For linear nonuniform cellular automata (NUCA) which are local perturbations of linear CA over a group universe G and a finite-dimensional vector space alphabet V over an arbitrary field k, we investigate their Dedekind finiteness property, also known as the direct finiteness property, i.e., left or right invertibility implies invertibility. We say that the group G is $L^1$-surjunctive, resp. finitely $L^1$-surjunctive, if all such linear NUCA are automatically surjective whenever they are stably injective, resp. when in addition k is finite. In parallel, we introduce the ring $D^1(k[G])$ which is the Cartesian product $k[G] \times (k[G])[G]$ as an additive group but the multiplication is twisted in the second component. The ring $D^1(k[G])$ contains naturally the group ring $k[G]$ and we obtain a dynamical characterization of its stable finiteness for every field k in terms of the finite $L^1$-surjunctivity of the group G, which holds, for example, when G is residually finite or initially subamenable. Our results extend known results in the case of CA.

Let R be a ring with identity of characteristic two and G a nontrivial torsion group. We show that if the units in the group ring $RG$ are all trivial, then G must be cyclic of order two or three. We also consider the case where R is a commutative ring with identity of odd prime characteristic and G is a nontrivial locally finite group. We show that in this case, if the units in $RG$ are all trivial, then G must be cyclic of order two. These results improve on a result of Herman et al. [‘Trivial units for group rings with G-adapted coefficient rings’, Canad. Math. Bull.48(1) (2005), 80–89].

Let F be a field of characteristic two and G a finite abelian 2-group with an involutory automorphism η. If G = H × D with non-trivial subgroups H and D of G such that η inverts the elements of H (H without a direct factor of order 2) and fixes D element-wise, then the linear extension of η to the group algebra FG is called a nice involution. This determines the groups of unitary and symmetric normalized units of FG. We calculate the orders and the invariants of these subgroups.

Let $\Gamma $ be a group and ${\Gamma }^{\prime } $ be a subgroup of $\Gamma $ of finite index. Let $M$ be a $\Gamma $-module. It is shown that $M$ is (strongly) Gorenstein flat if and only if it is (strongly) Gorenstein flat as a ${\Gamma }^{\prime } $-module. We also provide some criteria in which the classes of Gorenstein projective and strongly Gorenstein flat $\Gamma $-modules are the same.

We show that the groups Kn(RG;ℤ/m) are Bott-periodic for n ≥ 1 whenever G is a finite group, m is prime to |G|, R is a ring of S-integers in a number field and 1/m ∊ R.

Let $R$ be a commutative ring with unity and let $G$ be a group. The group ring $RG$ has a natural involution that maps each element $g\in G$ to its inverse. We denote by $RG^-$ the set of skew symmetric elements under this involution. We study necessary and sufficient conditions for $RG^-$ to be commutative.

An element $a$ in a ring $R$ with identity is called strongly clean if it is the sum of an idempotent and a unit that commute. And $a\in R$ is called strongly $\pi$-regular if both chains $aR\supseteq a^2R\supseteq\cdots$ and $Ra\supseteq Ra^2\supseteq\cdots$ terminate. A ring $R$ is called strongly clean (respectively, strongly $\pi$-regular) if every element of $R$ is strongly clean (respectively, strongly $\pi$-regular). Strongly $\pi$-regular elements of a ring are all strongly clean. Let $\sigma$ be an endomorphism of $R$. It is proved that for $\varSigma r_ix^i\in R[[x,\sigma]]$, if $r_0$ or $1-r_0$ is strongly $\pi$-regular in $R$, then $\varSigma r_ix^i$ is strongly clean in $R[[x,\sigma]]$. In particular, if $R$ is strongly $\pi$-regular, then $R[[x,\sigma]]$ is strongly clean. It is also proved that if $R$ is a strongly $\pi$-regular ring, then $R[x,\sigma]/(x^n)$ is strongly clean for all $n\ge1$ and that the group ring of a locally finite group over a strongly regular or commutative strongly $\pi$-regular ring is strongly clean.

Let $G$ be a finite group. We classify $G$-equivariant flow equivalence of non-trivial irreducible shifts of finite type in terms of

(i) elementary equivalence of matrices over $ZG$ and

(ii) the conjugacy class in $ZG$ of the group of G-weights of cycles based at a fixed vertex.

In the case $G = Z/2$, we have the classification for twistwise flow equivalence. We include some algebraic results and examples related to the determination of $E(ZG)$ equivalence, which involves $K_1(ZG)$.