We develop further Cannon's method of cone types for finding the growth function of a group, which can also be used to find the coordination sequences of certain infinite graphs. We then apply this method to compute the growth functions and series of the wallpaper groups (the 2 dimensional crystallographic groups). The paper has a number of illustrating colored figures and tables summarizing the results.
We construct the meromorphic functions invariant under the action of the sense-preserving wallpaper groups on the complex plane. We discuss possible generalisa-tions of this to the general wallpaper groups. This provides the answer to a question posed on StackExchange regarding the possible symmetries of elliptic functions.
In this paper we compute the Bredon homology of wallpaper groups with respect to the family of finite groups and with coefficients in the complex representation ring. We provide explicit bases of the homology groups in terms of irreducible characters of the representation rings of the stabilizers.
The objective of this paper is to detect which combinatorial properties of a regular graph can completely determine the geodesic growth of the right-angled Coxeter or Artin group this graph defines, and to provide the first examples of right-angled and even Coxeter groups with the same geodesic growth series.
We introduce an algorithmic framework to investigate spherical and geodesic growth series of braid groups relatively to the Artin's or Birman-Ko-Lee's generators. We present our experimentations in the case of three and four strands and conjecture rational expressions for the spherical growth series with respect to the Birman-Ko-Lee's generators.
Dimension growth functions of groups have been introduced by Gromov in 1999. We prove that every solvable finitely generated subgroups of the R. Thompson group $F$ has polynomial dimension growth while the group $F$ itself, and some solvable groups of class 3 have exponential dimension growth with exponential control. We describe connections between dimension growth, expansion properties of finite graphs and the Ramsey theory.
We first show that a class of pro-$p$ branch groups including the Grigorchuk group and the Gupta-Sidki groups all have subgroup growth type $n^{\log n}$. We then introduce the notion of orbit growth and use it to construct extensions of the Grigorchuk group and the Gupta-Sidki groups. We compute the subgroup growth type of these extensions and deduce that all functions between $n^{(\log n)^2}$ and $e^n$ occur as the subgroup growth type of a pro-$p$ group, thus, giving almost complete answer to a question raised by Lubotzky and Segal.
This is a survey of methods developed in the last few years to prove results on growth in non-commutative groups. These techniques have their roots in both additive combinatorics and group theory, as well as other fields. We discuss linear algebraic groups, with SL_2(Z/pZ) as the basic example, as well as permutation groups. The emphasis lies on the ideas behind the methods.
We show how to use symbolic dynamics of Schreier graphs to embed the Grigorchuk group into a simple torsion group of intermediate growth and to construct uncountably many growth types of simple torsion groups.
A group is said to hae a rational growth with respect to the generating set if the growth series is a rational polynomial. It was shown by Parry that a subset of torus bundle groups exhibits rational growth. We generalize this result to other torus bundle groups.
We introduce a new method of proving upper estimates of growth of finitely generated groups and constructing groups of intermediate growth using graphs of their actions. These estimates are of the form $\exp(n^α)$ for some $α<1$, and provide the first examples of such bounds for simple groups of intermediate growth.
We exhibit examples of groups of intermediate growth with $2^{\aleph_0}$ ergodic, continuous, invariant random subgroups. The examples are the universal groups associated with a family of groups of intermediate growth.
We give a description of non-growing subsets in linear groups, which extends the Product theorem for simple groups of Lie type. We also give an account of various related aspects of growth in linear groups.
We announce the folowing result: Any finitely generated non virtually solvable linear group over a field of characteristic zero has uniform exponential growth.
To every finitely generated group one can assign the conjugacy growth function that counts the number of conjugacy classes intersecting a ball of radius $n$. Results of Ivanov and Osin show that the conjugacy growth function may be constant even if the (ordinary) growth function is exponential. The aim of this paper is to provide conjectures, examples and statements that show that in "normal" cases, groups with exponential growth functions also have exponential conjugacy growth functions.
We study the growth of torsion in the abelianizations of finite index subgroups in finitely generated metabelian groups. This complements earlier work of Kar, Kropholler and the author which covered the finitely presented amenable groups.
We characterize the virtually nilpotent finitely generated groups (or, equivalently by Gromov's theorem, groups of polynomial growth) for which the Domino Problem is decidable: These are the virtually free groups, i.e. finite groups, and those having $\Z$ as a subgroup of finite index.
