We consider the Thompson-Stein group F(n_1,...,n_k) for integers n_1,...,n_k and k greater than 1. We highlight several differences between the cases k=1$ and k>1, including the fact that minimal tree-pair diagram representatives of elements may not be unique when k>1. We establish how to find minimal tree-pair diagram representatives of elements of F(n_1,...,n_k), and we prove several theorems describing the equivalence of trees and tree-pair diagrams. We introduce a unique normal form for elements of F(n_1,...,n_k) (with respect to the standard infinite generating set developed by Melanie Stein) which provides a solution to the word problem, and we give sharp upper and lower bounds on the metric with respect to the standard finite generating set, showing that in the case k>1, the metric is not quasi-isometric to the number of leaves or caret in the minimal tree-pair diagram, as is the case when k=1.
We study the properties of rotation numbers for some groups of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the circle. We use these properties to obtain results on PL rigidity, non isomorphicity, non exoticity of automorphisms, non smoothability for Thompson-Stein groups.
The co-word problem of a group G generated by a set X is defined as the set of words in X which do not represent 1 in G. We introduce a new method to decide if a permutation group has context-free co-word problem. We use this method to show, that the Higman-Thompson groups, and therefore the Houghton groups, have context-free co-word problem. We also give some examples of groups, that even have an easier co-word problem. We call this property semi-deterministic context-free. The second Houghton group belongs to this class.
We describe a family of words in Thompson's group F which present a challenge to the question of finding canonical minimal length representatives, and which show that F is not combable by geodesics. These words have the property that there are only two possible suffixes of long lengths for geodesic paths to the word from the identity; one is of the form $g^k$ and the other of the form $g^{-k}$ where g is a generator of the group.
Let $F(p)$, $p\ge2$ be the family of generalized Thompson's groups. Here F(2) is the famous Richard Thompson's group usually denoted by $F$. We find the growth rate of the monoid of positive words in $F(p)$ and show that it does not exceed $p+1/2$. Also we describe new normal forms for elements of $F(p)$ and, using these forms, we find a lower bound for the growth rate of $F(p)$ in its natural generators. This lower bound asymptotically equals $(p-1/2)\log_2 e+1/2$ for large values of $p$.
We introduce a new method for computing the word length of an element of Thompson's group F with respect to a "consecutive" generating set of the form X_n={x_0,x_1,...,x_n}, which is a subset of the standard infinite generating set for F. We use this method to show that (F,X_n) is not almost convex, and has pockets of increasing, though bounded, depth dependent on n.
We construct a finitely presented group with coNP-complete word problem, and a finitely generated simple group with coNP-complete word problem. These groups are represented as Thompson groups, hence as partial transformation groups of strings. The proof provides a simulation of combinational circuits by elements of the Thompson-Higman group G_{3,1}.
We show that the word problem of the Brin-Higman-Thompson group $n G_{k,1}$ is {\sf coNP}-complete for all $n \ge 2$ and all $k \ge 2$. For this we prove that $n G_{k,1}$ is finitely generated, and that $n G_{k,1}$ contains a subgroup of $2 G_{2,1}$ that can represent bijective circuits. We also show that for all $n \ge 1$ and $k \ge 2$: \ If $\,K = 1 + (k-1)\,N\,$ for some $N \ge 1$, then $n G_{K,1} \le n G_{k,1}$. In particular, $n G_{K,1} \le n G_{2,1}$ for all $K \ge 2$.
The Thompson group $V$, as well as the Brin-Thompson group $2V$, is finitely generated and can be defined as a monoid acting on bitstrings, respectively pairs of bitstrings. Therefore evaluation problems can be defined for $V$ and $2V$. We show that these evaluation problems reduce to the corresponding word problems, and that in general, these evaluation problems are actually equivalent to the word problems. The long-input version of the evaluation problem is deterministic context-free and reverse deterministic context-free for $V,$ and P-complete for $2V$.
