Finitely generated infinite simple groups of infinite square width and vanishing stable commutator length
Alexey Muranov
备注：
v4: 41 pages, 6 figures rescaled at 120%; references updated, typos corrected, other minor corrections. v3: minor changes to the title, text and figures. v2: 41 pages, 6 figures; correction: Ore's conjecture was proved in 2008; 2 references added. v1: 40 pages, 6 figures
发表信息：
Journal of Topology and Analysis (JTA), Volume 2, Issue 3 (September 2010), pp. 341--384
It is shown that there exist finitely generated infinite simple groups of infinite commutator width and infinite square width on which there exists no stably unbounded conjugation-invariant norm, and in particular stable commutator length vanishes. Moreover, a recursive presentation of such a group with decidable word and conjugacy problems is constructed.
It is shown that there exists a finitely generated infinite simple group of infinite commutator width, and that the commutator width of a finitely generated infinite boundedly simple group can be arbitrarily large. Besides, such groups can be constructed with decidable word and conjugacy problems.
We provide the first example of a finitely presented (in fact, type $F_\infty$) group with elements whose stable commutator length is algebraic and irrational, answering a question of Calegari. Our example is the lift to the real line of the \emph{golden ratio Thompson group} $T_τ$: the circle analogue of the Cleary's golden ratio Thompson group $F_τ$ which acts on the interval.
We present an explicit structure for the Baer invariant of a finitely generated abelian group with respect to the variety $[\mathfrak{N}_{c_1},\mathfrak{N}_{c_2}]$, for all $c_2\leq c_1\leq 2c_2$. As a consequence we determine necessary and sufficient conditions for such groups to be $[\mathfrak{N}_{c_1},\mathfrak{N}_{c_2}]$-capable. We also show that if $c_1\neq 1\neq c_2$, then a finitely generated abelian group is $[\mathfrak{N}_{c_1},\mathfrak{N}_{c_2}]$-capable if and only if it is capable. Finally we show that $\mathfrak{S}_2$-capability implies capability but there is a finitely generat…
For a family of group words $w$ we show that if $G$ is a profinite group in which all $w$-values are contained in a union of finitely many subgroups with a prescribed property, then $w(G)$ has the same property as well. In particular, we show this in the case where the subgroups are periodic or of finite rank. If $G$ contains finitely many subgroups $G_1,G_2,...,G_s$ of finite exponent $e$ whose union contains all $γ_k$-values in $G$, it is shown that $γ_k(G)$ has finite $(e,k,s)$-bounded exponent. If $G$ contains finitely many subgroups $G_1,G_2,...,G_s$ of finite rank $r$ whose union contain…
We classify pairs of conjugacy classes in almost simple algebraic groups whose product consists of finitely many classes. This leads to several interesting families of examples which are related to a generalization of the Baer--Suzuki theorem for finite groups. We also answer a question of Pavel Shumyatsky on commutators of pairs of conjugacy classes in simple algebraic groups. It turns out that the resulting examples are exactly those for which the product also consists of only finitely many classes.
Let N be a normal subgroup of a finite group G. We prove that under certain (unavoidable) conditions the subgroup [N,G] is a product of commutators [N,y] (with prescribed values of y from a given set Y) of length bounded by a function of d(G) and |Y| only. This has several applications: 1. A new proof that G^n is closed (and hence open) in any finitely generated profinite group G. 2. A finitely generated abstract quotient of a compact Hausdorff group must be finite. 3. Let G be a topologically finitely generated compact Hausdorff group. Then G has a countably infinite abstract quotient if and …
We consider profinite groups in which all commutators are contained in a union of finitely many procyclic subgroups. It is shown that if G is a profinite group in which all commutators are covered by m procyclic subgroups, then G possesses a finite characteristic subgroup M contained in G' such that the order of M is m-bounded and G'/M is procyclic. If G is a pro-p group such that all commutators in G are covered by m procyclic subgroups, then G' is either finite of m-bounded order or procyclic.