We show that the geodesic growth function of any finitely generated virtually abelian group is either polynomial or exponential; and that the geodesic growth series is holonomic, and rational in the polynomial growth case. In addition, we show that the language of geodesics is blind multicounter.
We construct finitely generated groups of small period growth, i.e. groups where the maximum order of an element of word length $n$ grows very slowly in $n$. This answers a question of Bradford related to the lawlessness growth of groups and is connected to an approximative version of the restricted Burnside problem.
We investigate the rate of growth of the function of n which counts the number of complex irreducible representations of a fixed group of degree less than or equal to n. The emphasis is on linear groups, especially compact real and p-adic Lie groups arithmetic groups.
The aim of this short note is to revisit some old results about groups of intermediate growth and groups of the lamplighter type and to show that the Lamplighter group $L=\mathbb{Z}_2\wr \mathbb{Z}$ is a condensation group and has a minimal presentation by generators and relators. The condensation property is achieved by showing that $L$ belongs to a Cantor subset of the space $\mathcal{M}_2$ of marked 2-generated groups consisting mostly of groups of intermediate growth.
We generalize a class of groups defined by Rostislav Grigorchuk to a much larger class of groups, and provide upper and lower bounds for their word growth (they are all of intermediate growth) and period growth (under a small additional condition, they are periodic).
Grigorchuk and de la Harpe asked if there are many groups with growth exponent close to that of the free group with the same number of generators. We prove that this is in fact the case for a generic group (in the density model of random groups). More generally, we prove that the growth exponent does not change much through a random quotient of a torsion-free hyperbolic group.
Residual finiteness growth measures how well-approximated a group is by its finite quotients. We prove that some related growth functions characterize linearity for a class of groups including all hyperbolic groups.
We calculate asymptotic estimates for the conjugacy growth function of finitely generated class 2 nilpotent groups whose derived subgroup is infinite cyclic, including the so-called higher Heisenberg groups. We prove that these asymptotics are stable when passing to commensurable groups, by understanding their twisted conjugacy growth. We also use these estimates to prove that, in certain cases, the conjugacy growth series cannot be a holonomic function.
The residual finiteness growth of a group quantifies how well approximated the group is by its finite quotients. In this paper, we construct groups with arbitrarily large residual finiteness growth. We also demonstrate a new relationship between residual finiteness growth and some decision problems in groups, which we apply to our new groups.
For a finitely generated group $Γ$ denote by $μ(Γ)$ the growth coefficient of $Γ$, that is, the infimum over all real numbers $d$ such that $s_n(Γ)<n!^d$. We show that the growth coefficient of a virtually free group is always rational, and that every rational number occurs as growth coefficient of some virtually free group. Moreover, we describe an algorithm to compute $μ$.
We prove that torsion in the abelianizations of open normal subgroups in finitely presented pro-$p$ groups can grow arbitrarily fast. By way of contrast in $\mathbb Z_p$- analytic groups the torsion growth is at most polynomial.
We describe a new class of groups of Burnside type, giving a procedure transforming an arbitrary non-free minimal action of the dihedral group on a Cantor set into an orbit-equivalent action of an infinite finitely generated periodic group. We show that if the associated Schreier graphs are linearly repetitive, then the group is of intermediate growth. In particular, this gives first examples of simple groups of intermediate growth.
We define a large class of abstract Coxeter groups, that we call $\infty$--spanned, and for which the word growth rate and the geodesic growth rate appear to be Perron numbers. This class contains a fair amount of Coxeter groups acting on hyperbolic spaces, thus corroborating a conjecture by Kellerhals and Perren. We also show that for this class the geodesic growth rate strictly dominates the word growth rate.
It is shown that FC-central extensions retain sub-exponential volume growth. A large collection of FC-central extensions of the first Grigorchuk group is provided by the constructions in the works of Erschler and Kassabov-Pak. We show that in these examples subgroup separability is preserved. We introduce two new collections of extensions of the Grigorchuk group. One collection gives first examples of intermediate growth groups with centers isomorphic to $\mathbb{Z}^{\infty}$; and the other provides groups with prescribed oscillating intermediate growth functions.
We give a new example of an automata group of intermediate growth. It is generated by an automaton with 4 states on an alphabet with 8 letters. This automata group has exponential activity and its limit space is not simply connected.
We prove the following version of Milnor's theorem on solvable groups of exponential growth: A finitely generated solvable group which is not polycyclic contains an ascending HNN extension. Consequently, a finitely generated solvable group is ERF iff it is polycyclic.
