We show that the proportion of permutations $g$ in $S_{\!n}$ or $A_{n}$ such that $g$ has even order and $g^{|g|/2}$ is an involution with support of cardinality at most $\lceil n^{{\it\varepsilon}}\rceil$ is at least a constant multiple of ${\it\varepsilon}$. Using this result, we obtain the same conclusion for elements in a classical group of natural dimension $n$ in odd characteristic that have even order and power up to an involution with $(-1)$-eigenspace of dimension at most $\lceil n^{{\it\varepsilon}}\rceil$ for a linear or unitary group, or $2\lceil \lfloor n/2\rfloor ^{{\it\varepsilon}}\rceil$ for a symplectic or orthogonal group.

We revisit Berkovich and Garvan’s two bijections: the first gives symmetry of cranks and the second relates partitions with crank $\leq k$ to those with $k$ in the rank-set of partitions. Using these, we give a combinatorial proof for the relationship between the first positive crank moment and the sum of sizes of Durfee squares. We also study refinements of the first and second positive crank moments.

Let ${\mathcal{A}}$ be a locally noetherian Grothendieck category. We construct closure operators on the lattice of subcategories of ${\mathcal{A}}$ and the lattice of subsets of $\text{ASpec}\,{\mathcal{A}}$ in terms of associated atoms. This establishes a one-to-one correspondence between hereditary torsion theories of ${\mathcal{A}}$ and closed subsets of $\text{ASpec}\,{\mathcal{A}}$ . If ${\mathcal{A}}$ is locally stable, then the hereditary torsion theories can be studied locally. In this case, we show that the topological space $\text{ASpec}\,{\mathcal{A}}$ is Alexandroff.

Groups of infinite rank in which every subgroup is either normal or contranormal are characterised in terms of their subgroups of infinite rank.

For each positive $n$, let $\mathbf{u}_{n}\approx \boldsymbol{v}_{n}$ denote the identity obtained from the Adjan identity $(xy)(yx)(xy)(xy)(yx)\approx (xy)(yx)(yx)(xy)(yx)$ by substituting $(xy)\rightarrow (x_{1}x_{2}\ldots x_{n})$ and $(yx)\rightarrow (x_{n}\ldots x_{2}x_{1})$. We show that every monoid which satisfies $\mathbf{u}_{n}\approx \boldsymbol{v}_{n}$ for each positive $n$ and generates a variety containing the bicyclic monoid is nonfinitely based. This implies that the monoid $U_{2}(\mathbb{T})$ (respectively, $U_{2}(\overline{\mathbb{Z}})$) of two-by-two upper triangular tropical matrices over the tropical semiring $\mathbb{T}=\mathbb{R}\cup \{-\infty \}$ (respectively, $\overline{\mathbb{Z}}=\mathbb{Z}\cup \{-\infty \}$) is nonfinitely based.

We prove that a nonreal algebraic number $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ with modulus greater than $1$ is a complex Pisot number if and only if there is a nonzero complex number $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}$ such that the sequence of fractional parts $(\{\Re (\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{n})\})_{n\in \mathbb{N}}$ has a finite number of limit points. Also, we characterise those complex Pisot numbers $\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}$ for which there is a convergent sequence of the form $(\{\Re (\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}\unicode[STIX]{x1D703}^{n})\})_{n\in \mathbb{N}}$ for some $\unicode[STIX]{x1D706}\in \mathbb{C}^{\ast }$. These results are generalisations of the corresponding real ones, due to Pisot, Vijayaraghavan and Dubickas.

In this paper, we investigate the influence of certain subgroups of fixed prime power order on the $p$-supersolubility of finite groups.

It is proved that any surjective morphism $f:\mathbb{Z}^{{\it\kappa}}\rightarrow K$ onto a locally compact group $K$ is open for every cardinal ${\it\kappa}$. This answers a question posed by Hofmann and the second author.

In this paper, we obtain some criteria for $p$-nilpotency and $p$-supersolvability of a finite group and extend some known results concerning weakly $S$-permutably embedded subgroups. In particular, we generalise the main results of Zhang et al. [‘Sylow normalizers and $p$-nilpotence of finite groups’, Comm. Algebra43(3) (2015), 1354–1363].

Let $G$ be a finite group and $\mathsf{cd}(G)$ denote the set of complex irreducible character degrees of $G$. We prove that if $G$ is a finite group and $H$ is an almost simple group whose socle is a sporadic simple group $H_{0}$ and such that $\mathsf{cd}(G)=\mathsf{cd}(H)$, then $G^{\prime }\cong H_{0}$ and there exists an abelian subgroup $A$ of $G$ such that $G/A$ is isomorphic to $H$. In view of Huppert’s conjecture, we also provide some examples to show that $G$ is not necessarily a direct product of $A$ and $H$, so that we cannot extend the conjecture to almost simple groups.

