In this paper we study Sigma invariants of even Artin groups of FC-type, extending some known results for right-angled Artin groups. In particular, we define a condition that we call the strong homological $n$-link condition for a graph $Γ$ and prove that it gives a sufficient condition for a character $χ:A_Γ\to \mathbb{Z}$ to satisfy $[χ]\inΣ^n(A_Γ,\mathbb{Z})$. This implies that the kernel $A^χ_Γ=\ker χ$ is of type $FP_n$. The homotopy counterpart is also proved. Partial results on the converse are discussed.
We also provide a general formula for the free part of $H_n(A^χ_Γ;\mathbb{F})$ as an $\mathbb{F}[t^{\pm 1}]$-module with the natural action induced by $χ$. This gives a characterization of when $H_n(A^χ_Γ;\mathbb{F})$ is a finite dimensional vector space over $\mathbb{F}$.
In the last version we correct a problem in the proof of Lemma 4.3 and also a remark at the end of subsection 3.3.
We compute the BNS-invariant for the pure symmetric automorphism groups of right-angled Artin groups. We use this calculation to show that the pure symmetric automorphism group of a right-angled Artin group is itself not a right-angled Artin group provided that its defining graph contains a separating intersection of links.
We show that the Aut-invariant word norm on right angled Artin and right angled Coxeter groups is unbounded (except in few special cases). To prove unboundedness we exhibit certain characteristic subgroups. This allows us to find unbounded quasimorphisms which are Lipschitz with respect to the Aut-invariant word norm.
We introduce a homology theory for subspace arrangements, and use it to extract a new system of numerical invariants from the Bieri-Neumann-Strebel invariant of a group. We use these to characterize when the set of basis conjugating outer automorphisms (a.k.a. the pure symmetric outer automorphism group) of a right-angled Artin group is itself a right-angled Artin group.
We calculate the Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz invariant $Σ^1(G)$ for even Artin groups $G$ with underlying graph $Γ$ such that if there is a closed reduced path in $Γ$ with all labels bigger than 2 then the length of such path is always odd. We show that $Σ^1(G)^c$ is a rationally defined spherical polyhedron.
A finite simplicial graph Γdetermines a right-angled Artin group G_Γ, with generators corresponding to the vertices of Γ, and with a relation vw=wv for each pair of adjacent vertices. We compute the lower central series quotients, the Chen quotients, and the (first) resonance variety of G_Γ, directly from the graph Γ.
Recently, Cohen and Wales built a faithful linear representation of the Artin group of type $D_n$, hence showing the linearity of this group. It was later discovered that this representation is reducible for some complex values of its two parameters. It was also shown that when the representation is reducible, the action on a proper invariant subspace is a Hecke algebra action of type $D_n$. The goal of this paper is to classify these proper invariant subspaces in terms of Specht modules indexed by double partitions of the integer $n$. This work is the continuation of arXiv:1103.5673
We solve the simultaneous conjugacy problem in Artin's braid groups and, more generally, in Garside groups, by means of a complete, effectively computable, finite invariant. This invariant generalizes the one-dimensional notion of super summit set to arbitrary dimensions. One key ingredient in our solution is the introduction of a provable high-dimensional version of the Birman--Ko--Lee cycling theorem. The complexity of this solution is a small degree polynomial in the cardinalities of our generalized super summit sets and the input parameters. Computer experiments suggest that the cardinalit…
We classify an action of the $n$-strand braid group on the free group of rank $n$ which is similar to the Artin representation in the sense that the $i$-th generator $σ_{i}$ of $B_{n}$ acts so that it fixes all free generators $x_{j}$ except $j = i,i+1$. We determine all such representations and discuss knot invariants coming from such representations.
