A non-negative function f(t), t > 0, is said to be completely monotonic if its derivatives satisfy (-1)n fn (t) ≥ 0 for all t and n = 1, 2, …, For such a function, either f(t + δ) / f(t) is strictly increasing in t for each δ > 0, or f(t) = ce-dt for some constants c and d, and for all t. An application of this result is given.

A group G is called normally (subnormally) detectable if the only normal (subnormal) subgroups in any direct product G1 × … × Gn of copies of G are just the direct factors Gi. We give an internal characterization of finite subnormally detectable groups and obtain analogous results for associative rings and for Lie algebras. The main part of the paper deals with a study of normally detectable groups, where we verify a conjecture of T. O. Hawkes in a number of special cases.

We prove that an odd triperfect number has at least twelve distinct prime factors.

In this paper the question is considered of when the wreath product of a nilpotent group with a CLT group G is a CLT group. It is shown that if the field with Pr elements is a splitting field of a Hall P1–subgroup of G, then P wr G is a CLT group for all p–groups P with |P/P1|≥ pr. Moreover, the class of all groups G having the property that N wr G is a CLT group for every nilpotent group N is shown to be quite large. For exmple, every group of odd order can be embedded as a subgroup of a group belonging to this class.

The paper deals with six groups: the unitary, orthogonal, symplectic, Fredholm unitary, special Fredholm orthogonal, and Fredholm symplectic groups of an infinite-dimensional Hilbert space. When each is furnished with the invariant Finsler structure induced by the operator-norm on the Lie algebra, it is shown that, between any two points of the group, there exists a geodesic realising this distance (often, indeed, a unique geodesic), except in the full orthogonal group, in which there are pairs of points that cannot be joined by minimising geodesics, and also pairs that cannot even be joined by minimising paths. A full description is given of each of these possibilities.

Deleanu, Frei and Hilton have developed the notion of generalized Adams completion in a categorical context; they have also suggested the dual notion, namely, the Adams cocompletion of an object in a category. In this paper the different stages of the Cartan-Whitehead decomposition of a 0-connected space are shown to be the cocompletions of the space with respect to suitable sets of morphisms.

Whilst the Mal'cev product of completely regular varieties need not again be a variety, it is shown that in many important instances a variety is in fact obtained. However, unlike the product of group varieties this product is nonassociative.

Two important operators introduced by Reilly are studied in the context of Mal'cev products. These operators are shown to generate from any given variety one of the networks discovered by Pastijn and Trotter, enabling identities to be provided for the varieties in the network. In particular the join O V BG of the varieties of orthogroups and of bands of groups is determined, answering a question of Petrich.

Let (A, R, σ) be an abelian C*-dynamical system. Denote the generator of σ by δ0 and define A∞ = ∩n>1D (δ0n). Further define the Lipschitz algebra .

If δ is a *-derivation from A∞ into A½, then it follows that δ is closable, and its closure generates a strongly continuous one-parameter group of *-automorphisms of A. Related results for local dissipations are also discussed.

For a given vector measure n, an important problem, but in practice a difficult one, is to give a concrete description of the dual space of L1(n). In this note such a description is presented for an important class of measures n, namely the spectral measures (in the sense of N. Dunford) and certain other vector and operator-valued measures that they naturally induce. The basic idea is to represent the L1-spaces of such measures as a more familiar space whose dual space is known.

It is shown that any odd perfect number has a component greater than 1020.