On Bohr compactifications and profinite completions of group extensions

• Published in: Mathematical proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society Vol. 176; no. 2; pp. 373 - 393
• Main Author: BEKKA, BACHIR
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.03.2024
• Subjects: 22E50; 20G05; 22D10; 22D25
• ISSN: 0305-0041; 1469-8064
• DOI: 10.1017/S0305004123000555

Let $G= N\rtimes H$ be a locally compact group which is a semi-direct product of a closed normal subgroup N and a closed subgroup H. The Bohr compactification ${\rm Bohr}(G)$ and the profinite completion ${\rm Prof}(G)$ of G are, respectively, isomorphic to semi-direct products $Q_1 \rtimes {\rm Bohr}(H)$ and $Q_2 \rtimes {\rm Prof}(H)$ for appropriate quotients $Q_1$ of ${\rm Bohr}(N)$ and $Q_2$ of ${\rm Prof}(N).$ We give a precise description of $Q_1$ and $Q_2$ in terms of the action of H on appropriate subsets of the dual space of N. In the case where N is abelian, we have ${\rm Bohr}(G)\cong A \rtimes {\rm Bohr}(H)$ and ${\rm Prof}(G)\cong B \rtimes {\rm Prof}(H),$ where A (respectively B) is the dual group of the group of unitary characters of N with finite H-orbits (respectively with finite image). Necessary and sufficient conditions are deduced for G to be maximally almost periodic or residually finite. We apply the results to the case where $G= \Lambda\wr H$ is a wreath product of discrete groups; we show in particular that, in case H is infinite, ${\rm Bohr}(\Lambda\wr H)$ is isomorphic to ${\rm Bohr}(\Lambda^{\rm Ab}\wr H)$ and ${\rm Prof}(\Lambda\wr H)$ is isomorphic to ${\rm Prof}(\Lambda^{\rm Ab} \wr H),$ where $\Lambda^{\rm Ab}=\Lambda/ [\Lambda, \Lambda]$ is the abelianisation of $\Lambda.$ As examples, we compute ${\rm Bohr}(G)$ and ${\rm Prof}(G)$ when G is a lamplighter group and when G is the Heisenberg group over a unital commutative ring.