Every invertible n-by-n matrix over a ring R satisfying the first Bass stable range condition is the product of n simple automorphisms, and there are invertible matrices which cannot be written as the products of a smaller number of simple automorphisms. This generalizes results of Ellers on division rings and local rings.

The author has previously associated to each commutative ring with unit $R$ and étale groupoid $\mathscr{G}$ with locally compact, Hausdorff and totally disconnected unit space an $R$-algebra $R\,\mathscr{G}$. In this paper we characterize when $R\,\mathscr{G}$ is Noetherian and when it is Artinian. As corollaries, we extend the characterization of Abrams, Aranda Pino and Siles Molina of finite-dimensional and of Noetherian Leavitt path algebras over a field to arbitrary commutative coefficient rings and we recover the characterization of Okniński of Noetherian inverse semigroup algebras and of Zelmanov of Artinian inverse semigroup algebras.

The Archimedean components of triangular norms (which turn the closed unit interval into anabelian, totally ordered semigroup with neutral element 1) are studied, in particular their extension to triangular norms, and some construction methods for Archimedean components are given. The triangular norms which are uniquely determined by their Archimedean components are characterized. Using ordinal sums and additive generators, new types of left-continuous triangular norms are constructed.

In a survey article [1] Baumslag posed the problem of determining the abelian subgroups of a one-relator group. The solution of this problem was stated but not proved in [5], and partly solved by Moldavanskii [4]. In this paper it will be proved that the centralizer of every non-trivial element in a one-relator group with torsion is cyclic, and that the soluble subgroups of a one-relator groups with torsion are cyclic groups or the infinite dihedral group. That both types of groups may occur as subgroups is easily seen by considering

Loy and Miller [4] have studied tight Riesz groups (G, ≦), without pseudozeros, and with (G, ≼) an l-group. In this paper we study abelian l-groups (G, ≼) on which a tight Riesz order can the defined, such that ⋞ is precisely the associated order. Such an order we call a CTRO (compatible tight Riesz order).

A ring R is said to be a Baer (respectively, quasi-Baer) ring if the left annihilator of any nonempty subset (respectively, any ideal) of R is generated by an idempotent. It is first proved that for a ring R and a group G, if a group ring RG is (quasi-) Baer then so is R; if in addition G is finite then |G|–1 € R. Counter examples are then given to answer Hirano's question which asks whether the group ring RG is (quasi-) Baer if R is (quasi-) Baer and G is a finite group with |G|–1 € R. Further, efforts have been made towards answering the question of when the group ring RG of a finite group G is (quasi-) Baer, and various (quasi-) Baer group rings are identified. For the case where G is a group acting on R as automorphisms, some sufficient conditions are given for the fixed ring RG to be Baer.

We find the atoms of certain subclasses of varieties of finite semigroups and the corresponding varieties of languages. For example we give a new description of languages whose syntactic monoids are R-trivial and idempotent. We also describe the least variety containing all commutative semigroups and at least one non-commutative semigroup. Finally we extend to varieties of finite semigroups some classical results about semilattice decomposition of semigroups.

We conjecture that five well-known identities universally satisfied by commutators in a group generate all such universal commutator identies. We use homological techniques to partially prove the conjecture.

In this article, a Blackburn group refers to a finite non-Dedekind group for which the intersection of all nonnormal subgroups is not the trivial subgroup. By completing the arguments of M. Hertweck, we show that all conjugacy class preserving automorphisms of Blackburn groups are inner automorphisms.

Schur's matrix Mn is ordinarily defined to be the n by n matrix (εjk), 0 ≦ j, k < n, where ε = exp (2 πi/n). This matrix occurs in a variety of areas including number theory, statistics, coding theory and combinatorics. In this paper, we investigate Pn, the permanent of Mn, which is define by where π ranges over all n! permutations on {0,1, …, n – 1}. Pn occurs, for example, in the study of circulants. Specifically, let Xn denote the n by n circulant matrix (xi, j) with xi, j = xi, j, where the subscript is reduced modulo n. The determinant of Xn is a homogeneous polynomial of degree n in the xi and can be written as Then Pn = A (1,1, … 1). Typical of the results established in this note are: (i) P2n = 0 for all n, (ii) Pp ≡ p ! (mod p3) for p a prime >3. (iii) If pa divides n then divides Pn. Also, a table of values of Pn is given for 1 ≦ n ≦ 23.

