This first volume of a two-volume book contains selected papers from the international conference Groups St Andrews 2009. Leading researchers in their respective areas, including Gerhard Hiss and Volodymyr Nekrashevych, survey the latest developments in algebra.

Leading researchers survey the latest developments in group theory and many related areas.

Surveys areas of current research activity in a wide range of group theory and related areas.

Linear Groups: The Accent on Infinite Dimensionality explores some of the main results and ideas in the study of infinite-dimensional linear groups. The theory of finite dimensional linear groups is one of the best developed algebraic theories. The array of articles devoted to this topic is enormous, and there are many monographs concerned with matrix groups, ranging from old, classical texts to ones published more recently. However, in the case when the dimension is infinite (and such cases arise quite often), the reality is quite different. The situation with the study of infinite dimensional linear groups is like the situation that has developed in the theory of groups, in the transition from the study of finite groups to the study of infinite groups which appeared about one hundred years ago. It is well known that this transition was extremely efficient and led to the development of a rich and central branch of algebra: Infinite group theory. The hope is that this book can be part of a similar transition in the field of linear groups. Features This is the first book dedicated to infinite-dimensional linear groups This is written for experts and graduate students specializing in algebra and parallel disciplines This book discusses a very new theory and accumulates many important and useful results

This book is devoted to group-theoretic aspects of topological dynamics such as studying groups using their actions on topological spaces, using group theory to study symbolic dynamics, and other connections between group theory and dynamical systems. One of the main applications of this approach to group theory is the study of asymptotic properties of groups such as growth and amenability. The book presents recently developed techniques of studying groups of dynamical origin using the structure of their orbits and associated groupoids of germs, applications of the iterated monodromy groups to hyperbolic dynamical systems, topological full groups and their properties, amenable groups, groups of intermediate growth, and other topics. The book is suitable for graduate students and researchers interested in group theory, transformations defined by automata, topological and holomorphic dynamics, and theory of topological groupoids. Each chapter is supplemented by exercises of various levels of complexity.

The development of algebraic geometry over groups, geometric group theory and group-based cryptography, has led to there being a tremendous recent interest in infinite group theory. This volume presents a good collection of papers detailing areas of current interest. Contents: Groups with the Weak Minimal Condition on Non-Permutable Subgroups (Laxmi K Chatuat and Martyn R Dixon)A Survey: Shamir Threshold Scheme and Its Enhancements (Chi Sing Chum, Benjamin Fine, and Xiaowen Zhang)The Zappa-Szep Product of Left-Orderable Groups (Fabienne Chouraqui)Totally Disconnected Groups From Baumslag-Solitar Groups (Murray Elder and George Willis)Elementary and Universal Theories of Nonabelian Commutative Transitive and CSA Groups (B Fine, A M Gaglione, and D Spellman)Commutative Transitivity and the CSA Property (Benjamin Fine, Anthony Gaglione, Gerhard Rosenberger, and Dennis Spellman)The Universal Theory of Free Burnside Groups of Large Prime Exponent (Anthony M Gaglione, Seymour Lipschutz, and Dennis Spellman)Primitive Curve Lengths on Pairs of Pants (Jane Gilman)Drawing Inferences Under Maximum Entropy From Relational Probabilistic Knowledge Using Group Theory (Gabriele Kern-Isberner, Marco Wilhelm, and Christoph Beierle)On Some Infinite-Dimensional Linear Groups and the Structure of Related Modules (L A Kurdachenko and I Ya Subbotin)On New Analogs of Some Classical Group Theoretical Results in Lie Rings (L A Kurdachenko, A A Pypka and I Ya Subbotin)Log-Space Complexity of the Conjugacy Problem in Wreath Products (Alexei Myasnikov, Svetla Vassileva, and Armin Weiss)Group Presentations, Cayley Graphs and Markov Processes (Peter Olszewski) Readership: Graduate students and researchers in group theory. Keywords: Infinite Group Theory;Combinatorial Group Theory;Geometric Group TheoryReview: Key Features: This book is centered on infinite group theory from a combinatorial and geometric point of view. It also contains material on non-commutative algebraic group-based cryptography