Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2009
Let u(x1,…,xn) = x11 … x1m be a word in the alphabet x1, …,xn such that x1i ≠ x1i for all i = 1,…, m − 1. If (H1, …, Hn) is an n-tuple of subgroups of a group G then denote by u(H1, …, Hn) the set {u(h1,…,hn) | hi ∈ Hi}. If σ ∈ Sn then denote by uσ(H1,…,Hn) the set u(Hσ(1),…,Hσ(n)). We study groups G with the property that for each n-tuple (H1,…,Hn) of subgroups of G, there is some σ ∈ Sn σ ≠ 1 such that u(H1,…,Hn) = uσ(H1,…,Hn). If G is a finitely generated soluble group then G has this property for some word u if and only if G is nilpotent-by-finite. In the paper we also look at some specific words u and study the properties of the associated groups.