We prove that for any finite Thurston-type ordering $<_{T}$ on the braid group\ $B_{n}$, the restriction to the positive braid monoid $(B_{n}^{+},<_{T})$ is a\ well-ordered set of order type $ω^{ω^{n-2}}$. The proof uses a combi\ natorial description of the ordering $<_{T}$. Our combinatorial description is \ based on a new normal form for positive braids which we call the $\C$-normal fo\ rm. It can be seen as a generalization of Burckel's normal form and Dehornoy's \ $Φ$-normal form (alternating normal form).
We prove the existence of an algorithm which solves the reducibility problem in braid groups and runs in quadratic time with respect to the braid length for any fixed braid index.
In this paper, we give a Gröbner-Shirshov basis of the braid group $B_{n+1}$ in Adyan-Thurston generators. We also deal with the braid group of type $\bf{B}_{n}$. As results, we obtain a new algorithm for getting the Adyan-Thurston normal form, and a new proof that the braid semigroup $B^+_{n+1}$ is the subsemigroup in $B_{n+1}$.
We study the topological space of left-orderings of the braid group, and its subspace of Nielsen-Thurston orderings. Our main result is that no Nielsen-Thurston ordering is isolated in the space of braid orderings. In the course of the proof, we classify the convex subgroups and calculate the Conradian soul for any Nielsen-Thurston ordering of B_n. We also prove that for a large class of Nielsen-Thurston orderings, including all those of infinite type, a stronger result holds: they are approximated by their own conjugates. On the other hand, we suggest an example of a Nielsen-Thurston ordering…
We give an algorithm which decides the Nielsen-Thurston type of a given four-strand braid. The complexity of our algorithm is quadratic with respect to word length. The proof of its validity is based on a result which states that for a reducible 4-braid which is as short as possible within its conjugacy class (short in the sense of Garside), reducing curves surrounding three punctures must be round or almost round.
For a finite Thurston type ordering < of the braid group B_{n}, we introduce a new normal form of a dual positive braid which we call the C-normal form. This normal form extends Fromentin's rotating normal form and the author's C-normal form of positive braids. Using the C-normal form, we give a combinatorial description of the restriction of the ordering < to the dual braid monoids B_{n}^{+*}. We prove that the restriction to the dual positive monoid (B_{n}^{+*},<) is a well-ordered set of order type ω^{ω^{n-2}}.
We describe the restriction of the Dehornoy ordering of braids to the dual braid monoids introduced by Birman, Ko and Lee: we give an inductive characterization of the ordering of the dual braid monoids and compute the corresponding ordinal type. The proof consists in introducing a new ordering on the dual braid monoid using the rotating normal form of arXiv:0811.3902 [math.GR], and then proving that this new ordering coincides with the standard ordering of braids.
We are concerned with mapping class groups of surfaces with nonempty boundary. We present a very natural method, due to Thurston, of finding many different left orderings of such groups. The construction involves equipping the surface with a hyperbolic structure, embedding the universal cover in the hyperbolic plane, and extending the action of the mapping class group on it to its limit points on the circle at infinity. We classify all orderings of braid groups which arise in this way. Moreover, restricting to a certain class of ``nonpathological'' orderings, we prove that there are only finit…
We develop a new approach to the linear ordering of the braid group $B\_n$, based on investigating its restriction to the set $\Div(Δ\_n^d)$ of all divisors of $Δ\_n^d$ in the monoid $B\_\infty^+$, i.e., to positive $n$-braids whose normal form has length at most $d$. In the general case, we compute several numerical parameters attached with the finite orders $(\Div(Δ\_n^d), <)$. In the case of 3 strands, we moreover give a complete description of the increasing enumeration of $(\Div(Δ\_3^d), <)$. We deduce a new and specially direct construction of the ordering on $B\_3$, and a new proof of t…
We obtain an ordering of closed aspherical 4-manifolds that carry a non-hyperbolic Thurston geometry. As application, we derive that the Kodaira dimension of geometric 4-manifolds is monotone with respect to the existence of maps of non-zero degree.
We prove a conjecture due to Makanin: if a and b are elements of the Artin braid group B_n such that a^k=b^k for some nonzero integer k, then a and b are conjugate. The proof involves the Nielsen-Thurston classification of braids.
We prove that the pure braid groups on closed, orientable surfaces are bi-orderable, and that the pure braid groups on closed, non-orientable surfaces have generalized torsion, thus they are not bi-orderable.
We describe new types of normal forms for braid monoids, Artin-Tits monoids, and, more generally, for all monoids in which divisibility has some convenient lattice properties (``locally Garside monoids''). We show that, in the case of braids, one of these normal forms coincides with the normal form introduced by Burckel and deduce that the latter can be computed easily. This approach leads to a new, simple description for the standard ordering (``Dehornoy order'') of Bn in terms of that of B(n-1), and to a quadratic upper bound for the complexity of this ordering.