Brown has defined the generalised Thompson's group $F_n$, $T_n$, where $n$ is an integer at least $2$ and Thompson's groups $F= F_2$ and $T =T_2$ in the 80's. Burillo, Cleary and Stein have found that there is a quasi-isometric embedding from $F_n$ to $F_m$ where $n$ and $m$ are positive integers at least 2. We show that there is a quasi-isometric embedding from $T_n$ to $T_2$ for any $n \geq 2$ and no embeddings from $T_2$ to $T_n$ for $n \geq 3$.
We prove that the word problem of the Brin-Thompson group nV over a finite generating set is coNP-complete for every n \ge 2. It is known that the groups nV are an infinite family of infinite, finitely presented, simple groups. We also prove that the word problem of the Thompson group V over a certain infinite set of generators, related to boolean circuits, is coNP-complete.
We study some combinatorial properties of the word metric of Thompson's group F in the standard two generator finite presentation. We explore connections between the tree pair diagram representing an element w of F, its normal form in the infinite presentation, its word length, and minimal length representatives of it. We estimate word length in terms of the number and type of carets in the tree pair diagram and show sharpness of those estimates. In addition we explore some properties of the Cayley graph of F with respect to the two generator finite presentation. Namely, we exhibit the form of…
Bieri, Geoghegan and Kochloukova computed the BNSR-invariants $Σ^m(F)$ of Thompson's group $F$ for all $m$. We recompute these using entirely geometric techniques, making use of the Stein--Farley CAT(0) cube complex on which $F$ acts.
Let $G$ be a finitely generated group, and let $Σ$ be a finite subset that generates $G$ as a monoid. The \emph{word problem of $G$ with respect to $Σ$} consists of all words in the free monoid $Σ^{\ast}$ that are equal to the identity in $G$. The \emph{co-word problem of $G$ with respect to $Σ$} is the complement in $Σ^{\ast}$ of the word problem. We say that a group $G$ is \emph{co$\mathcal{CF}$} if its co-word problem with respect to some (equivalently, any) finite generating set $Σ$ is a context-free language. We describe a generalized Thompson group $V_{(G, θ)}$ for each finite group G an…
We prove that seesaw words exist in Thompson's Group F(N) for N=2,3,4,... with respect to the standard finite generating set X. A seesaw word w with swing k has only geodesic representatives ending in g^k or g^{-k} (for given g\in X) and at least one geodesic representative of each type. The existence of seesaw words with arbitrarily large swing guarantees that F(N) is neither synchronously combable nor has a regular language of geodesics. Additionally, we prove that dead ends (or k--pockets) exist in F(N) with respect to X and all have depth 2. A dead end w is a word for which no geodesic pat…
We consider generalisations of Thompson's group $V$, denoted $V_r(Σ)$, which also include the groups of Higman, Stein and Brin. We show that, under some mild hypotheses, $V_r(Σ)$ is the full automorphism group of a Cantor-algebra. Under some further minor restrictions, we prove that these groups are of type $\mathrm{F}_\infty$ and that this implies that also centralisers of finite subgroups are of type $\mathrm{F}_\infty$.
