Given a finitely generated subgroup $H$ of a finitely generated group $G$ and a non-principal ultrafilter $ω$, we consider a natural subspace, $Cone^ω_{G}(H)$, of the asymptotic cone of $G$ corresponding to $H$. Informally, this subspace consists of the points of the asymptotic cone of $G$ represented by elements of the ultrapower $H^ω$. We show that the connectedness and convexity of $Cone^ω_{G}(H)$ detect natural properties of the embedding of $H$ in $G$. We begin by defining a generalization of the distortion function and show that this function determines whether $Cone^ω_{G}(H)$ is connected. We then show that whether $H$ is strongly quasi-convex in $G$ is detected by a natural convexity property of $Cone^ω_{G}(H)$ in the asymptotic cone of $G$.
The imaginary cone of a Kac-Moody Lie algebra is the convex hull of zero and the positive imaginary roots. This paper studies the imaginary cone for a class of root systems of general Coxeter groups W. It is shown that the imaginary cone of a reflection subgroup of W is contained in that of W, and that for irreducible infinite W of finite rank, the closed imaginary cone is the only non-zero, closed, pointed W-stable cone contained in the pointed cone spanned by the simple roots. For W of finite rank, various natural notions of faces of the imaginary cone are shown to coincide, the face lattice…
A Magnus subgroup of a one-relator group is the free subgroup freely generated by a proper subset of the generators. Two such subgroups can intersect in the obvious way or in a larger, exceptional way. The condition of non-exceptional intersection of Magnus subgroups of a one-relator group is applied to give criteria for the resulting cyclically presented groups to contain nonabelian free subgroups.
We compute the relative divergence and the subgroup distortion of Bestvina-Brady subgroups. We also show that for each integer $n\geq 3$, there is a free subgroup of rank $n$ of some right-angled Artin group whose inclusion is not a quasi-isometric embedding. This result answers the question of Carr about the minimum rank $n$ such that some right-angled Artin group has a free subgroup of rank $n$ whose inclusion is not a quasi-isometric embedding. It is well-known that a right-angled Artin group $A_Γ$ is the fundamental group of a graph manifold whenever the defining graph $Γ$ is a tree. We sh…
We study lattice embeddings for the class of countable groups $Γ$ defined by the property that the largest amenable uniformly recurrent subgroup $A_Γ$ is continuous. When $A_Γ$ comes from an extremely proximal action and the envelope of $A_Γ$ is co-amenable in $Γ$, we obtain restrictions on the locally compact groups $G$ that contain a copy of $Γ$ as a lattice, notably regarding normal subgroups of $G$, product decompositions of $G$, and more generally dense mappings from $G$ to a product of locally compact groups.
We study the relative growth of finitely generated subgroups in finitely generated groups, and the corresponding distortion function of the embeddings. We explore which functions are equivalent to the relative growth functions and distortion functions of finitely generated subgroups. We also study the connections between these two asymptotic invariants of group embeddings. We give conditions under which a length function on a finitely generated group can be extended to a length function on a larger group.
Gromov asked whether an asymptotic cone of a finitely generated group was always simply connected or had uncountable fundamental group. We prove that Gromov's dichotomy holds for asympotic cones with cut points, as well as, HNN extensions and amalgamated products where the associated subgroups are nicely embedded. We also show a slightly weaker dichotomy for multiple HNN extensions of free groups.
We propose a criterion for preserving the regularity of a formal language representation when passing from groups to subgroups. We use this criterion to show that the regularity of a positive cone language in a left-orderable group passes to its finite index subgroups, and to show that there exists no left order on a finitely generated acylindrically hyperbolic group such that the corresponding positive cone is represented by a quasi-geodesic regular language. We also answer one of Navas' questions by giving an example of an infinite family of groups which admit a positive cone that is generat…
Using abelian coverings of Salvetti complexes, embeddings of outer automorphism groups of right-angled Artin groups (RAAGs) into outer automorphism groups of their particular characteristic subgroups are constructed. Virtual embeddings of outer automorphism groups of finitely generated groups having the unique root property into outer automorphism groups of their particular subgroups are also given. These results provide us with rich examples of (virtual) embeddings between outer automorphism groups of RAAGs. Finite subgroups of pure (outer) automorphism groups of RAAGs are also investigated. …
In this article, we study group theoretical embedding properties of subgroups in central products of finite groups. Specifically, we give characterizations of normal, subnormal, and abnormal subgroups of a central product of two groups.
We use geometric techniques to investigate several examples of quasi-isometrically embedded subgroups of Thompson's group F. Many of these are explored using the metric properties of the shift map phi in F. These subgroups have simple geometric but complicated algebraic descriptions. We present them to illustrate the intricate geometry of Thompson's group F as well as the interplay between its standard finite and infinite presentations. These subgroups include those of the form F^m cross Z^n, for integral non-negative m and n, which were shown to occur as quasi-isometrically embedded subgroups…
We obtain a characterisation of confined subgroups of Thompson's group $F$. As a result, we deduce that orbital graph of a point under action of $F$ has uniformly subexponential growth if and only if this point is fixed by the commutator subgroup. This allows us to prove non-embeddability of $F$ into wobbling groups of graphs with uniformly subexponential growth.