Let ℋ(m;t) be the finite-dimensional odd Hamiltonian superalgebra over a field of prime characteristic. By determining ad-nilpotent elements in the even part, the natural filtration of ℋ (m;t) is proved to be invariant in the following sense: If ϕ: ℋ (m;t) → ℋ (m′t′) is an isomorphism then ϕ(ℋ(m;t)i) = ℋ (m′ t′) i for all i ≥ –1. Using the result, we complete the classification of odd Hamiltonian superalgebras. Finally, we determine the automorphism group of the restricted odd Hamiltonian superalgebra and give further properties.

Magnus [4] proved the following theorem. Suppose that F is free group and that X is a basis of F. Let R be a normal subgroup of F and write G = F/R. Then there is a monomorphism of F/R′ in which ; here the tx are independent parameters permutable with all elements of G. Later investigations [1, 3] have shown what elements can appear in the south-west corner of these 2 × 2 matrices. In this form the theorem subsequently reappeared in proofs of the cup-product reduction theorem of Eilenberg and MacLane (cf. [7, 8]). In this note a direct group-theoretical proof of the theorems will be given.

Fleischer proved that a linearly ordered set that is separable in its order topology and has countably many jumps is order-isomorphic to a subset of the real numbers. The object of this paper is to extend Fleischer's result and to prove it in a different way. The proof of the theorem is based on Nachbin's extension to ordered topological spaces of Urysohn's separation theorem in normal topological spaces.

The class of commutative rings known as Baer rings was first discussed by J. Kist [4], where many interesting properties of these rings were established. Not necessarily commutative Baer rings had previously been studied by I. Kaplansky [3], and by R. Baer himself [1]. In this note we show that commutative Baer rings, which generalize Boolean rings and p-rings, satisfy the Birkhoff conditions for a variety. Next we give a set of equations characterising this variety involving + and * as binary operations, – and as unary operations, and 0 as nullary operation. Finally we describe Baer-subdirectly irreducible commutative Baer rings and state the appropriate representation theorem.

Assuming a conjecture intermediate in strength between one of Chowla and one of Heath-Brown on the least prime in a residue class, we show that for any coprime integers a and m≥1, there are infinitely many Carmichael numbers in the arithmetic progression a mod m.

In 1921 von Karman [1] showed that the Navier-Stokes equations for steady viscous axisymmetric flow can be reduced to a set of ordinary differential equations if it is assumed that the axial velocity component is independent of the radial distance from the axis of symmetry. He used these similarity equations to obtain a solution for the flow near an infinite rotating disk. Later Batchelor [2] and Stewartson [3] applied these equations to the problem of steady flow between two infinite disks rotating in parallel planes a finite distance apart.

A Riccati inequality involving the Ricci curvature can be used to deduce many interesting results about the geometry and topology of manifolds. In this note we use it to present a short alternative proof to a theorem of Ambrose.

Any congruence on an orthodox semigroup S induces a partition of the set E of idempotents of S satisfying certain normality conditions. Meakin (1970) has characterized those partitions of E which are induced by congruences on S as well as the largest congruence ρ and the smallest congruence σ on S corresponding to such a partition of E. In this paper a more precise description of ρ and σ is given.

It is proved that (|τ(n)|n−11/2)δ has a mean-value for 0 <δ > < 2, where τ(n) is Ramanujan's function from modular arithmetic. Some further results are conjectured.

A close connection is uncovered between the lower central series of the free associative algebra of countable rank and the descending Loewy series of the direct sum of all Solomon descent algebras Δn, n ∈ ℕ0. Each irreducible Δn-module is shown to occur in at most one Loewy section of any principal indecomposable Δn-module.A precise condition for his occurence and formulae for the Cartan numbers are obtained.