We consider generalisations of Thompson's group $V$, denoted by $V_r(Σ)$, which also include the groups of Higman, Stein and Brin. It was shown by the authors in [20] that under some mild conditions these groups and centralisers of their finite subgroups are of type $\mathrm{F}_\infty$. Under more general conditions we show that the groups $V_r(Σ)$ are finitely generated and, under the mild conditions mentioned above, we see that they are finitely presented and give a recipe to find explicit presentations. For the centralisers of finite subgroups we find a suitable infinite presentation and th…
We define a family of groups that generalises Thompson's groups $T$ and $G$ and also those of Higman, Stein and Brin. For groups in this family we descrine centralisers of finite subgroups and show, that for a given finite subgroup $Q$, there are finitely many conjugacy classes of finite subgroups isomorphic to $Q$. We use this to show that whenever defined, the T versions of these groups have a slightly weaker property, quasi-$\underline{\operatorname F}_\infty$, to that of a group possessing a finite type model for the classifying space for proper actions ${\underline{E}}G$ if and only if th…
We consider the subgroup lpG_{k,1} of length preserving elements of the Thompson-Higman group G_{k,1} and we show that all elements of G_{k,1} have a unique lpG_{k,1}.F_{k,1} factorization. This applies to the Thompson-Higman group T_{k,1} as well. We show that lpG_{k,1} is a ``diagonal'' direct limit of finite symmetric groups, and that lpT_{k,1} is a k^infinity Pr"ufer group. We find an infinite generating set of lpG_{k,1} which is related to reversible boolean circuits. We further investigate connections between the Thompson-Higman groups, circuits, and complexity. We show that elements of …
We study actions of groups by homeomorphisms on $\mathbf{R}$ (or an interval) that are minimal, have solvable germs at $\pm \infty$ and contain a pair of elements of a certain type. We call such actions coherent. We establish that such an action is rigid, i.e. any two such actions of the same group are topologically conjugate. We also establish that the underlying group is always non elementary amenable, but satisfies that every proper quotient is solvable. As a first application, we demonstrate that any coherent group action $G<Homeo^+(\mathbf{R})$ that produces a nonamenable equivalence rela…
We prove new results about the remarkable infinite simple groups introduced by Richard Thompson in the 1960s. We define the groups as partial transformation groups and we give a faithful representation in the Cuntz C*-algebra. For the finitely presented simple group T_fin (also known as V) we show that the word-length and the table size satisfy an n log n relation, just like the symmetric groups. We show that the word problem of T_fin belongs to the parallel complexity class AC^1 (a subclass of plynomial time). We show that the generalized word problem of T_fin is undecidable. We study the dis…
Braided Thompson's groups are finitely presented groups introduced by Brin and Dehornoy which contain the ordinary braid groups $B_n$, the finitary braid group $B_{\infty}$ and Thompson's group $F$ as subgroups. We describe some of the metric properties of braided Thompson's groups and give upper and lower bounds for word length in terms of the number of strands and the number of crossings in the diagrams used to represent elements.
We show that for a large class $\mathcal{C}$ of finitely generated groups of orientation preserving homeomorphisms of the real line, the following holds: Given a group $G$ of rank $k$ in $\mathcal{C}$, there is a sequence of $k$-markings $(G, S_n), n\in \mathbf{N}$ whose limit in the space of marked groups is the free group of rank $k$ with the standard marking. The class we consider consists of groups that admit actions satisfying mild dynamical conditions and a certain "self-similarity" type hypothesis. Examples include Thompson's group $F$, Higman-Thompson groups, Stein-Thompson groups, var…
We will give a general criterion - the existence of an $F$-obstruction - for showing that a subgroup of $\mathrm{PL}_+ I$ does not embed into Thompson's group $F$. An immediate consequence is that Cleary's "golden ratio" group $F_τ$ does not embed into $F$. Our results also yield a new proof that Stein's groups $F_{p,q}$ do not embed into $F$, a result first established by Lodha using his theory of coherent actions. We develop the basic theory of $F$-obstructions and show that they exhibit certain rigidity phenomena of independent interest. In the course of establishing the main result of the …
We generalize the Brin-Higman-Thompson groups $n G_{k,1}$ to monoids $n M_{k,1}$, for $n \ge 1$ and $k \ge 2$, by replacing bijections by partial functions. The monoid $n M_{k,1}$ has $n G_{k,1}$ as its group of units, and is congruence-simple. Moreover, $n M_{k,1}$ is finitely generated, and for $n \ge 2$ its word problem is {\sf coNP}-complete. We also present new results about higher-dimensional joinless codes.