In this paper we study the reduction curves of a braid, and how they can be used to decompose the braid into simpler ones in a precise way, which does not correspond exactly to the decomposition given by Thurston theory. Then we study how a cyclic sliding (which is a particular kind of conjugation) affects the normal form of a braid with respect to the normal forms of its components. Finally, using the above methods, we provide the example of a family of braids whose sets of sliding circuits (hence ultra summit sets) have exponential size with respect to the number of strands and also with res…
It is well-known that there is a faithful representation of braid groups on automorphism groups of free groups, and it is also well-known that free groups are bi-orderable. We investigate which n-strand braids give rise to automorphisms which preserve some bi-ordering of the free group rank n. As a consequence of our work we find that of the two minimal volume hyperbolic 2-cusped orientable 3-manifolds, one has bi-orderable fundamental group whereas the other does not. We prove a similar result for the 1-cusped case, and have further results for more cusps. In addition, we study pseudo-Anosov …
Let B_n be the braid group on n > 3 strands. We prove that B_n modulo its center is co-Hopfian. We then show that any injective endomorphism of B_n is geometric in the sense that it is induced by a homeomorphism of a punctured disk. We further prove that any injection from B_n to B_n+1 is geometric. Additionally, we obtain analogous results for mapping class groups of punctured spheres. The methods use Thurston's theory of surface homeomorphisms and build upon work of Ivanov and McCarthy.
Dehornoy showed that the Artin braid groups $B_n$ are left-orderable. This ordering is discrete, but we show that, for $n >2$ the Dehornoy ordering, when restricted to certain natural subgroups, becomes a dense ordering. Among subgroups which arise are the commutator subgroup and the kernel of the Burau representation (for those $n$ for which the kernel is nontrivial). These results follow from a characterization of least positive elements of any normal subgroup of $B_n$ which is discretely ordered by the Dehornoy ordering.
In a previous work [11], the author considered a representation of the braid group ρ: B_n\to GL_m(\Bbb Z[q^{\pm 1},t^{\pm 1}]) (m=n(n-1)/2), and proved it to be faithful for n=4. Bigelow [3] then proved the same representation to be faithful for all n by a beautiful topological argument. The present paper gives a different proof of the faithfulness for all n. We establish a relation between the Charney length in the braid group and exponents of t. A certain B_n-invariant subset of the module is constructed whose properties resemble those of convex cones. We relate line segments in this set wit…
A result by Dehornoy (1992) says that every nontrivial braid admits a sigma-definite word representative, defined as a braid word in which the generator sigma_i with maximal index i appears with exponents that are all positive, or all negative. This is the ground result for ordering braids. In this paper, we enhance this result and prove that every braid admits a sigma-definite word representative that, in addition, is quasi-geodesic. This establishes a longstanding conjecture. Our proof uses the dual braid monoid and a new normal form called the rotating normal form.
We introduce a Dehornoy-like ordering of groups, which is a generalization of the Dehornoy ordering of the braid groups. Under a weak assumption which we call Property F, we show that Dehornoy-like orderings have properties similar to the Dehornoy ordering, and produce isolated left orderings. We also construct new examples of Dehornoy-like ordering and isolated orderings and study their more precise properties.
We show that the restriction of the Dehornoy ordering to an appropriate free subgroup of the three-strand braid group defines a left ordering of the free group on k generators, k>1, that has no convex subgroups.
We construct a class of Garside groupoid structures on the pure braid groups, one for each function (called labelling) from the punctures to the integers greater than 1. The object set of the groupoid is the set of ball decompositions of the punctured disk; the labels are the perimeters of the regions. Our construction generalises Garside's original Garside structure, but not the one by Birman-Ko-Lee. As a consequence, we generalise the Tamari lattice ordering on the set of vertices of the associahedron.
We generalize a result of T. Koberda by showing that the natural action of the automorphism group on the space of left-orderings is faithful for all nonabelian bi-orderable groups G, as well as for a certain class of left-orderable groups that includes the braid groups. As a corollary we show that the action of the automorphism group of G on the boundary of G is faithful whenever G is bi-orderable and hyperbolic. We also analyze the action of the commensurator of G on its space of virtual left-orderings.
