Commutator Theory for Congruence Modular Varieties

Introduction In the theory of groups, the important concepts of Abelian group, solvable group, nilpotent group, the center of a group and centraliz-ers, are all defined from the binary operation [x, y] = x −1 y −1 xy. Each of these notions, except centralizers of elements, may also be defined in terms of the commutator of normal subgroups. The commutator [M, N] (where M and N are normal subgroups of a group) is the (normal) subgroup generated by all the commutators [x, y] with x ∈ M, y ∈ N. Thus we have a binary operation in the lattice of normal subgroups. This binary operation, in combination with the lattice operations , carries much of the information about how a group is put together. The operation is also interesting in its own right. It is a com-mutative, monotone operation, completely distributive with respect to joins in the lattice. There is an operation naturally defined on the lattice of ideals of a ring, which has these properties. Namely, let [J, K] be the ideal generated by all the products jk and kj, with j ∈ J and k ∈ K. The congruity between these two contexts extends to the following facts: [M, M] is the smallest normal subgroup U of M for which M/U is a commutative group; [J, J] is the smallest ideal K of J for which the ring J/K is a commutative group; that is, a ring with trivial multiplication. Now it develops, amazingly, that a commutator can be defined rather naturally in the congruence lattices of every congruence modular variety. This operation has the same useful properties that the commutator for groups (which is a special case of it) possesses. The resulting theory has many general applications and, we feel, it is quite beautiful. In this book we present the basic theory of commutators in congruence modular varieties and some of its strongest applications. The book by H. P. Gumm [41] offers a quite different approach to the subject. Gumm developed a sustained analogy between commutator theory and affine geometry which allowed him to discover many of the basic facts about the commutator. We take a more algebraic approach, using some of the shortcuts that Taylor and others have discovered. 1 2 INTRODUCTION Historical remarks. The lattice of normal subgroups of a group, with the commutator operation, is a lattice ordered monoid. It is a residuated lattice …