Computational asymmetry, i.e., the discrepancy between the complexity of transformations and the complexity of their inverses, is at the core of one-way transformations. We introduce a computational asymmetry function that measures the amount of one-wayness of permutations. We also introduce the word-length asymmetry function for groups, which is an algebraic analogue of computational asymmetry. We relate boolean circuits to words in a Thompson monoid, over a fixed generating set, in such a way that circuit size is equal to word-length. Moreover, boolean circuits have a representation in terms…
We describe some of the geometric properties of the automorphism group Aut(F) of Thompson's group F. We give realizations of Aut(F) geometrically via periodic tree pair diagrams, which lead to natural presentations and give effective methods for estimating the word length of elements. We study some natural subgroups of Aut(F) and their metric properties. In particular, we show that the subgroup of inner automorphisms of F is at least quadratically distorted in Aut(F), whereas other subgroups of Aut(F) isomorphic to F are undistorted.
We discuss metric and combinatorial properties of Thompson's group T, including normal forms for elements and unique tree pair diagram representatives. We relate these properties to those of Thompson's group F when possible, and highlight combinatorial differences between the two groups. We define a set of unique normal forms for elements of T arising from minimal factorizations of elements into natural pieces. We show that the number of carets in a reduced representative of an element of T estimates the word length, and that F is undistorted in T. We describe how to recognize torsion elements…
The Schreier graphs of Thompson's group F with respect to the stabilizer of 1/2 and generators x_0 and x_1, and of its unitary representation in L_2([0,1]) induced by the standard action on the interval [0,1] are explicitly described. The coamenability of the stabilizers of any finite set of dyadic rational numbers is established. The induced subgraph of the right Cayley graph of the positive monoid of F containing all the vertices of the form x_nv, where n>=0 and v is any word over the alphabet {x_0, x_1}, is constructed. It is proved that the latter graph is non-amenable.
The Thompson-Higman groups G_{k,i} have a natural generalization to monoids M_{k,i}, and inverse monoids Inv_{k,i}. We study some structural features of M_{k,i} and Inv_{k,i} and investigate the computational complexity of decision problems. The main interest of these monoids is their close connection with circuits and circuit complexity. The maximal subgroups of M_{k,1} are isomorphic to the groups G_{k,j} (1 \leq j \leq k-1); so we rediscover all the Thompson-Higman groups within M_{k,1}. The Green relations \leq_J and \equiv_D of M_{k,1} can be decided in deterministic polynomial time when …
We introduce forest diagrams to represent elements of Thompson's group F. These diagrams relate to a certain action of F on the real line in the same way that tree diagrams relate to the standard action of F on the unit interval. Using forest diagrams, we give a conceptually simple length formula for elements of F with respect to the {x_0,x_1} generating set, and we discuss the construction of minimum-length words for positive elements. Finally, we use forest diagrams and the length formula to examine the structure of the Cayley graph of F.
Let $G$ be a group, and let $S$ be a finite subset of $G$ that generates $G$ as a monoid. The co-word problem is the collection of words in the free monoid $S^{\ast}$ that represent non-trivial elements of $G$. A current conjecture, based originally on a conjecture of Lehnert and modified into its current form by Bleak, Matucci, and Neuhöffer, says that Thompson's group $V$ is a universal group with context-free co-word problem. In other words, it is conjectured that a group has a context-free co-word problem exactly if it is a finitely generated subgroup of $V$. Hughes introduced the class $\…
Higher-dimensional Thompson's groups nV are finitely presented groups described by Brin which generalize dyadic self-maps of the unit interval to dyadic self-maps of n-dimensional unit cubes. We describe some of the metric properties of higher-dimensional Thompson's groups. We give descriptions of elements based upon tree-pair diagrams and give upper and lower bounds for word length in terms of the size of the diagrams. Though these upper and lower bounds are somewhat separated, we show that there are elements realizing the lower bounds and that the fraction of elements which are close to the …
We show that a large class of languages in the standard finite generating set X = {$x_0, x_1, x_0^{-1}, x_1^{-1}$} cannot be part of an automatic structure for Thompson's Group F. These languages are ones that accept at least one representative of each element of F of word length that is within a fixed constant of a geodesic representative of the element. To accomplish this, we look at a specific element of F and trace two different paths through the Cayley graph to that element. We show that staying within the length restrictions along these two paths would force that element to have contradi…
We show that Thompson's group F does not satisfy Cannon's almost convexity condition AC(n) for any integer n in the standard finite two generator presentation. To accomplish this, we construct a family of pairs of elements at distance n from the identity and distance 2 from each other, which are not connected by a path lying inside the n-ball of length less than k for increasingly large k. Our techniques rely upon Fordham's method for calculating the length of a word in F and upon an analysis of the generators' geometric actions on the tree pair diagrams representing elements of F.
