VIRTUALLY TORSION-FREE COVERS of MINIMAX GROUPS

We prove that every finitely generated, virtually solvable minimax group can be expressed as a homomorphic image of a virtually torsion-free, virtually solvable minimax group. This result enables us to generalize a theorem of Ch. Pittet and L. Saloff-Coste about random walks on finitely generated, virtually solvable minimax groups. Moreover, the paper identifies properties, such as the derived length and the nilpotency class of the Fitting subgroup, that are preserved in the covering process. Finally, we determine exactly which infinitely generated, virtually solvable minimax groups also possess this type of cover.