We consider the class of finitely generated groups whose relators are powers of commutators of the generators. This class contains as a small subclass graph groups (also called RAAGs), namely if all powers are one. Graph groups are the only torsionfree groups in this class. The generators are of infinite order, but we may also add torsion by assigning arbitrary orders to the generators. Then the above mentioned small subclass contains partially commutative Shephard groups. We show that these groups embed into Coxeter groups as finite index subgroups, thus establishing the linearity of these gr…
Let $VB_n$, resp. $WB_n$ denote the virtual, resp. welded, braid group on $n$ strands. We study their commutator subgroups $VB_n' = [VB_n, VB_n]$ and, $WB_n' = [WB_n, WB_n]$ respectively. We obtain a set of generators and defining relations for these commutator subgroups. In particular, we prove that $VB_n'$ is finitely generated if and only if $n \geq 4$, and $WB_n'$ is finitely generated for $n \geq 3$. Also we prove that $VB_3'/VB_3'' =\mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus\mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}^{\infty}$, $VB_4' / VB_4'' = \mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_3$, $WB…
Let $G$ be the first Grigorchuk group. We show that the commutator width of $G$ is $2$: every element $g\in [G,G]$ is a product of two commutators, and also of six conjugates of $a$. Furthermore, we show that every finitely generated subgroup $H\leq G$ has finite commutator width, which however can be arbitrarily large, and that $G$ contains a subgroup of infinite commutator width. The proofs were assisted by the computer algebra system GAP.
We study stable commutator length on mapping class groups of certain infinite-type surfaces. In particular, we show that stable commutator length defines a continuous function on the commutator subgroups of such infinite-type mapping class groups. We furthermore show that the commutator subgroups are open and closed subgroups and that the abelianizations are finitely generated in many cases. Our results apply to many popular infinite-type surfaces with locally coarsely bounded mapping class groups.
We provide new computations in bounded cohomology: A group is boundedly acyclic if its bounded cohomology with trivial real coefficients is zero in all positive degrees. We show that there exists a continuum of finitely generated non-amenable boundedly acyclic groups and construct a finitely presented non-amenable boundedly acyclic group. On the other hand, we construct a continuum of finitely generated groups, whose bounded cohomology has uncountable dimension in all degrees greater than or equal to~$2$, and a concrete finitely presented one. Countable non-amenable groups with these two extre…
In 1904, Issai Schur proved the following result. If $G$ is an arbitrary group such that $G/\Z(G)$ is finite, where $\Z(G)$ denotes the center of the group $G$, then the commutator subgroup of $G$ is finite. A partial converse of this result was proved by B. H. Neumann in 1951. He proved that if $G$ is a finitely generated group with finite commutator subgroup, then $G/\Z(G)$ is finite. In this short note, we exhibit few arguments of Neumann, which provide further generalizations of converse of the above mentioned result of Schur. We classify all finite groups $G$ such that $|G/\Z(G)| = |γ_2(G…
Let $WB_n$ be the welded (or loop) braid group on n strands, $n \geq 3$. We investigate commutator subgroup of $WB_n$. We prove that the commutator subgroup $WB_n'$ is finitely generated and Hopfian. We show that $WB_n'$ is perfect if and only if $n \geq 5$. We also compute finite presentation for $FWB_n'$, the commutator subgroup of the flat welded braid group $FWB_n$. Along the way, we investigate adorability of these groups.
In 2012 Monod introduced examples of groups of piecewise projective homeomorphisms which are not amenable and which do not contain free subgroups, and later Lodha and Moore introduced examples of finitely presented groups with the same property. In this article we examine the normal subgroup structure of these groups. Two important cases of our results are the groups $H$ and $G_0$. We show that the group $H$ of piecewise projective homeomorphisms of $\mathbb{R}$ has the property that $H"$ is simple and that every proper quotient of $H$ is metabelian. We establish simplicity of the commutator s…
Let w be a group-word. Suppose that the set of all w-values in a profinite group G is contained in a union of countably many cosets of subgroups. We are concerned with the question to what extent the structure of the verbal subgroup w(G) depends on the properties of the subgroups. We prove the following theorem. Let C be a class of groups closed under taking subgroups, quotients, and such that in any group the product of finitely many normal C-subgroups is again a C-subgroup. If w is a multilinear commutator and G is a profinite group such that the set of all w-values is contained in a union o…
The singular braids with $n$ strands, $n \geq 3$, were introduced independently by Baez and Birman. It is known that the monoid formed by the singular braids is embedded in a group that is known as singular braid group, denoted by $SG_n$. There has been another generalization of braid groups, denoted by $GVB_n$, $n \geq 3$, which was introduced by Fang as a group of symmetries behind quantum quasi-shuffle structures. The group $GVB_n$ simultaneously generalizes the classical braid group, as well as the virtual braid group on $n$ strands. We investigate the commutator subgroups $SG_n'$ and $GVB…
A group is metabelian if its commutator subgroup is abelian. For finitely generated metabelian groups, classical commutative algebra, algebraic geometry and geometric group theory, especially the latter two subjects, can be brought to bear on their study. The object of this paper is to describe some of the new ideas and open problems that arise.
