then G is said to be a hypocentral group. For every ordinal λ, there is a group G such that , but for all , (Malcev 1949).
If is the first infinite ordinal, then is the smallest normal subgroup of G such that the quotient is
If for some finite n, then is the smallest normal subgroup of G with nilpotent quotient, and is called the nilpotent residual of G. This is always the case for a finite group, and defines the term in the
If for all finite n, then is not nilpotent, but it is
There is no general term for the intersection of all terms of the transfinite lower central series, analogous to the hypercenter (below).
Upper central series
The upper central series (or ascending central series) of a group G is the sequence of subgroups
where each successive group is defined by:
and is called the ith center of G (respectively, second center, third center, etc.). In this case, is the
For infinite groups, one can continue the upper central series to infinite
The limit of this process (the union of the higher centers) is called the hypercenter of the group.
If the transfinite upper central series stabilizes at the whole group, then the group is called hypercentral. Hypercentral groups enjoy many properties of nilpotent groups, such as the normalizer condition (the normalizer of a proper subgroup properly contains the subgroup), elements of coprime order commute, and
Connection between lower and upper central series
There are various connections between the lower central series (LCS) and upper central series (UCS) (Ellis 2001), particularly for nilpotent groups.
For a nilpotent group, the lengths of the LCS and the UCS agree, and this length is called the nilpotency class of the group. However, the LCS and UCS of a nilpotent group may not necessarily have the same terms. For example, while the UCS and LCS agree for the cyclic group C2 ⊵ {e} and quaternion group Q8 ⊵ {1, −1} ⊵ {1}, the UCS and LCS of their direct product C2 × Q8 do not agree: its LCS is C2 × Q8 ⊵ {e} × {−1, 1} ⊵ {e} × {1}, while its UCS is C2 × Q8 ⊵ C2 × {−1, 1} ⊵ {e} × {1}.
A group is abelian if and only if the LCS terminates at the first step (the commutator subgroup is the entire group), if and only if the UCS terminates at the first step (the center is the entire group).
By contrast, the LCS terminates at the zeroth step if and only if the group is
Refined central series
In the study of
- , and
- .
The second term, , is equal to , the Frattini subgroup. The lower exponent-p central series is sometimes simply called the p-central series.
There is a unique most quickly ascending such series, the upper exponent-p central series S defined by:
- S0(G) = 1
- Sn+1(G)/Sn(G) = Ω(Z(G/Sn(G)))
where Ω(Z(H)) denotes the subgroup generated by (and equal to) the set of central elements of H of order dividing p. The first term, S1(G), is the subgroup generated by the minimal normal subgroups and so is equal to the socle of G. For this reason the upper exponent-p central series is sometimes known as the socle series or even the Loewy series, though the latter is usually used to indicate a descending series.
Sometimes other refinements of the central series are useful, such as the Jennings series κ defined by:
- κ1(G) = G, and
- κn + 1(G) = [G, κn(G)] (κi(G))p, where i is the smallest integer larger than or equal to n/p.
The Jennings series is named after
See also
- Nilpotent series, an analogous concept for solvable groups
- Parent-descendant relations for finite p-groups defined by various kinds of central series
- Unipotent group
References
This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2007) |
- Ellis, Graham (October 2001), "On the Relation between Upper Central Quotients and Lower Central Series of a Group", Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, 353 (10): 4219–4234, JSTOR 2693793
- Gluškov, V. M. (1952), "On the central series of infinite groups", Mat. Sbornik, New Series, 31: 491–496, MR 0052427
- MR 0103215
- MR 0032644
- McLain, D. H. (1956), "Remarks on the upper central series of a group", Proc. Glasgow Math. Assoc., 3: 38–44, MR 0084498
- Schenkman, Eugene (1975), Group theory, Robert E. Krieger Publishing, MR 0460422, especially chapter VI.