Central units of integral group rings

TL;DR

This paper provides explicit descriptions and constructions of central units in integral group rings of certain finite groups, extending known results and introducing generalized Bass units with finite index properties.

Contribution

It introduces a basis for a subgroup of central units in integral group rings of specific finite groups and constructs generalized Bass units for all finite strongly monomial groups.

Findings

Basis elements are products of conjugates of Bass units.

Generalized Bass units generate a subgroup of finite index in the center.

The ranks of the unit group modulo its commutator and the center coincide under certain conditions.

Abstract

We give an explicit description for a basis of a subgroup of finite index in the group of central units of the integral group ring $\Z G$ of a finite abelian-by-supersolvable group such that every cyclic subgroup of order not a divisor of 4 or 6 is subnormal in $G$. The basis elements turn out to be a natural product of conjugates of Bass units. This extends and generalizes a result of Jespers, Parmenter and Sehgal showing that the Bass units generate a subgroup of finite index in the center $\mathcal{Z} (\U (\Z G))$ of the unit group $\U (\Z G)$ in case $G$ is a finite nilpotent group. Next, we give a new construction of units that generate a subgroup of finite index in $\mathcal{Z}(\U(\Z G))$ for all finite strongly monomial groups $G$. We call these units generalized Bass units. Finally, we show that the commutator group $\U(\Z G)/\U(\Z G)'$ and $\mathcal{Z}(\U(\Z G))$ have the same rank if $G$ is a finite group such that $\Q G$ has no epimorphic image which is either a non-commutative division algebra other than a totally definite quaternion algebra, or a two-by-two matrix algebra over a division algebra with center either the rationals or a quadratic imaginary extension of $\Q$. This allows us to prove that in this case the natural images of the Bass units of $\Z G$ generate a subgroup of finite index in $\U(\Z G)/\U(\Z G)'$.