We prove that if a right-angled Artin group $A_Γ$ is abstractly commensurable to a group splitting non-trivially as an amalgam or HNN-extension over $\mathbb{Z}^n$, then $A_Γ$ must itself split non-trivially over $\mathbb{Z}^k$ for some $k\le n$. Consequently, if two right-angled Artin groups $A_Γ$ and $A_Δ$ are commensurable and $Γ$ has no separating $k$-cliques for any $k\le n$ then neither does $Δ$, so "smallest size of separating clique" is a commensurability invariant. We also discuss some implications for issues of quasi-isometry. Using similar methods we also prove that for $n\ge 4$ the…
In this paper we study topological invariants of a class of random groups. Namely, we study right angled Artin groups associated to random graphs and investigate their Betti numbers, cohomological dimension and topological complexity. The latter is a numerical homotopy invariant reflecting complexity of motion planning algorithms in robotics. We show that the topological complexity of a random right angled Artin group assumes, with probability tending to one, at most three values. We use a result of Cohen and Pruidze which expresses the topological complexity of right angled Artin groups in co…
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…
For a one-ended right-angled Artin group, we give an explicit description of its JSJ tree of cylinders over infinite cyclic subgroups in terms of its defining graph. This is then used to classify certain right-angled Artin groups up to quasi-isometry. In particular, we show that if two right-angled Artin groups are quasi-isometric, then their JSJ trees of cylinders are weakly equivalent. Although the converse to this is not generally true, we define quasi-isometry invariants known as stretch factors that can distinguish quasi-isometry classes of RAAGs with weakly equivalence JSJ trees of cylin…
From a group $H$ and a non-trivial element $h$ of $H$, we define a representation $ρ: B_n \to \Aut(G)$, where $B_n$ denotes the braid group on $n$ strands, and $G$ denotes the free product of $n$ copies of $H$. Such a representation shall be called the Artin type representation associated to the pair $(H,h)$. The goal of the present paper is to study different aspects of these representations. Firstly, we associate to each braid $β$ a group $Γ_{(H,h)} (β)$ and prove that the operator $Γ_{(H,h)}$ determines a group invariant of oriented links. We then give a topological construction of the Arti…
I survey the known results about the invariant Sigma 1 of groups of PL-homeomorphisms of a compact interval and supplement them with new results about Sigma 1 of PL-homeomorphism groups of a half line or a line. The proofs are based on the Cayley-graph definition of the invariant.
We develop new invariants similar to the Bieri-Strebel-Neumann-Renz invariants but in the category of Bredon modules (with respect to the class of the finite subgroups of G). We prove that for virtually soluble groups of type FP_{\infty} and finite extension of the Thompson group F the new invariants coincide with the classical ones.
Bestvina-Brady groups arise as kernels of length homomorphisms from right-angled Artin groups G_\G to the integers. Under some connectivity assumptions on the flag complex Δ_\G, we compute several algebraic invariants of such a group N_\G, directly from the underlying graph \G. As an application, we give examples of Bestvina-Brady groups which are not isomorphic to any Artin group or arrangement group.
We construct "pushing maps" on the cube complexes that model right-angled Artin groups (RAAGs) in order to study filling problems in certain subsets of these cube complexes. We use radial pushing to obtain upper bounds on higher divergence functions, finding that the k-dimensional divergence of a RAAG is bounded by r^{2k+2}. These divergence functions, previously defined for Hadamard manifolds to measure isoperimetric properties "at infinity," are defined here as a family of quasi-isometry invariants of groups; thus, these results give new information about the QI classification of RAAGs. By p…
Thompson's group F is the group of all increasing dyadic piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the closed unit interval. We compute Sigma^m(F) and Sigma^m(F;Z), the homotopical and homological Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz invariants of F, and we show that Sigma^m(F) = Sigma^m(F;Z). As an application, we show that, for every m, F has subgroups of type F_{m-1} which are not of type F_{m}.
In 2003, Fomin and Zelevinsky proved that finite type cluster algebras can be classified by Dynkin diagrams. Then in 2013, Barot and Marsh defined the presentation of a reflection group associated to a Dynkin diagram in terms of an edge-weighted, oriented graph, and proved that this group is invariant (up to isomorphism) under diagram mutations. In this paper, we extend Barot and Marsh's results to Artin group presentations, defining new generator relations and showing mutation-invariance for these presentations.
The present paper constructs unbounded quasimorphisms that are invariant under all automorphisms on free products of more than two factors and on graph products of finitely generated abelian groups. This includes many classes of right angled Artin and right angled Coxeter groups. We discuss various geometrically arising families of graphs as examples and deduce the non-triviality of an invariant analogue of stable commutator length recently introduced by Kawasaki and Kimura for these groups.
