We compute the automorphism groups of the Torelli complex and the complex of separating curves for all but finitely many compact orientable surfaces. As an application, we show that the abstract commensurators of the Torelli group and the Johnson kernel for such surfaces are naturally isomorphic to the extended mapping class group.
For any surface $Σ$ of infinite topological type, we study the Torelli subgroup ${\mathcal I}(Σ)$ of the mapping class group ${\rm MCG}(Σ)$, whose elements are those mapping classes that act trivially on the homology of $Σ$. Our first result asserts that ${\mathcal I}(Σ)$ is topologically generated by the subgroup of ${\rm MCG}(Σ)$ consisting of those elements in the Torelli group which have compact support. In particular, using results of Birman, Powell, and Putman we deduce that ${\mathcal I}(Σ)$ is topologically generated by separating twists and bounding pair maps. Next, we prove the abstr…
Let $Γ$ be either the mapping class group of a closed surface of genus $\geq 2$, or the automorphism group of a free group of rank $\geq 3$. Given any homological representation $ρ$ of $Γ$ corresponding to a finite cover, and any term $\mathcal{I}_k$ of the Johnson filtration, we show that $ρ(\mathcal{I}_k)$ has finite index in $ρ(\mathcal{I})$, the Torelli subgroup of $Γ$. Since $[\mathcal{I}: \mathcal{I}_k] = \infty$ for $k > 1$, this implies for instance that no such representation is faithful.
We prove a representation stability result for the second homology groups of Torelli subgroups of mapping class groups and automorphism groups of free groups. This strengthens the results of Boldsen-Hauge Dollerup and Day-Putman. We also prove a new representation stability result for the homology of certain congruence subgroups, partially improving upon the work of Putman-Sam. These results follow from a general theorem on syzygies of certain modules with finite polynomial degree.
We show that many normal subgroups of the braid group modulo its centre, and of the mapping class group of a sphere with marked points, have the property that their automorphism and abstract commensurator groups are mapping class groups of such spheres. As one application, we establish the automorphism groups of each term in the lower central series and derived series of the pure braid group. We also obtain new proofs of results of Dyer-Grossman and Orevkov, showing that the automorphism groups of the braid group and of its commutator subgroup are isomorphic. We then calculate the automorphism…
We show that the outer automorphism groups of graph products of finitely generated abelian groups satisfy the Tits alternative, are residually finite, their so-called Torelli subgroups are finitely generated, and they satisfy a dichotomy between being virtually nilpotent and containing a non-abelian free subgroup that is determined by a graphical condition on the underlying labelled graph. Graph products of finitely generated abelian groups simultaneously generalize right-angled Artin groups (RAAGs) and right-angled Coxter groups (RACGs), providing a common framework for studying these groups.…
We give a condition on the defining graph of a right-angled Artin group which implies its automorphism group is virtually indicable, that is, it has a finite-index subgroup that admits a homomorphism onto $\Z$. We use this as part of a criterion that determines precisely when the outer automorphism group of a right-angled Artin group defined on a graph with no separating intersection of links has property (T). As a consequence we also obtain a similar criterion for graphs in which each equivalence class under the domination relation of Servatius generates an abelian group.
Let A denote either the automorphism group of the free group of rank n>=4 or the mapping class group of an orientable surface of genus n>=12 with at most 1 boundary component, and let G be either the subgroup of IA-automorphisms or the Torelli subgroup of A, respectively. For a natural number N denote by G_N the Nth term of the lower central series of G. We prove that (i) any subgroup of G containing [G,G] (in particular, the Johnson kernel in the mapping class group case) is finitely generated; (ii) if N=2 or n>=8N-4 and K is any subgroup of G containing G_N (for instance, K can be the Nth te…
This article studies automorphism groups of graph products of arbitrary groups. We completely characterise automorphisms that preserve the set of conjugacy classes of vertex groups as those automorphisms that can be decomposed as a product of certain elementary automorphisms (inner automorphisms, partial conjugations, automorphisms associated to symmetries of the underlying graph). This allows us to completely compute the automorphism group of certain graph products, for instance in the case where the underlying graph is finite, connected, leafless and of girth at least $5$. If in addition the…
School of Mathematics, Fry Building, Woodland Road Bristol, UK（布里斯托大学数学学院）；Maxwell Institute and Department of Mathematics Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh, UK（爱丁堡赫瑞-瓦特大学麦克斯韦研究所和数学系）
