Let G be a group and ϕ be an endomorphism of G. A subgroup H of G is called ϕ-inert if H ϕ ∩ H has finite index in the image H ϕ . The subgroups that are ϕ-inert for all inner automorphisms of G are widely known and studied in the literature, under the name inert subgroups.The related notion of inertial endomorphism, namely an endomorphism ϕ such that all subgroups of G are ϕ-inert, was introduced in [34] and thoroughly studied in [37,35]. The "dual" notion of fully inert subgroup, namely a subgroup that is ϕ-inert for all endomorphisms of an abelian group A, was introduced in [51] and further studied in [25,54,76].The goal of this paper is to give an overview of up-to-date known results, as well as some new ones, and show how some applications of the concept of inert subgroup fit in the same picture even if they arise in different areas of algebra. We survey on classical and recent results on groups whose inner automorphisms are inertial. Moreover, we show how inert subgroups naturally appear in the realm of locally compact topological groups or locally linearly compact topological vector spaces, and can be helpful for the computation of the algebraic entropy of continuous endomorphisms.
PreliminariesClearly normal and finite subgroups are inert. Many generalizations of the notion of normality have appeared in the literature (see for example [71]). The concept of inert subgroup allows to put many of them in a common framework. It seems to have been introduced in 1993 in papers of Belyaev [3,4] as a tool in the investigation of infinite simple groups. In a survey paper on this subject [5] Belyaev gives credit to Kegel for coining the term inert subgroup. The concept of inert subgroup tacitly involves inner automorphisms of a group and has been therefore extended to general automorphisms ([34]) in 2012. Then in [51] the concept has been extended to general endomorphisms of abelian groups. Let us give a basic definition which reveals to be a powerful tool. One may replace the relation of invariance of a subgroup with respect to an endomorphism by a weaker condition which is trivially satisfied by all finite subgroups. Definition 1.1. Let ϕ be an endomorphism and H a subgroup of a group G. Then H is called ϕ-inert if H ϕ ∩ H has finite index in the image H ϕ .