Direct factors of profinite completions and decidability

Abstract

We consider finitely presented,residually finite groups $G$ and finitely generated normal subgroups $A$ such that the inclusion $A\hookrightarrow G$ induces an isomorphism from the profinite completion of $A$ to a direct factor of the profinite completion of $G$. We explain why $A$ need not be a direct factor of a subgroup of finite index in $G$; indeed $G$ need not have a subgroup of finite index that splits as a non-trivial direct product. We prove that there is no algorithm that can determine whether $A$ is a direct factor of a subgroup of finite index in $G$.

To appear in the Journal of Group Theory