For a group G, a weak Cayley table isomorphism is a bijection f : G → G such that f(g1g2) is conjugate to f(g1)f(g2) for all g1, g2 ∈ G. The set of all weak Cayley table isomorphisms forms a group (G) that is the group of symmetries of the weak Cayley table of G. We determine (G) for each of the 17 wallpaper groups G, and for some other crystallographic groups.

We associate to a group G a series that generalises the cogrowth series of G and is related to a random walk on G. We show that the series is rational if and only if G is finite, generalizing a result of Kouksov [Kou]. We show that when G is finite, the series determines G. There are naturally occurring ideals and varieties that are acted on by Aut(G). We study these and generalize this to the context of S-rings over finite groups. There is an associated representation of Aut(G) and we characterize when this is irreducible.

We show that two metacyclic groups of the following types are isomorphic if they have the same character tables: (i) split metacyclic groups, (ii) the metacyclic p-groups and (iii) the metacyclic {p, q}-groups, where p, q are odd primes.

For a finite group G we study certain rings (k)G called k-S-rings, one for each k ≥ 1, where (1)G is the centraliser ring Z(ℂG) of G. These rings have the property that (k+1)G determines (k)G for all k ≥ 1. We study the relationship of (2)G with the weak Cayley table of G. We show that (2)G and the weak Cayley table together determine the sizes of the derived factors of G (noting that a result of Mattarei shows that (1)G = Z(ℂG) does not). We also show that (4)G determines G for any group G with finite conjugacy classes, thus giving an answer to a question of Brauer. We give a criteria for two groups to have the same 2-S-ring and a result guaranteeing that two groups have the same weak Cayley table. Using these results we find a pair of groups of order 512 that have the same weak Cayley table, are a Brauer pair, and have the same 2-S-ring.

Let

formula here

be a presentation for the group G where F = 〈a1, …, an〉 is a free group. Put A = {a1, …, an a−11, …, a−1n} and call n the degree of the presentation. For g ∈ G, c ∈ A we let W(k, g, c) be the set of freely reduced words w ∈ F having length k, which end (on the right) in c and which represent the element g ∈ G. Let w(k, g, c) = |W(k, g, c)|. The function

formula here

will be called the cogrowth function for this presentation. Let

formula here.

The braid group on n strings Bn has a presentation as a group with generators σ1, …, σn−1 and relations

Let F = F(g, n) be an oriented surface of genus g≥1 with n<2 boundary components and let M(F) be its mapping class group. Then M(F) is generated by Dehn twists about a finite number of non-bounding simple closed curves in F([6, 5]). See [1] for the definition of a Dehn twist. Let e be a non-bounding simple closed curve in F and let E denote the isotopy class of the Dehn twist about e. Let Nbe the normal closure of E2in M(F). In this paper we answer a question of Birman [1, Qu 28 page 219]:

Theorem 1. The subgroup N is of finite index in M(F).

For R a commutative ring with identity 1 we let SL(n, R) denote the group of n × n integral matrices with determinant 1. A transvection T is an element of SL(n, R) which we represent (see [1]) as a pair (φ d) where φ ∈ (Rn)*, the dual space of Rn, d ∈ Rn, φ(d) = 0, and for all x ∈ Rn we have

T(x) = + φ(x) d.

Throughout this paper an involution is an element Y of SL(n, R) which has order two. Let n = 3 and R = Z and let C = diag(–1, –1, –1) be the central element of GL(3, Z).

Let F be an orientable surface with or without boundary and let M(F) be the mapping class group of F, i.e. the group of isotopy classes of orientation preserving diffeomorphisms of F. To each essential simple closed curve c on F we can associate an element C of M(F) called the Dehn twist about c. We refer the reader to [1] for definitions. It is well known (see [1]) that, at least in the case where F has no more than one boundary component, M(F) is generated by Dehn twists. Further, there are important subgroups of M(F) which are also generated by Dehn twists or simple products of Dehn twists; for example the Torelli group, the kernel of the homology action map M(F)→ Aut(H1(F;Z)) = Sp(H1(F;Z)), where Sp(H1(F;Z)) denotes the symplectic group, is known to be generated by Dehn twists about bounding curves and by “bounding pairs”. See [8] for proofs and definitions. Also Dehn twists crop up as geometric monodromy maps associated to Picard–Lefschetz vanishing cycles for plane curve singularities (see [5]).