We study the HNN extension of $\mathbb{Z}^m$ given by the cubing endomorphism $g\mapsto g^3$, and prove that such groups have rational growth. To do so, we describe a method of computing the subgroup growth series of the horocyclic subgroup $\mathbb{Z}^m$ in this family of examples, prove that for all $m$ the group has rational growth. In the appendix, the subgroup growth series has been computed for all $m \leq 10$.
We present a survey of results related to the Milnor's problem on group growth. We discuss the cases of polynomial growth, exponential but not uniformly exponential growth, but the main part of the article is devoted to the intermediate (between polynomial and exponential) growth case. A number of related topics (growth of manifolds, amenability, asymptotic behavior of random walks) is considered, and a number of open problems is suggested.
In this note we produce examples of outer automorphisms of finitely generated groups which have exotic behaviors in terms of growth of conjugacy classes.
Using a theorem of J. Groves we give a ping-pong proof of Osin's uniform exponential growth for solvable groups. We discuss slow exponential growth and show that this phenomenon disappears as one passes to a finite index subgroup.
Intersection growth concerns the asymptotic behavior of the index of the intersection of all subgroups of a group that have index at most n. In this note we show that the intersection growth of some groups may not be a nicely behaved function by showing the following seemingly contradictory results: (a) for any group G the intersection growth function i_G(n) is super linear infinitely often; and (b) for any increasing function f there exists a group G such that i_G below f infinitely often.
These are introductory notes on word growth of groups, and include a gentle presentation of wreath products as well as recent results on construction of groups of with given growth function. They are are an expanded version of a mini-course given at "Le Louverain", June 24-27, 2014.
This note records some observations concerning geodesic growth functions. If a nilpotent group is not virtually cyclic then it has exponential geodesic growth with respect to all finite generating sets. On the other hand, if a finitely generated group $G$ has an element whose normal closure is abelian and of finite index, then $G$ has a finite generating set with respect to which the geodesic growth is polynomial (this includes all virtually cyclic groups).
In [B] Bowen defined the growth rate of an endomorphism of a finitely generated group and related it to the entropy of a map $f:M \mapsto M$ on a compact manifold. In this note we study the purely group theoretic aspects of the growth rate of an endomorphism of a finitely generated group. We show that it is finite and bounded by the maximum length of the image of a generator. An equivalent formulation is given that ties the growth rate of an endomorphism to an increasing chain of subgroups. We then consider the relationship between growth rate of an endomorphism on a whole group and the growth…
Given a periodic quotient of a torsion-free hyperbolic group, we provide a fine lower estimate of the growth function of any sub-semi-group. This generalizes results of Razborov and Safin for free groups.
We construct an uncountable family of finitely generated groups of intermediate growth, with growth functions of new type. These functions can have large oscillations between lower and upper bounds, both of which come from a wide class of functions. In particular, we can have growth oscillating between $e^{n^a}$ and any prescribed function, growing as rapidly as desired. Our construction is built on top of any of the Grigorchuk groups of intermediate growth, and is a variation on the limit of permutational wreath product.
We address a question of Grigorchuk by providing both a system of recursive formulas and an asymptotic result for the portrait growth of the first Grigorchuk group. The results are obtained through analysis of some features of the branching subgroup structure of the group. More generally, we provide recursive formulas for the portrait growth of any finitely generated, contracting, regular branch group, based on the coset decomposition of the groups that are higher in the branching subgroup structure in terms of the lower subgroups. Using the same general approach we fully describe the portrait…
The growth function is the generating function for sizes of spheres around the identity in Cayley graphs of groups. We present a novel method to calculate growth functions for automatic groups with normal form recognizing automata that recognize a single normal form for each group element, and are at most context free in complexity: context free grammars can be translated into algebraic systems of equations, whose solutions represent generating functions of their corresponding non-terminal symbols. This approach allows us to seamlessly introduce weightings on the growth function: assign differ…
A function $\mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ is near exponential if it is bounded above and below by functions of the form $2^{n^c}$ for some $c > 0$. In this article we develop tools to recognize the near exponential residual finiteness growth in groups acting on rooted trees. In particular, we show the near exponential residual finiteness growth for certain branch groups, including the first Grigorchuk group, the family of Gupta-Sidki groups and their variations, and Fabrykowski-Gupta groups. We also show that the family of Gupta-Sidki p-groups, for $p\geq 5$, have super-exponential residual finit…