The cohomology of virtually torsion-free solvable groups of finite rank

Abstract:

Assume that $G$ is a virtually torsion-free solvable group of finite rank and $A$ is a $\mathbb ZG$-module whose underlying abelian group is torsion-free and has finite rank. We stipulate a condition on $A$ that ensures that $H^n(G,A)$ and $H_n(G,A)$ are finite for all $n\geq 0$. Using this property for cohomology in dimension two, we deduce two results concerning the presence of near supplements and complements in solvable groups of finite rank. As an application of our near-supplement theorem, we obtain a new result regarding the homological dimension of solvable groups.