Let r be a positive integer, F a field of odd prime characteristic p, and L the free Lie algebra of rank r over F. Consider L a module for the symmetric group , of all permutations of a free generating set of L. The homogeneous components Ln of L are finite dimensional submodules, and L is their direct sum. For p ≤ r ≤ 2p, the main results of this paper identify the non-porojective indecomposable direct summands of the Ln as Specht modules or dual Specht modules corresponding to certain partitions. For the case r = p, the multiplicities of these indecomposables in the direct decompositions of the Ln are also determined, as are the multiplicities of the projective indecomposables. (Corresponding results for p = 2 have been obtained elsewhere.)

We investigate a class of infinite-dimensional, modular, graded Lie algebra in which the homogeneous components have dimension at most two. A subclass of these algebras can be obtained via a twisted loop algebra construction from certain finite-dimensional, simple Lie algebras of Albert-Frank type.

Another subclass of these algebras is strictly related to certain graded Lie algebras of maximal class, and exhibits a wide range of behaviours.

An example is given of a finitely generated group G for which G ≅ G*cG, where C is infinite cyclic.

We present a new algorithm which uses a cohomological approach to determine the groups of order pn, where p is a prime. We develop two methods to enumerate p-groups using the Cauchy-Frobenius Lemma. As an application we show that there are 10 494213 groups of order 29.

1991 Mathematics subject classification (Amer. Math. Soc.): primary 20D15.

We study some challenging presentations which arise as groups of deficiency zero. In four cases we settle finiteness: we show that two presentations are for finite groups while two are for infinite groups. Thus we answer three explicit questions in the literature and we provide the first published deficiency zero presentation for a group with derived length seven. The tools we use are coset enumeration and Knuth-Bebdix rewriting, which are well-established as methods for proving finiteness or otherwise of a finitely presented group. We briefly comment on their capabilities and compare their performance.

This paper reports on a facility of the ANU NQ program for computation of nilpotent groups that satisfy an Engel-n identity. The relevant details of the algorithm are presented together with results on Engel-n groups for moderate values of n.

In a previous paper the authors described an algorithm to determine whether a group of matrices over a finite field, generated by a given set of matrices, contains one of the classical groups or the special linear group. The algorithm was designed to work for all sufficiently large field sizes and dimensions of the matrix group. However, it did not apply to certain small cases. Here we present an algorithm to handle the remaining cases. The theoretical background of the algorithm presented in this paper is a substantial extension of that needed for the original algorithm.

Nonsingular derivations of modular Lie algebras which have finite multiplicative order play a role in the coclass theory for pro-p groups and Lie algebras. We study the orders of nonsingular derivations of finite-dimensional non-nilpotent Lie algebras of characteristic p > 0. The methods are essentially number-theoretic.

1991 Mathematics subject classification (Amer. Math. Soc): primary 17B50; secondary 12E20.

We survey the current state of knowledge of bounds in the restricted Burnside problem. We make two conjectures which are related to the theory of PI-algebras.

In previous work [2] calculations of subquadratic second order Dehn functions for various groups were carried out. In this paper we obtain estimates for upper and lower bounds of second order Dehn functions of HNN-extensions, and use these to exhibit an infinite number of different superquadratic second order Dehn functions. At the end of the paper several open questions concerning second order Dehn functions of groups are discussed.