The isomorphism type of the Galois group of the 2-class field tower of quadratic number fields having a 2-class group with abelian type invariants (4,4) is determined by means of information on the transfer of 2-classes to unramified abelian 2-extensions, collected in the Artin pattern. In recent investigations by Benjamin and Snyder, the length of the tower of such fields has turned out to be dependent on the rank of the 2-class group of the first Hilbert 2-class field. Significant progress is achieved by extending the pool of possible metabelian 2-groups of the second Hilbert 2-class field f…
We show that each of the Artin groups of type $B_n$ and $D_n$ can be presented as a semidirect product $F \rtimes {\cal B}_n$, where $F$ is a free group and ${\cal B}_n$ is the $n$-string braid group. We explain how these semidirect product structures arise quite naturally from fibrations, and observe that, in each case, the action of the braid group ${\cal B}_n$ on the free group $F$ is classical. We prove that, for each of the semidirect products, the group of automorphisms which leave invariant the normal subgroup $F$ is small: namely, ${\rm Out}(A(B_n),F)$ has order 2, and ${\rm Out}(A(D_n…
We introduce and explore a natural rank for totally disconnected locally compact groups called the bounded conjugacy rank. This rank is shown to be a lattice invariant for lattices in sigma compact totally disconnected locally compact groups; that is to say, for a given sigma compact totally disconnected locally compact group, some lattice has bounded conjugacy rank n if and only if every lattice has bounded conjugacy rank n. Several examples are then presented.
The Product Conjecture for the homological Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz invariants is proved over a field. Under certain hypotheses the Product Conjecture is shown to also hold over Z, even though D. Schuetz has recently shown that the Conjecture is false in general over Z. Our version over Z is applied in a joint paper with D. Kochloukova to derive new information about subgroups of Thompson's group F, namely that F has subgroups F_m which are not of type F_{m+1}.
We describe the structure of quasiflats in two-dimensio\-nal Artin groups. We rely on the notion of metric systolicity developed in our previous work. Using this weak form of non-positive curvature and analyzing in details the combinatorics of tilings of the plane we describe precisely the building blocks for quasiflats in all two-dimensional Artin groups -- atomic sectors. This allows us to provide useful quasi-isometry invariants for such groups -- completions of atomic sectors, stable lines, and the intersection pattern of certain abelian subgroups. These are described combinatorially, in t…
By the construction of suitable non-metabelian Schur sigma-groups S of type (9,3) with log order lo(S) = 21 and nilpotency class cl(S) = 9, evidence is provided of a new class of imaginary quadratic fields K with 3-class group Cl(3,K) ~ C(9) * C(3) and punctured principalization type kappa ~ (1,4,4;4) whose 3-class field tower consists of precisely three stages. In contrast, previous examples of three-stage towers were associated with kappa in { (1,1,2;2), (1,1,2;3), (1,1,4;2), (1,2,3;1) }, lo(S) = 9 and cl(S) = 5.
The Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz invariants $Σ^q(X,\mathbb{Z})\subset H^1(X,\mathbb{R})$ of a connected, finite-type CW-complex $X$ are the vanishing loci for Novikov-Sikorav homology in degrees up to $q$, while the characteristic varieties $\mathcal{V}^q(X) \subset H^1(X,\mathbb{C}^{\times})$ are the nonvanishing loci for homology with coefficients in rank 1 local systems in degree $q$. We show that each BNSR invariant $Σ^q(X,\mathbb{Z})$ is contained in the complement of the tropical variety associated to the algebraic variety $\mathcal{V}^{\le q}(X)$, and provide applications to several class…
The purpose of this article is to give a characterization of families of expander graphs via right-angled Artin groups. We prove that a sequence of simplicial graphs $\{Γ_i\}_{i\in\mathbb{N}}$ forms a family of expander graphs if and only if a certain natural mini-max invariant arising from the cup product in the cohomology rings of the groups $\{A(Γ_i)\}_{i\in\mathbb{N}}$ agrees with the Cheeger constant of the sequence of graphs, thus allowing us to characterize expander graphs via cohomology. This result is proved in the more general framework of \emph{vector space expanders}, a novel struc…
In this paper, we introduce a broad family of group homomorphisms that we name the Gauss-Epple homomorphisms. In the setting of braid groups, the Gauss-Epple invariant was originally defined by Epple based on a note of Gauss as an action of the braid group $B_n$ on the set $\{1, \dots, n\}\times\mathbb{Z}$; we prove that it is well-defined. We consider the associated group homomorphism from $B_n$ to the symmetric group $\text{Sym}(\{1, \dots, n\}\times\mathbb{Z})$. We prove that this homomorphism factors through $\mathbb{Z}^n\rtimes S_n$ (in fact, its image is an order 2 subgroup of the previo…
