It is well known that a finitely generated group ${\rm\Gamma}$ has Kazhdan’s property (T) if and only if the Laplacian element ${\rm\Delta}$ in $\mathbb{R}[{\rm\Gamma}]$ has a spectral gap. In this paper, we prove that this phenomenon is witnessed in $\mathbb{R}[{\rm\Gamma}]$. Namely, ${\rm\Gamma}$ has property (T) if and only if there exist a constant ${\it\kappa}>0$ and a finite sequence ${\it\xi}_{1},\ldots ,{\it\xi}_{n}$ in $\mathbb{R}[{\rm\Gamma}]$ such that ${\rm\Delta}^{2}-{\it\kappa}{\rm\Delta}=\sum _{i}{\it\xi}_{i}^{\ast }{\it\xi}_{i}$. This result suggests the possibility of finding new examples of property (T) groups by solving equations in $\mathbb{R}[{\rm\Gamma}]$, possibly with the assistance of computers.

We give a complete description of the second Fox subgroup G ∩ (1 + Δ2(G)Δ(H)) relative to a given normal subgroup H of an arbitrary finitely generated group G.

It is shown that if a solvable group is not locally finite, then the group algebra over a field of characterisitc 0 has no nonzero algebraic ideals.

Let KG be the group ring of a group G over a field K and let U(KG) be its group of units. If K has characteristic p > 0 and G contains p-elements, then it is proved that U(KG) is hypercentral if and only if G is nilpotent and G′ is a finite p-group.

This paper studies the group of units U(RD∞) of the group ring of the infinite dihedral group D∞ over a commutative integral domain R. The structures of U(Z2D∞) and U(Z3D∞) are determined, and it is shown that U(ZD∞) is not finitely generated.

In [5], Roggenkamp and Scott gave an affirmative answer to the isomorphism problem for integral group rings of finite p-groups G and H, i.e. to the question whether ZG ⥲ ZH implies G ⥲ H (in this case, G is said to be characterized by its integral group ring). Progress on the analogous question with Z replaced by the field Fp of p elements has been very little during the last couple of years; and the most far reaching result in this area in a certain sense - due to Passi and Sehgal, see [8] - may be compared to the integral case, where the group G is of nilpotency class 2.

Let O1 denote the class of groups G such that every group ring of G (over a field) is an Ore domain. Several approaches to the correction of the proof of a result concerning subrings generated by certain O1-groups are given.

Let R and S be rings, G and H abelian groups, and RG and SH the goup rings of G and H over R and S respectively. In this note we consider what relations must hold between G and H or between R and S if the group rings RG and SH are isomorphic. For example, it is shown that if R and S are integral domains of characteristic zero, G and H torsion abelian groups such that if G has an element of order p then p is not invertible in R, and RG and SH are isomorphic, then the rings R and 5 are isomorphic and the groups G and H are isomorphic.