This article surveys many standard results about the braid group with emphasis on simplifying the usual algebraic proofs. We use van der Waerden's trick to illuminate the Artin-Magnus proof of the classic presentation of the algebraic mapping-class group of a punctured disc. We give a simple, new proof of the Dehornoy-Larue braid-group trichotomy, and, hence, recover the Dehornoy right-ordering of the braid group. We then turn to the Birman-Hilden theorem concerning braid-group actions on free products of cyclic groups, and the consequences derived by Perron-Vannier, and the connections with t…
Let G be a left orderable group and LO(G) the space of all left orderings. We investigate the circumstances under which a left ordering < of G can correspond to an isolated point in LO(G), in particular we extend known results to cover the case of uncountable groups. With minor technical restrictions on the group G, we also find that no dense left ordering is isolated in LO(G), and that the closure of the set of all dense left orderings of G yields a dense G-delta set within a Cantor set of left orderings in LO(G). Lastly, we show that certain conditions on a discrete left ordering of G can gu…
We introduce a condition on Garside groups that we call Dehornoy structure. An iteration of such a structure leads to a left order on the group. We show conditions for a Garside group to admit a Dehornoy structure, and we apply these criteria to prove that the Artin groups of type A and I 2 (m), m $\ge$ 4, have Dehornoy structures. We show that the left orders on the Artin groups of type A obtained from their Dehornoy structures are the Dehornoy orders. In the case of the Artin groups of type I 2 (m), m $\ge$ 4, we show that the left orders derived from their Dehornoy structures coincide with …
In the paper we give a survey on braid groups and subjects connected with them. We start with the initial definition, then we give several interpretations as well as several presentations of these groups. Burau presentation for the pure braid group and the Markov normal form are given next. Garside normal form and his solution of the conjugacy problem are presented as well as more recent results on the ordering and on the linearity of braid groups. Next topics are the generalizations of braids, their homological properties and connections with the other mathematical fields, like knot theory (v…
The braid group $B_{n}$, endowed with Artin's presentation, admits two distinguished involutions. One is the anti-automorphism ${\rm{rev}}: B_{n} \to B_{n}$, $v \mapsto \bar{v}$, defined by reading braids in the reverse order (from right to left instead of left to right). Another one is the conjugation $τ:x \mapsto Δ^{-1}x Δ$ by the generalized half-twist (Garside element). More generally, the involution ${\rm{rev}}$ is defined for all Artin groups (equipped with Artin's presentation) and the involution $τ$ is defined for all Artin groups of finite type. A palindrome is an element invariant un…
This expository paper explores the interaction of group ordering with topological questions, especially in dimensions 2 and 3. Among the topics considered are surfaces, braid groups, 3-manifolds and their structures such as foliations and mappings between them. A final section explores currently ongoing research regarding spaces of homeomorphisms and their orderability properties. This is not meant to be a comprehensive survey, but rather just a taste of the rich relationship between topology and the theory of ordered groups.
Let $G$ be one of the Artin groups of finite type ${\mathbf B}_n={\mathbf C}_n$, and affine type $\tilde{\mathbf A}_{n-1}$ and $\tilde{\mathbf C}_{n-1}$. In this paper, we show that if $α$ and $β$ are elements of $G$ such that $α^k=β^k$ for some nonzero integer $k$, then $α$ and $β$ are conjugate in $G$. For the Artin group of type $\mathbf A_n$, this was recently proved by J. González-Meneses. In fact, we prove a stronger theorem, from which the above result follows easily by using descriptions of those Artin groups as subgroups of the braid group on $n+1$ strands. Let $P$ be a subset of $\{1…
We are concerned with orderable groups and particularly those with orderings invariant not only under multiplication, but also under a given automorphism or family of automorphisms. Several applications to topology are given: we prove that the fundamental groups of hyperbolic nonorientable surfaces, and the groups of certain fibred knots are bi-orderable. Moreover, we show that the pure braid groups associated with hyperbolic nonorientable surfaces are left-orderable.
We study left orderable groups by using dynamical methods. We apply these techniques to study the space of orderings of these groups. We show for instance that for the case of (non-Abelian) free groups, this space is homeomorphic to the Cantor set. We also study the case of braid groups (for which the space of orderings has isolated points but contains homeomorphic copies of the Cantor set). To do this we introduce the notion of the Conradian soul of an order as the maximal subgroup which is convex and restricted to which the original ordering satisfies the so called conradian property, and we…
This is a draft of a book submitted for publication by the AMS. Its theme is the remarkable interplay, accelerating in the last few decades, between topology and the theory of orderable groups, with applications in both directions. It begins with an introduction to orderable groups and their algebraic properties. Many of the algebraic results are proved by topological methods, via consideration of the space of orderings. After a discussion Hölder's theorem and some dynamical aspects of orderable groups, we provide explicit orderings of important groups in topology: free groups and most surface…
Let G be a countable group. We show there is a topological relationship between the space CO(G) of circular orders on G and the moduli space of actions of G on the circle; as well as an analogous relationship for spaces of left orders and actions on the line. In particular, we give a complete characterization of isolated left and circular orders in terms of strong rigidity of their induced actions of G on $S^1$ and R. As an application of our techniques, we give an explicit construction of infinitely many nonconjugate isolated points in the spaces CO(F_{2n}) of circular orders on free groups d…
Recently, Lusztig constructed for each reductive group a partition by unions of sheets of conjugacy classes, which is indexed by a subset of the set of conjugacy classes in the associated Weyl group. Sevostyanov subsequently used certain elements in each of these Weyl group conjugacy classes to construct strictly transverse slices to the conjugacy classes in these strata, generalising the classical Steinberg slice, and similar cross sections were built out of different Weyl group elements by He-Lusztig. In this paper we observe that He-Lusztig's and Sevostyanov's Weyl group elements share a ce…
