In this paper we consider group actions on generalized treelike structures (termed ‘pretrees’) defined simply in terms of betweenness relations. Using a result of Levitt, we show that if a countable group admits an archimedean action on a median pretree, then it admits an action by isometries on an ℝ-tree. Thus the theory of isometric actions on ℝ-trees may be extended to a more general setting where it merges naturally with the theory of right-orderable groups. This approach has application also to the study of convergence group actions on continua.

Nash–Williams proved that the infinite trees are well-quasi-ordered (indeed, better-quasi-ordered) under the topological minor relation. We combine ideas of several authors into a more accessible and essentially self-contained short proof.

We prove a new structure theorem which we call the Countable Layer Theorem. It says that for any compact group G we can construct a countable descending sequence G = Ω0(G) ⊇ … ⊇ Ωn(G) … of closed characteristic subgroups of G with two important properties, namely, that their intersection ∩∞n=1 Ωn(G) is Z0(G0), the identity component of the center of the identity component G0 of G, and that each quotient group Ωn−1(G)/Ωn(G), is a cartesian product of compact simple groups (that is, compact groups having no normal subgroups other than the singleton and the whole group).

In the special case that G is totally disconnected (that is, profinite) the intersection of the sequence is trivial. Thus, even in the case that G is profinite, our theorem sharpens a theorem of Varopoulos [8], who showed in 1964 that each profinite group contains a descending sequence of closed subgroups, each normal in the preceding one, such that each quotient group is a product of finite simple groups. Our construction is functorial in a sense we will make clear in Section 1.

Let [Fscr ] be the category of functors from the category of finite-dimensional [ ]2-vector spaces to [ ]2-vector spaces. The concept of &∇tilde;-nilpotence in the category [Fscr ] is used to define a ‘dimension’ for the category of analytic functors which has good properties. In particular, the paper shows that the tensor product F [otimes ] G of analytic functors which are respectively &∇tilde;s and &∇tilde;t nilpotent is &∇tilde;s+t − 1-nilpotent.

The notion of &∇tilde;-nilpotence is extended to define a dimension in the category of unstable modules over the mod 2 Steenrod algebra, which is shown to coincide with the transcendence degree of an unstable Noetherian algebra over the Steenrod algebra.

We discuss a general method for classifying certain subcategories of the category of finite-dimensional modules over a finite-dimensional co-commutative Hopf algebra B. Our method is based on that of Benson–Carlson–Rickard [BCR1], who classify such subcategories when B = kG, the group ring of a finite group G over an algebraically closed field k. We get a similar classification when B is a finite sub-Hopf algebra of the mod 2 Steenrod algebra, with scalars extended to the algebraic closure of F2. Along the way, we prove a Quillen stratification theorem for cohomological varieties of modules over any B, in terms of quasi-elementary sub-Hopf algebras of B.

This article is concerned with homotopy properties of H-spaces X that are reflected in the module of indecomposables QH*(X; [ ]p). It is shown that mod p H-spaces X of finite type with finite transcendence degree mod p cohomology and locally finite QH*(X; [ ]p) are Bℤ/p-null spaces, Eilenberg–MacLane spaces K(ℤˆp, 2), K(ℤ/pr, 1), and extensions of those. If we restrict attention to H-spaces with noetherian mod p cohomology algebra, then we are left with finite mod p H-spaces and Eilenberg–MacLane spaces.

We give a combinatorial description of the homotopy groups of the suspension of a K(π, 1) and of wedges of 2-spheres. In particular, all of the homotopy groups of the 2-sphere are given as the centres of certain combinatorially described groups.

The functional relations between the coordinates of points on a manifold make the study of Diophantine approximation on manifolds much harder than the classical theory in which the variables are independent. Nevertheless there has been considerable progress in the metric theory of Diophantine approximation on smooth manifolds. To describe this, some notation and terminology are needed.

We prove that for an arbitrary Borel measurable function f on the space of all planar lines there exists a set which intersects almost every line [lscr ] in a set of packing dimension f([lscr ]).

An algebra of Colombeau generalized ultradistributions in which the corresponding space of ultradistributions is embedded via regularizations and in which the multiplication of ultradifferentiable functions of an appropriate class is the ordinary multiplication is constructed. This enables the development of the local and micro-local analysis in the framework of a new scale of Colombeau algebras. Sufficient conditions for a generalized ultradistribution being an ultradifferentiable function are given.

In the classical Lagrangian approach to conservation laws of gauge-natural field theories a suitable vector density is known to generate the so-called conserved Noether currents. It turns out that along any section of the relevant gauge-natural bundle this density is the divergence of a skew-symmetric tensor density, which is called a superpotential for the conserved currents.

We describe gauge-natural superpotentials in the framework of finite order variational sequences according to Krupka. We refer to previous results of ours on variational Lie derivatives concerning abstract versions of Noether's theorems, which are here interpreted in terms of ‘horizontal’ and ‘vertical’ conserved currents. The gauge-natural lift of principal automorphisms implies suitable linearity properties of the Lie derivative operator. Thus abstract results due to Kolář, concerning the integration by parts procedure, can be applied to prove the existence and globality of superpotentials in a very general setting.