Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 September 2024
We show that a virtually residually finite rationally solvable (RFRS) group $G$ of type
$\mathtt {FP}_n(\mathbb {Q})$ virtually algebraically fibres with kernel of type
$\mathtt {FP}_n(\mathbb {Q})$ if and only if the first
$n$
$\ell ^2$-Betti numbers of
$G$ vanish, that is,
$b_p^{(2)}(G) = 0$ for
$0 \leqslant p \leqslant n$. This confirms a conjecture of Kielak. We also offer a variant of this result over other fields, in particular in positive characteristic. As an application of the main result, we show that amenable virtually RFRS groups of type
$\mathtt {FP}(\mathbb {Q})$ are virtually Abelian. It then follows that if
$G$ is a virtually RFRS group of type
$\mathtt {FP}(\mathbb {Q})$ such that
$\mathbb {Z} G$ is Noetherian, then
$G$ is virtually Abelian. This confirms a conjecture of Baer for the class of virtually RFRS groups of type
$\mathtt {FP}(\mathbb {Q})$, which includes (for instance) the class of virtually compact special groups.