This thesis records an attempt to prove the two conjecture: Conjecture A: Every finite non-regular primitive permutation group of degree n contains permutations fixing one point but fixing at most $n^{1/2}$ points. Conjecture C: Every finite irreducible linear group of degree m > 1 contains an element whose fixed-point space has dimension at most m/2. Variants of these conjectures are formulated, and C is reduced to a special case of A. The main results of the investigation are: Theorem 2: Every finite non-regular primitive permutation group of degree n contains permutations which fix one point but fix fewer than (n+3)/4 points. Theorem 3: Every finite non-regular primitive soluble permutation group of degree n contains permutations which fix one point but fix fewer than $n^{7/18}$ points. Theorem 4: If H is a finite group, F is a field whose characteristic is 0 or does not divide the order of H, and M is a non-trivial irreducible H-module of dimension m over F, then there is an element h in H whose fixed-point space in M has dimension less than m/2. Theorem 5: If H is a finite soluble group, F is any field, and M is a non-trivial irreducible H-module of dimension m over F, then there is an element h in H whose fixed-point space in M has dimension less than 7m/18. Proofs of these assertions are to be found in Chapter II; examples which show the limitations on possible strenghtenings of the conjectures and results are marshalled in Chapter III. A detailed formulation of the problems and results is contained in section 1.

The focus of this thesis is finitely generated subgroups of the automorphism group of an infinite spherically homogeneous rooted tree (regular or irregular). The first chapter introduces the topic and outlines the main results. The second chapter provides definitions of the terminology used, and also some preliminary results. The third chapter introduces a group that appears to be a promising candidate for a finitely generated group of infinite upper rank with finite upper $p$-rank for all primes $p$. It goes on to demonstrate that in fact this group has infinite upper $p$-rank for all primes $p$. As a by-product of this construction, we obtain a finitely generated branch group with quotients that are virtually-(free abelian of rank $n$) for arbitrarily large $n$. The fourth chapter gives a complete classification of ternary automata with $C_2$-action at the root, and a partial classification of ternary automata with $C_3$-action at the root. The concept of a `windmill automaton' is introduced in this chapter, and a complete classification of binary windmill automata is given. The fifth chapter contains a detailed study of the non-abelian ternary automata with $C_3$-action at the root. It also contains some conjectures about possible isomorphisms between these groups.

For various values of n and m we investigate homomorphisms from Out(F_n) to Out(F_m) and from Out(F_n) to GL_m(K), i.e. the free and linear representations of Out(F_n) respectively. By means of a series of arguments revolving around the representation theory of finite symmetric subgroups of Out(F_n) we prove that each homomorphism from Out(F_n) to GL_m(K) factors through the natural map p_n from Out(F_n) to GL(H_1(F_n,Z)) = GL_n(Z) whenever n=3, m < 7 and char(K) is not an element of {2,3}, and whenever n>5, m< n(n+1)/2 and char(K) is not an element of {2,3,...,n+1}. We also construct a new infinite family of linear representations of Out(F_n) (where n > 2), which do not factor through p_n. When n is odd these have the smallest dimension among all known representations of Out(F_n) with this property. Using the above results we establish that the image of every homomorphism from Out(F_n) to Out(F_m) is finite whenever n=3 and n < m < 6, and of cardinality at most 2 whenever n > 5 and n < m < n(n-1)/2. We further show that the image is finite when n(n-1)/2 -1 < m < n(n+1)/2. We also consider the structure of normal finite index subgroups of Out(F_n). If N is such then we prove that if the derived subgroup of the intersection of N with the Torelli subgroup T_n < Out(F_n) contains some term of the lower central series of T_n then the abelianisation of N is finite.

This thesis studies some classes of non-periodic branch groups. In particular their growth, relations between elements and their Hausdorff dimensions.

In this thesis, we mainly address two contrasting topics in the area of saturated fusion systems. The first concerns the notion of a centraliser of a subsystem E of a fusion system F, and we give new proofs of the existence of such an object in the case where E is normal in F. The second concerns the development of the theory of `trees of fusion systems', an analogue for fusion systems of Bass-Serre theory for finite groups. A major theorem finds conditions on a tree of fusion systems for there to exist a saturated completion, and this is applied to construct and classify certain fusion systems over p-groups with an abelian subgroup of index p. Results which do not fall into either of the above categories include a new proof of Thompson's normal p-complement Theorem for saturated fusion systems and characterisations of certain quotients of fusion systems which possess a normal subgroup.

The main result of this thesis is an original proof that every word has finite width in a compact $p$-adic analytic group. The proof we give here is an alternative to Andrei Jaikin-Zapirain's recent proof of the same result, and utilises entirely group-theoretical ideas. We accomplish this by reducing the problem to a proof that every word has finite width in a profinite group which is virtually a polycyclic pro-$p$ group. To obtain this latter result we first establish that such a group can be embedded as an open subgroup of a group of the form $N_1M_1$, where $N_1$ is a finitely generated closed normal nilpotent subgroup, and $M_1$ is a finitely generated closed nilpotent-by-finite subgroup; we then adapt a method of V. A. Romankov. As a corollary we note that our approach also proves that every word has finite width in a polycyclic-by-finite group (which is not profinite). As a supplementary result we show that for finitely generated closed subgroups $H$ and $K$ of a profinite group the commutator subgroup $[H,K]$ is closed, and give examples to show that various hypotheses are necessary. This implies that the outer-commutator words have finite width in profinite groups of finite rank. We go on to establish some bounds for this width. In addition, we show that every word has finite width in a product of a nilpotent group of finite rank and a virtually nilpotent group of finite rank. We consider the possible application of this to soluble minimax groups.

