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Profinite Group





DEFINITION


Formally, a pro-finite group is a Hausdorff Compact and Totally Disconnected Topological Group .
Equivalently, one can define a pro-finite groups as topological groups Isomorphic to Inverse Limits (in the Category of topological groups) of an inverse system of Finite Group s, regarded as Discrete topological groups.


EXAMPLES



  • The group of ''p''-adic Integers Z''p'' under addition is pro-finite. It is the inverse limit of the finite groups Z/''pn''Z where ''n'' ranges over all natural numbers and the natural maps Z/''pn''ZZ/''pm''Z (''n''≥''m'') are used for the limit process. The topology on this pro-finite group is the same as the topology arising from the p-adic valuation on Z''p''.


  • The Galois Theory of Field Extension s of infinite degree gives rise naturally to Galois groups that are pro-finite. Specifically, if ''L''/''K'' is a Galois Extension , we consider the group ''G'' = Gal(''L''/''K'') consisting of all field automorphisms of ''L'' which keep all elements of ''K'' fixed. This group is the inverse limit of the finite groups Gal(''F''/''K''), where ''F'' ranges over all intermediate fields such that ''F''/''K'' is a ''finite'' Galois extension. For the limit process, we use the restriction homomorphisms Gal(''F''1/''K'') → Gal(''F''2/''K''), where ''F''2 ⊆ ''F''1. The topology we obtain on Gal(''L''/''K'') is known as the Krull topology after Wolfgang Krull . Waterhouse showed that ''every'' pro-finite group is isomorphic to one arising from the Galois theory of ''some'' field ''K''; but one cannot (yet) control which field ''K'' will be in this case. In fact, given a fixed field ''K'', one does not know in general if even the Finite Group s occur as Galois groups over ''K''. This is the Inverse Galois Problem for a field ''K''.




PROPERTIES AND FACTS


Every Product of (arbitrarily many) pro-finite groups is pro-finite; the topology arising from the pro-finiteness agrees with the Product Topology .
Every Closed subgroup of a pro-finite group is itself pro-finite; the topology arising from the pro-finiteness agrees with the Subspace Topology . If ''N'' is a closed normal subgroup of a pro-finite group ''G'', then the Factor Group ''G''/''N'' is pro-finite; the topology arising from the pro-finiteness agrees with the Quotient Topology .

Since every pro-finite group ''G'' is compact Hausdorff, we have a Haar Measure on ''G'', which allows us to measure the "size" of subsets of ''G'', compute certain probabilities, and integrate functions on ''G''.


PRO-FINITE COMPLETION


Given an arbitrary group ''G'', there is a related pro-finite group ''G''^, the pro-finite completion of ''G''. It is defined as the inverse limit of the groups ''G''/''N'', where ''N'' runs through the group homomorphism ''g'' : ''G''^ → ''H'' with ''f'' = ''g''η.


IND-FINITE GROUPS


There is a notion of ind-finite group, which is the concept Subgroup is finite. This is equivalent, in fact, to being 'ind-finite'.

By applying Pontryagin Duality , one can see that Abelian pro-finite groups are in duality with locally finite discrete abelian groups. The latter are just the abelian Torsion Group s.

See also: Locally Cyclic Group .


FURTHER READING

  • Hendrik Lenstra: Profinite Groups, talk given in Oberwolfach, November 2003. online version .

  • Alexander Lubotzky: review of several books about pro-finite groups. Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, 38 (2001), pages 475-479. online version .

  • J. P. Serre, Cohomologie Galoisienne. Springer Lecture Notes in Mathematics, vol. 5.

  • William C. Waterhouse. ''Profinite groups are Galois groups''. Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 42 (1973), pp. 639–640.