Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
If M is any algebraic structure, and R is any Boolean ring, then a structure called the (bounded) Boolean power of M by R, denoted MR, can be defined. This construction, which is also called a bounded Boolean extension, is a sort of generalized direct power, and was introduced by Foster in the 1950's (as a refinement of his previous notion of a Boolean extension). In this paper we shall study isomorphism types and automorphisms of Boolean powers of groups, and obtain information about their characteristic subgroups: we shall be chiefly concerned with Boolean powers of finite groups.