A finitely presented nonindicable subgroup of a free profinite group
We construct an infinite, two-generated, finitely presented subgroup H of the free profinite group of rank two whose abelianization is (ℤ/60ℤ)^2. Thus free profinite groups of rank at least two fail to be locally indicable, disproving a conjecture of Jaikin-Zapirain. The group H has a normal subgroup of index 60 isomorphic to F_29 × F_19 × F_11, where F_r denotes the abstract free group of rank r. More generally, every nontrivial finite perfect group is a quotient of a finitely presented torsion-free group with finite abelianization that embeds in the free profinite group of rank two. The construction combines free products of finite cyclic groups over a common finite quotient, completing a different free kernel at each prime. GitHub repository: https://github.com/eulogica/free-profinite-local-indicability
Authors
- Martino Lupini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1588-7057)
Institutions
- University of Bologna (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Published
- 2026-10-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23731786
- Primary Topic
- Finite Group Theory Research
- Type
- preprint
Funders
- Istituto Nazionale di Alta Matematica "Francesco Severi"
- European Commission
- Università di Bologna