Normalisers of parabolic subgroups of Artin--Tits groups and Tits cone intersections
Departamento de Álgebra e Instituto de Matemáticas de la Universidad de Sevilla（塞维利亚大学代数系与数学研究所）；School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Sydney（悉尼大学数学与统计学院）；CNRS-ANU International Research Laboratory FAMSI and Mathematical Sciences Institute, The Australian National University（法国国家科学研究中心-澳大利亚国立大学FAMSI国际研究实验室与澳大利亚国立大学数学科学研究所）
In this paper we examine embeddings of alternating groups and symmetric groups into almost simple groups of exceptional type. In particular, we prove that unless the alternating or symmetric group has degree 6 or 7, there is no maximal subgroup of any almost simple group with socle an exceptional group of Lie type that is an alternating or symmetric group. Furthermore, in the remaining open cases we give considerable information about the possible embeddings. Note that no maximal alternating or symmetric subgroups are known in the remaining cases. This is the first in a sequence of papers aimi…
We study the properties of the fundamental group of an affine curve over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $p$, from the point of view of embedding problems. In characteristic zero, the fundamental group is free, but in characteristic $p$ it is not even $ω$-free. In this paper we show that it is "almost $ω$-free," in the sense that each finite embedding problem has a proper solution when restricted to some open subgroup. We also prove that embedding problems can always be properly solved over the given curve if suitably many additional branch points are allowed, in locations that…
In the present paper we prove lemmata on strong contractibility in asymptotic cones and metric ultraproducts which we apply to both the case of finitely generated word norms and the case of conjugation invariant norms. We recover classically known contractibility results on free products and prove the contractibility of the asymptotic cone of the infinite symmetric group $\Sym_\infty$ equipped with a conjugation invariant norm. Furthermore, we give examples of contractible metric ultraproducts arising from subgroups of general linear groups. Additionally, we discuss algebraic properties of gro…
Let G be an acylindrically hyperbolic group. We consider a random subgroup H in G, generated by a finite collection of independent random walks. We show that, with asymptotic probability one, such a random subgroup H of G is a free group, and the semidirect product of H acting on E(G) is hyperbolically embedded in G, where E(G) is the unique maximal finite normal subgroup of G.
Let $α$, $β$, and $γ$ be partitions describing the isomorphism types of the finite abelian $p$-groups $A$, $B$, and $C$. From theorems by Green and Klein it is well-known that there is a short exact sequence $0\to A\to B\to C\to 0$ of abelian groups if and only if there is a Littlewood-Richardson sequence of type $(α,β,γ)$. Starting from the observation that a sequence of partitions has the LR property if and only if every subsequence of length 2 does, we demonstrate how LR-sequences of length two correspond to embeddings of a $p^2$-bounded subgroup in a finite abelian $p$-group. Using the kno…
We prove that the subgroup zeta function and the normal zeta function of a finitely generated virtually nilpotent group are finite sums of Euler products of cone integrals over $\mathbb{Q}$ and we deduce from this that they have rational abscissa of convergence and some meromorphic continuation. We also define Mal'cev completions of a finitely generated virtually nilpotent group and we prove that the subgroup growth and the normal subgroup growth of the latter are invariants of its $\mathbb{Q}$-Mal'cev completion.
Let $k$ be any field and let $G$ be a connected reductive algebraic $k$-group. Associated to $G$ is an invariant first studied by Satake and Tits that is called the index of $G$ (a Dynkin diagram along with some additional combinatorial information). Tits showed that the $k$-isogeny class of $G$ is uniquely determined by its index and the $k$-isogeny class of its anisotropic kernel $G_a$. For the cases where $G$ is absolutely simple, Satake and Tits classified all possibilities for the index of $G$. Let $H$ be a connected reductive $k$-subgroup of maximal rank in $G$. We introduce an invariant…
We study the geometry of positive cones of left-invariant total orders (left-order, for short) in finitely generated groups. We introduce the \textit{Hucha property} and the \texit{Prieto property} for left-orderable groups. The first one means that in any left-order the corresponding positive cone is not coarsely connected, and the second one that in any left-order the corresponding positive cone is coarsely connected. We show that all left-orderable free products have the Hucha property, and that the Hucha property is stable under certain free products with amalgamatation over Prieto subgrou…
Let $\boldsymbol{G}$ be an algebraic group of exceptional Lie type in characteristic $p$, $G=\boldsymbol{G}^σ$ its fixed-point subgroup under the action of a Steinberg endomorphism $σ$, and $\overline{G}$ an almost simple group with socle $G$. A maximal subgroup $M<\overline{G}$ is called non-generic if it is almost simple and its socle is not isomorphic to a group of Lie type in characteristic $p$. A finite subgroup $H$ of $\boldsymbol{G}$ is Lie primitive if it does not lie in any proper closed positive-dimensional subgroup of $\boldsymbol{G}$; it is Lie imprimitive if it lies in a positive-…
We describe a general technique for embedding certain amalgamated products into direct products. This technique provides us with a way of constructing a host of finitely presented subgroups of automatic groups which are not even asynchronously automatic. We can also arrange that such subgroups satisfy, at best, an exponential isoperimetric inequality.