This thesis is a study of the subgroup structure of some remarkable groups of automorphisms of rooted trees. It is divided into two parts. The main result of the first part is seemingly of an algorithmic nature, establishing that the Gupta--Sidki 3-group G has solvable membership problem. This follows the approach of Grigorchuk and Wilson who showed the same result for the Grigorchuk group. The proof, however, is not algorithmic, and it moreover shows a striking subgroup property of G: that all its infinite finitely generated subgroups are abstractly commensurable with either G or G &times; G. This is then used to show that G is subgroup separable which, together with some nice presentability properties of G, implies that the membership problem is solvable. The proof of the main theorem is also used to show that G satisfies a "strong fractal" property, in that every infinite finitely generated subgroup acts like G on some rooted subtree. The second part concerns the subgroup structure of branch and weakly branch groups in general. Motivated by a natural question raised in the first part, a necessary condition for direct products of branch groups to be abstractly commensurable is obtained. From this condition it follows that the Gupta--Sidki 3-group is not abstractly commensurable with its direct square. The first main result in the second part states that any (weakly) branch action of a group on a rooted tree is determined by the subgroup structure of the group. This is then applied to answer a question of Bartholdi, Siegenthaler and Zalesskii, showing that the congruence subgroup property for branch and weakly branch groups is independent of the actions on a tree. Finally, the information obtained on subgroups of branch groups is used to examine which groups have an essentially unique branch action and why this holds.

<b>Asymptotic cones.</b> A finitely generated group has a word metric, which one can scale and thereby view the group from increasingly distant vantage points. The group coalesces to an "asymptotic cone" in the limit (this is made precise using techniques of non-standard analysis). The reward is that in place of the discrete group one has a continuous object "that is amenable to attack by geometric (e.g. topological, infinitesimal) machinery" (to quote Gromov). We give coarse geometric conditions for a metric space X to have N-connected asymptotic cones. These conditions are expressed in terms of certain filling functions concerning filling N-spheres in an appropriately coarse sense. We interpret the criteria in the case where X is a finitely generated group &Gamma; with a word metric. This leads to upper bounds on filling functions for groups with simply connected cones -- in particular they have linearly bounded filling length functions. We prove that if all the asymptotic cones of &Gamma; are N-connected then &Gamma; is of type F_N+1 and we provide N-th order isoperimetric and isodiametric functions. Also we show that the asymptotic cones of a virtually polycyclic group &Gamma; are all contractible if and only if &Gamma; is virtually nilpotent. <b>Combable groups and almost-convex groups.</b> A combing of a finitely generated group &Gamma; is a normal form; that is a choice of word (a combing line) for each group element that satisfies a geometric constraint: nearby group elements have combing lines that fellow travel. An almost-convexity condition concerns the geometry of closed balls in the Cayley graph for &Gamma;. We show that even the most mild combability or almost-convexity restrictions on a finitely presented group already force surprisingly strong constraints on the geometry of its word problem. In both cases we obtain an n! isoperimetric function, and upper bounds of ~ n² on both the minimal isodiametric function and the filling length function.

A group Γ is of type F_n for some n ≥ 1 if it has a classifying complex with finite n-skeleton. These properties generalise the classical notions of finite generation and finite presentability. We investigate the higher finiteness properties for fibre products of groups.

The main focus of this thesis is algebraic modules---modules that satisfy a polynomial equation with integer co-efficients in the Green ring---in various finite groups, as well as their general theory. In particular, we ask the question `when are all the simple modules for a finite group G algebraic?' We call this the (p-)SMA property. The first chapter introduces the topic and deals with preliminary results, together with the trivial first results. The second chapter provides the general theory of algebraic modules, with particular attention to the relationship between algebraic modules and the composition factors of a group, and between algebraic modules and the Heller operator and Auslander--Reiten quiver. The third chapter concerns itself with indecomposable modules for dihedral and elementary abelian groups. The study of such groups is both interesting in its own right, and can be applied to studying simple modules for simple groups, such as the sporadic groups in the final chapter. The fourth chapter analyzes the groups PSL(2,q); here we determine, in characteristic 2, which simple modules for PSL(2,q) are algebraic, for any odd q. The fifth chapter generalizes this analysis to many groups of Lie type, although most results here are in defining characteristic only. Notable exceptions include the small Ree groups, which have the 2-SMA property for all q. The sixth and final chapter focuses on the sporadic groups: for most groups we provide results on some simple modules, and some of the groups are completely analyzed in all characteristics. This is normally carried out by restricting to the Sylow p-subgroup. This thesis develops the current state of knowledge concerning algebraic modules for finite groups, and particularly for which simple groups, and for which primes, all simple modules are algebraic.