We study type-definable subgroups of small index in definable groups, and the structure on the quotient, in first order structures. We raise some conjectures in the case where the ambient structure is o-minimal. The gist is that in this o-minimal case, any definable group G should have a smallest type-definable subgroup of bounded index, and that the quotient, when equipped with the logic topology, should be a compact Lie group of the "right" dimension. I give positive answers to the conjectures (...) in the special cases when G is 1-dimensional, and when G is definably simple. (shrink)

By recent work on some conjectures of Pillay, each definably compact group G in a saturated o-minimal expansion of an ordered field has a normal "infinitesimal subgroup" G00 such that the quotient G/G00, equipped with the "logic topology", is a compact (real) Lie group. Our first result is that the functor G → G/G00 sends exact sequences of definably compact groups into exact sequences of Lie groups. We then study the connections between the Lie group G/G00 and the o-minimal spectrum (...) G̃ of G. We prove that G/G00 is a topological quotient of G̃. We thus obtain a natural homomorphism ψ* from the cohomology of G/G00 to the (Čech-)cohomology of G̃. We show that if G00 satisfies a suitable contractibility conjecture then $\widetilde{G^{00}}$ is acyclic in Čech cohomology and ψ* is an isomorphism. Finally we prove the conjecture in some special cases. (shrink)

We prove that if G is a group definable in a saturated o-minimal structure, then G has no infinite descending chain of type-definable subgroups of bounded index. Equivalently, G has a smallest type-definable subgroup G00 of bounded index and G/G00 equipped with the “logic topology” is a compact Lie group. These results give partial answers to some conjectures of the fourth author.

Let M be an o-minimal expansion of a real closed field. Let G be a definably compact definably connected abelian n-dimensional group definable in M. We show the following: the o-minimal fundamental group of G is isomorphic to ℤn; for each k>0, the k-torsion subgroup of G is isomorphic to n, and the o-minimal cohomology algebra over ℚ of G is isomorphic to the exterior algebra over ℚ with n generators of degree one.

Let G be a definably compact group in an o-minimal expansion of a real closed field. We prove that if dim(G\X) < dim G for some definable ${X \subseteq G}$ then X contains a torsion point of G. Along the way we develop a general theory for the so-called G-linear sets, and investigate definable sets which contain abstract subgroups of G.

Here we prove the existence of sheaf cohomology theory in arbitrary o-minimal structures.

The topology of definable sets in an o-minimal expansion of a group is not fully understood due to the lack of a triangulation theorem. Despite the general validity of the cell decomposition theorem, we do not know whether any definably compact set is a definable CW-complex. Moreover the closure of an o-minimal cell can have arbitrarily high Betti numbers. Nevertheless we prove that the cohomology groups of a definably compact set over an o-minimal expansion of a group are finitely generated (...) and invariant under elementary extensions and expansions of the language. (shrink)