We give a new proof of a theorem of D. Calegari that says that the Cayley graph of a surface group with respect to any generating set lying in finitely many mapping class group orbits has infinite diameter. This applies, for instance, to the generating set consisting of all simple closed curves.
For a finitely generated group $G$ we calculate the Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz invariant $Σ^1(\X(G))$ for the weak commutativity construction $\X(G)$. Identifying $S(\X(G))$ with $S(\X(G) / W(G))$ we show $Σ^2(\X(G),\Z) \subseteq Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G),\Z)$ and $Σ^2(\X(G)) \subseteq $ $ Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G))$ that are equalities when $W(G)$ is finitely generated and we explicitly calculate $Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G),\Z)$ and $ Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G))$ in terms of the $Σ$-invariants of $G$. We calculate completely the $Σ$-invariants in dimensions 1 and 2 of the group $ν(G)$ and show that if $G$ is finitely generated group …
We associate with every locally expanding self-covering $f:M\to M$ of a compact path connected metric space a finitely presented group $V_f$. We prove that this group is a complete invariant of the dynamical system: two groups $V_{f_1}$ and $V_{f_2}$ are isomorphic as abstract groups if and only if the corresponding dynamical systems are topologically conjugate. We also show that the commutator subgroup of $V_f$ is simple, and give a topological interpretation of $V_f/V_f'$.
Let $TW_n$ be the twin group on $n$ arcs, $n \geq 2$. The group $TW_{m+2}$ is isomorphic to Grothendieck's $m$-dimensional cartographical group $\mathcal C_m$, $m \geq 1$. In this paper we give a finite presentation for the commutator subgroup $TW_{m+2}'$, and prove that $TW_{m+2}'$ has rank $2m-1$. We derive that $TW_{m+2}'$ is free if and only if $m \leq 3$. From this it follows that $TW_{m+2}$ is word-hyperbolic and does not contain a surface group if and only if $m \leq 3$. It also follows that the automorphism group of $TW_{m+2}$ is finitely presented for $m \leq 3$.
In this paper we obtain uniform positive lower bounds on stable commutator length in word-hyperbolic groups and certain groups acting on hyperbolic spaces (namely the mapping class group acting on the complex of curves, and an amalgamated free product acting on the Bass-Serre tree). If G is a word hyperbolic group which is delta hyperbolic with respect to a symmetric generating set S, then there is a positive constant C depending only on delta and on |S| such that every element of G either has a power which is conjugate to its inverse, or else the stable commutator length is at least equal to …
We show that the wreath product $G \wr \mathbb{Z}^n$ of any finitely generated group $G$ with $\mathbb{Z}^n$ has finite palindromic width. We also show that $C \wr A$ has finite palindromic width if $C$ has finite commutator width and $A$ is a finitely generated infinite abelian group. Further we prove that if $H$ is a non-abelian group with finite palindromic width and $G$ any finitely generated group, then every element of the subgroup $G' \wr H$ can be expressed as a product of uniformly boundedly many palindromes. From this we obtain that $P \wr H$ has finite palindromic width if $P$ is a …
The goal of this article is to exhibit two new families of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of $\mathbf{R}$. These families are strikingly different from existing families owing to the nature of their actions on $\mathbf{R}$, and exhibit surprising algebraic and dynamical features. In particular, one construction provides the first examples of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of the real line which also admit a minimal action by homeomorphisms on the circle. This provides new examples of finitely generated simple groups with infinite commutator width, and th…
Let $G$ be a finite $p$-group. We prove that whenever the commuting probability of $G$ is greater than $(2p^2 + p - 2)/p^5$, the unramified Brauer group of the field of $G$-invariant functions is trivial. Equivalently, all relations between commutators in $G$ are consequences of some universal ones. The bound is best possible, and gives a global lower bound of $1/4$ for all finite groups. The result is attained by describing the structure of groups whose Bogomolov multipliers are nontrivial, and Bogomolov multipliers of all of their proper subgroups and quotients are trivial. Applications incl…
In this note, we compute the Σ^1(G) invariant when 1 {\to} H {\to} G {\to} K {\to} 1 is a short exact sequence of finitely generated groups with K finite. As an application, we construct a group F semidirect Z_2 where F is the R. Thompson's group F and show that F semidirect Z_2 has the R-infinity property while F is not characteristic. Furthermore, we construct a finite extension G with finitely generated commutator subgroup G' but has a finite index normal subgroup H with infinitely generated H'.