In this paper, we continue our study of the class of diagram groups. Simply speaking, a diagram is a labelled plane graph bounded by a pair of paths (the top path and the bottom path). To multiply two diagrams, one simply identifies the top path of one diagram with the bottom path of the other diagram, and removes pairs of "reducible" cells. Each diagram group is determined by an alphabet $X$, containing all possible labels of edges, a set of relations ${\cal R}=\{u_i=v_i\mid i=1,2,... \}$, containing all possible labels of cells, and a word $w$ over $X$ -- the label of the top and bottom path…
We give lower bounds on the complexity of the word problem of certain non-solvable groups: for a large class of non-solvable infinite groups, including in particular free groups, Grigorchuk's group and Thompson's groups, we prove that their word problem is $\mathsf{NC}^1$-hard. For some of these groups (including Grigorchuk's group and Thompson's groups) we prove that the compressed word problem (which is equivalent to the circuit evaluation problem) is $\mathsf{PSPACE}$-complete.
The groups G_{k,1} of Richard Thompson and Graham Higman can be generalized in a natural way to monoids, that we call M_{k,1}, and to inverse monoids, called Inv_{k,1}; this is done by simply generalizing bijections to partial functions or partial injective functions. The monoids M_{k,1} have connections with circuit complexity (studied in another paper). Here we prove that M_{k,1} and Inv_{k,1} are congruence-simple for all k. Their Green relations J and D are characterized: M_{k,1} and Inv_{k,1} are J-0-simple, and they have k-1 non-zero D-classes. They are submonoids of the multiplicative p…
The Stein group $F_{2,3}$ is the group of orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the unit interval with slopes of the form $2^p3^q$ ($p,q\in\mathbb{Z}$) and breakpoints in $\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{6}]$. This is a natural relative of Thompson's group $F$. In this paper we compute the Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz (BNSR) invariants $Σ^m(F_{2,3})$ of the Stein group for all $m\in\mathbb{N}$. A consequence of our computation is that (as with $F$) every finitely presented normal subgroup of $F_{2,3}$ is of type $\textrm{F}_\infty$. Another, more surprising, consequence is that (unlike $F$) the kernel of…
Pursueing our investigations on the relations between Thompson groups and mapping class groups, we introduce the group $T^*$ (and its further generalizations) which is an extension of the Ptolemy-Thompson group $T$ by means of the full braid group $B_{\infty}$ on infinitely many strands. We prove that it is a finitely presented group with solvable word problem, and give an explicit presentation of it.
The word problem for Thompson's group $F$ has a solution, but it remains unknown whether $F$ is automatic or has a finite or regular convergent (terminating and confluent) rewriting system. We show that the group $F$ admits a natural extension of these two properties, namely autostackability, and we give an explicit bounded regular convergent prefix-rewriting system for $F$.
