10
$\begingroup$

A group is called acyclic if its classifying space has the same homology of a point. Examples of acyclic groups include Higman's group with four generators and relations, also known for being an example of an infinite, finitely generated group with no finite quotients, and "SQ-Universal": $$\langle x_0, x_1,x_2,x_3\mid x_{i+1}x_i x_{i+1}= x_i^2 \hskip .1 in \mathrm{for}\hskip .1 in i=0,\ldots, 3\rangle$$ and the group of bijections of an infinite countable set.

Is there an example of a finite acyiclic group? Or a reason why such a group must be infinite?

$\endgroup$
3
  • 6
    $\begingroup$ There are no nontrivial finite acyclic groups. A result of Richard Swan says that a group with $p$-torsion has nontrivial mod-$p$ cohomology in infinitely many dimensions, hence nontrivial integral homology. But there is a related question that may be relevant to your interests: Is there a finite group with many trivial homologies? mathoverflow.net/questions/52552/… $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 30, 2018 at 22:39
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Higman's group is not simple. It is SQ-universal: mathoverflow.net/questions/221091/properties-of-higmans-group $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 31, 2018 at 0:08
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ See Johannes Ebert answer to mathoverflow.net/questions/64688 for a reason why these cannot exist. $\endgroup$ Commented Jan 31, 2018 at 7:56

1 Answer 1

21
$\begingroup$

An acyclic finite group is trivial. In fact something even stronger is true. See Culler, Marc Homology equivalent finite groups are isomorphic. Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. 72 (1978), no. 1, 218–220.

$\endgroup$

You must log in to answer this question.

Start asking to get answers

Find the answer to your question by asking.

Ask question

Explore related questions

See similar questions with these tags.