We show that the finitely generated simple left orderable groups $G_ρ$ constructed by the first two authors in arXiv:1807.06478 are uniformly perfect - each element in the group can be expressed as a product of three commutators of elements in the group. This implies that the group does not admit any homogeneous quasimorphism. Moreover, any nontrivial action of the group on the circle, which lifts to an action on the real line, admits a fixed point. Most strikingly, it follows that the groups are examples of left orderable monsters, which means that any faithful action on the real line without…
The main theme of this paper is higher virtual algebraic fibering properties of right-angled Coxeter groups (RACGs), with a special focus on those whose defining flag complex is a finite building. We prove for particular classes of finite buildings that their random induced subcomplexes have a number of strong properties, most prominently that they are highly connected. From this we are able to deduce that the commutator subgroup of a RACG, with defining flag complex a finite building of a certain type, admits an epimorphism to $\mathbb{Z}$ whose kernel has strong topological finiteness proper…
We show that every bounded automaton group can be embedded in a finitely generated, simple amenable group. The proof is based on the study of the topological full groups associated to the Schreier dynamical system of the mother groups. We also show that if $\mathcal{G}$ is a minimal étale groupoid with unit space the Cantor set, the group $[[\mathcal{G}]]_t$ generated by all torsion elements in the topological full group has simple commutator subgroup.
We study conditions under which subdirect products of various types of algebraic structures are finitely generated or finitely presented. In the case of two factors, we prove general results for arbitrary congruence permutable varieties, which generalise previously known results for groups, and which apply to modules, rings, $K$-algebras and loops. For instance, if $C$ is a fiber product of $A$ and $B$ over a common quotient $D$, and if $A$, $B$ and $D$ are finitely presented, then $C$ is finitely generated. For subdirect products of more than two factors we establish a general connection with…
Shumyatsky and the second author proved that if G is a finitely generated residually finite p-group satisfying a law, then, for almost all primes, the fact that a normal and commutator-closed set of generators satisfies a positive law implies that the whole of G also satisfies a (possibly different) positive law. In this paper, we construct a counterexample showing that the hypothesis of finite generation of the group G cannot be dispensed with.
Let $w$ be a multilinear commutator word. In the present paper we describe recent results that show that if $G$ is a profinite group in which all $w$-values are contained in a union of finitely (or in some cases countably) many subgroups with a prescribed property, then the verbal subgroup $w(G)$ has the same property as well. In particular, we show this in the case where the subgroups are periodic or of finite rank.
We construct invariant quasimorphisms for groups acting on the circle. Furthermore, we provide a criterion for the non-extendablity of the resulting quasimorphisms and an explicit formula which relates the values of our quasimorphisms to those of the Poincaré translation number. By using them, we show that the stable commutator length $\mathrm{scl}_G$ and the stable mixed commutator length $\mathrm{scl}_{G,N}$ are not bi-Lipschitzly equivalent for the surface group $G=π_1(Σ_{\ell})$ of genus at least $2$ and its commutator subgroup $N = [π_1(Σ_{\ell}), π_1(Σ_{\ell})]$. We also show the non-equ…
Letting $G=F/R$ be a finitely-presented group, Hopf's formula expresses the second integral homology of $G$ in terms of $F$ and $R$. Expanding on previous work, we explain how to find generators of $H_2(G;\mathbb{F}_p)$. The context of the problem, which is related to a conjecture of Quillen, is presented, as well as example calculations.
We generalize basic results relating the associated graded Lie algebra and the holonomy Lie algebra from finitely presented, commutator-relators groups to arbitrary finitely presented groups. In the process, we give an explicit formula for the cup-product in the cohomology of a finite 2-complex, and an algorithm for computing the corresponding holonomy Lie algebra, using a Magnus expansion method. We illustrate our approach with examples drawn from a variety of group-theoretic and topological contexts, such as link groups, one-relator groups, and fundamental groups of orientable Seifert fibere…
Let $M$ be the circle or a compact interval, and let $α=k+τ\ge1$ be a real number such that $k=\lfloor α\rfloor$. We write $\mathrm{Diff}_+^α(M)$ for the group of $C^k$ diffeomorphisms of $M$ whose $k^{th}$ derivatives are Hölder continuous with exponent $τ$. If $α\ge1$, we prove that there exists a finitely generated subgroup $G_α\le\mathrm{Diff}_+^α(M)$ with the property that $G_α$ admits no injective homomorphisms into $\mathrm{Diff}_+^β(M)$ for all $β>α$. If $α>1$, we also show the dual result: there exists a finitely generated group $H_α\le\bigcap_{β<α}\mathrm{Diff}_+^β(M)$ with the prope…