Let $G$ be a finite group and let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$. We determine the structure of $N$ when the diameter of the graph associated to the $G$-conjugacy classes contained in $N$ is as large as possible, that is, equal to three.

We consider a special kind of structure resolvability and irresolvability for measurable spaces and discuss analogues of the criteria for topological resolvability and irresolvability.

The first example of a torsion-free abelian group $(A,+,0)$ such that the quotient group of $A$ modulo the square subgroup is not a nil-group is indicated (for both associative and general rings). In particular, the answer to the question posed by Stratton and Webb [‘Abelian groups, nil modulo a subgroup, need not have nil quotient group’, Publ. Math. Debrecen27 (1980), 127–130] is given for torsion-free groups. A new method of constructing indecomposable nil-groups of any rank from $2$ to $2^{\aleph _{0}}$ is presented. Ring multiplications on $p$-pure subgroups of the additive group of the ring of $p$-adic integers are investigated using only elementary methods.

The last term of the lower central series of a finite group $G$ is called the nilpotent residual. It is usually denoted by $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{\infty }(G)$. The lower Fitting series of $G$ is defined by $D_{0}(G)=G$ and $D_{i+1}(G)=\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{\infty }(D_{i}(G))$ for $i=0,1,2,\ldots \,$. These subgroups are generated by so-called coprime commutators $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{k}^{\ast }$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{k}^{\ast }$ in elements of $G$. More precisely, the set of coprime commutators $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{k}^{\ast }$ generates $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{\infty }(G)$ whenever $k\geq 2$ while the set $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{k}^{\ast }$ generates $D_{k}(G)$ for $k\geq 0$. The main result of this article is the following theorem: let $m$ be a positive integer and $G$ a finite group. Let $X\subset G$ be either the set of all $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FE}_{k}^{\ast }$-commutators for some fixed $k\geq 2$ or the set of all $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}_{k}^{\ast }$-commutators for some fixed $k\geq 1$. Suppose that the size of $a^{X}$ is at most $m$ for any $a\in G$. Then the order of $\langle X\rangle$ is $(k,m)$-bounded.

We discuss the existence of finite critical trajectories connecting two zeros in certain families of quadratic differentials. In addition, we reprove some results about the support of the limiting root-counting measures of the generalised Laguerre and Jacobi polynomials with varying parameters.

An algebra has the Howson property if the intersection of any two finitely generated subalgebras is again finitely generated. A simple necessary and sufficient condition is given for the Howson property to hold on an inverse semigroup with finitely many idempotents. In addition, it is shown that any monogenic inverse semigroup has the Howson property.

Clunie and Sheil-Small [‘Harmonic univalent functions’, Ann. Acad. Sci. Fenn. Ser. A. I. Math.9 (1984), 3–25] gave a simple and useful univalence criterion for harmonic functions, usually called the shear construction. However, the application of this theorem is limited to planar harmonic mappings that are convex in the horizontal direction. In this paper, a natural generalisation of the shear construction is given. More precisely, our results are obtained under the hypothesis that the image of a harmonic function is a union of two sets that are convex in the horizontal direction.

We give a new necessary and sufficient condition for an iterated function system to satisfy the deterministic chaos game. As a consequence, we give a new example of an iterated function system which satisfies the deterministic chaos game.

Let $S$ be a semigroup possibly with no identity and $f:S\rightarrow \mathbb{C}$. We consider the general superstability of the exponential functional equation with a perturbation $\unicode[STIX]{x1D713}$ of mixed variables

$$\begin{eqnarray}\displaystyle |f(x+y)-f(x)f(y)|\leq \unicode[STIX]{x1D713}(x,y)\quad \text{for all }x,y\in S. & & \displaystyle \nonumber\end{eqnarray}$$

$S$

$2$

$\unicode[STIX]{x1D713}$

$$\begin{eqnarray}\displaystyle \biggl|f\biggl(\frac{x+y}{2}\biggr)^{2}-f(x)f(y)\biggr|\leq \unicode[STIX]{x1D713}(x,y)\quad \text{for all }x,y\in S. & & \displaystyle \nonumber\end{eqnarray}$$

We show that the solution of the dynamic boundary value problem $y^{{\rm\Delta}{\rm\Delta}}=f(t,y,y^{{\rm\Delta}})$, $y(t_{1})=y_{1}$, $y(t_{2})=y_{2}$, on a general time scale, may be delta-differentiated with respect to $y_{1},~y_{2},~t_{1}$ and $t_{2}$. By utilising an analogue of a theorem of Peano, we show that the delta derivative of the solution solves the boundary value problem consisting of either the variational equation or its dynamic analogue along with interesting boundary conditions.