We study the monoid generalization M_{k,1} of the Thompson-Higman groups, and we characterize the R- and the L-preorder of M_{k,1}. Although M_{k,1} has only one non-zero J-class and k-1 non-zero D-classes, the R- and the L-preorder are complicated; in particular, <_R is dense (even within an L-class), and <_L is dense (even within an R-class). We study the computational complexity of the R- and the L-preorder. When inputs are given by words over a finite generating set of M_{k,1}, the R- and the L-preorder decision problems are in P. The main result of the paper is that over a "circuit-like" …
We prove that Claas Röver's Thompson-Grigorchuk simple group $V\mathcal{G}$ has type $F_\infty$. The proof involves constructing two complexes on which $V\mathcal{G}$ acts: a simplicial complex analogous to the Stein complex for $V$, and a polysimiplical complex analogous to the Farley complex for $V$. We then analyze the descending links of the polysimplicial complex, using a theorem of Belk and Forrest to prove increasing connectivity.
The distance from the origin in the word metric for generalizations F(p) of Thompson's group F is quasi-isometric to the number of carets in the reduced rooted tree diagrams representing the elements of F(p). This interpretation of the metric is used to prove that every F(p) admits a quasi-isometric embedding into every F(q), and also to study the behavior of the shift maps under these embeddings.
We describe, through the use of Rubin's theorem, the automorphism groups of the Higman-Thompson groups $G_{n,r}$ as groups of specific homeomorphisms of Cantor spaces $\mathfrak{C}_{n,r}$. This continues a thread of research begun by Brin, and extended later by Brin and Guzmán: to characterise the automorphism groups of the `Chameleon groups of Richard Thompson,' as Brin referred to them in 1996. The work here completes the first stage of that twenty-year-old program, containing (amongst other things) a characterisation of the automorphism group of $V$, which was the `last chameleon.' The home…
We prove surjectivity of certain word maps on finite non-abelian simple groups. More precisely, we prove the following: if N is a product of two prime powers, then the word map sending (x,y) to the product of the Nth powers of x and y is surjective on every finite non-abelian simple group; If is an odd integer, then the word map sending the triple (x,y,z) to the product of the Nth powers is surjective on every finite quasisimple group. These generalize classical theorems of Burnside and Feit-Thompson. We also prove asymptotic results about the surjectivity of the word map sending (x,y) to the …
Let $1 \le r < n$ be integers. We give a proof that the group $\mathop{\mathrm{Aut}}({X_{n}^{\mathbb{N}}, σ_{n}})$ of automorphisms of the one-sided shift on $n$ letters embeds naturally as a subgroup $\mathcal{H}_{n}$ of the outer automorphism group $\mathop{\mathrm{Out}}({G_{n,r}})$ of the Higman-Thompson group $G_{n,r}$. From this, we can represent the elements of $\mathop{\mathrm{Aut}}({X_{n}^{\mathbb{N}}, σ_{n}})$ by finite state non-initial transducers admitting a very strong synchronizing condition. Let $H \in \mathcal{H}_{n}$ and write $|H|$ for the number of states of the minimal tran…
We describe how an Ore category with a Garside family can be used to construct a classifying space for its fundamental group(s). The construction simultaneously generalizes Brady's classifying space for braid groups and the Stein--Farley complexes used for various relatives of Thompson's groups. It recovers the fact that Garside groups have finite classifying spaces. We describe the categories and Garside structures underlying certain Thompson groups. The Zappa--Szép product of categories is introduced and used to construct new categories and groups from known ones. As an illustration of our m…
We show that several classes of groups G of PL-homeomorphisms of the real line admit non-trivial homomorphisms from G to the additive group of reals that are fixed by every automorphism of G. The classes of groups enjoying the stated property include the generalisations of Thompson's group F studied by K. S. Brown, M. Stein, S. Cleary, and Bieri-Strebel but also the class of groups investigated by Bieri-Neumann-Strebel in [BNS87, Theorem 8.1]. It follows that every automorphism of a group in one of these classes has infinitely many associated twisted conjugacy classes.