The main result of this article is that any braided (resp. annular, planar) diagram group $D$ splits as a short exact sequence $1 \to R \to D \to S \to 1$ where $R$ is a subgroup of some right-angled Artin group and $S$ a subgroup of Thompson's group $V$ (resp. $T$, $F$). As an application, we show that several braided diagram groups embeds into Thompson's group $V$, including Higman's groups $V_{n,r}$, groups of quasi-automorphisms $QV_{n,r,p}$, and generalised Houghton's groups $H_{n,p}$.
We prove that there is a second countable locally compact group that does not embed as a closed subgroup in any compactly generated locally compact group, and discuss various related embedding and non-embedding results.
We show that for any metric space $M$ satisfying certain natural conditions, there is a finitely generated group $G$, an ultrafilter $ω$, and an isometric embedding $ι$ of $M$ to the asymptotic cone ${\rm Cone}_ω(G)$ such that the induced homomorphism $ι^ \ast :π_1(M)\to π_1({\rm Cone}_ω(G))$ is injective. In particular, we prove that any countable group can be embedded into a fundamental group of an asymptotic cone of a finitely generated group.
We prove that for all $p>1$, every relatively hyperbolic group has $\ell^p$ compression exponent equal to the minimum of the exponents of its maximal parabolic subgroups. Moreover, this embedding can be explicitly described in terms of given embeddings of the maximal parabolic subgroups.
Let M be a compact, connected surface, possibly with a finite set of points removed from its interior. Let d,n be positive integers, and let N be a d-fold covering space of M. We show that the covering map induces an embedding of the n-th braid group B_n(M) of M in the (dn)-th braid group B_{dn}(N) of N, and give several applications of this result. First, we classify the finite subgroups of the n-th braid group of the real projective plane, from which we deduce an alternative proof of the classification of the finite subgroups of the mapping class group of the n-punctured real projective plan…
An embedding construction $G\hookrightarrow H$ for groups $G$ with a length function was introduced by the author earlier. Here we obtain new properties of this embedding, answering some questions raised by M.V. Sapir. In particular, an analog of Tits' alternative holds for the subgroups of $H$.
The wreath product of two permutation groups G < Sym(Gamma) and H < Sym(Delta) can be considered as a permutation group acting on the set Pi of functions from Delta to Gamma. This action, usually called the product action, of a wreath product plays a very important role in the theory of permutation groups, as several classes of primitive or quasiprimitive groups can be described as subgroups of such wreath products. In addition, subgroups of wreath products in product action arise as automorphism groups of graph products and codes. In this paper we consider subgroups X of full wreath products …
In this paper we study distortion of various well-known embeddings of finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent groups $G$ into unitriangular groups $UT_n(\mathbb{Z})$. We also provide a polynomial time algorithm for finding distortion of a given subgroup of $G$
We define and give explicit construction of the universal tree-graded space with a given collection of pieces. We apply that to proving uniqueness of asymptotic cones of relatively hyperbolic groups whose peripheral subgroups have unique asymptotic cones. Modulo the Continuum Hypothesis, we show that if an asymptotic cone of a geodesic metric space is homogeneous and has cut points, then it is the universal tree-graded space with pieces - maximal connected subsets without their own cut points. Thus it is completely determined by its collection of pieces.
We provide examples of finitely generated infinite covolume subgroups of $PSL(2,R)^r$ with a "big" limit set, e.g. that contains an open subset of the geometric boundary. They are given by the so called semi-arithmetic Fuchsian groups admitting modular embeddings.
In this article, given two finite simplicial graphs $Γ_1$ and $Γ_2$, we state and prove a complete description of the possible morphisms $C(Γ_1) \to C(Γ_2)$ between the right-angled Coxeter groups $C(Γ_1)$ and $C(Γ_2)$. As an application, assuming that $Γ_2$ is triangle-free, we show that, if $C(Γ_1)$ is isomorphic to a subgroup of $C(Γ_2)$, then the ball of radius $8|Γ_1||Γ_2|$ in $C(Γ_2)$ contains the basis of a subgroup isomorphic to $C(Γ_1)$. This provides an algorithm determining whether or not, among two given two-dimensional right-angled Coxeter groups, one is isomorphic to a subgroup o…
If a class of finitely generated groups Curly(G) is closed under isometric amalgamations along free subgroups, then every G in Curly(G) can be quasi-isometrically embedded in a group Hat(G) in Curly(G) that has no proper subgroups of finite index. Every compact, connected, non-positively curved space X admits an isometric embedding into a compact, connected, non-positively curved space Overline(X) such that Overline(X) has no non-trivial finite-sheeted coverings.
We classify those 2-groups G which factorise as a product of two disjoint cyclic subgroups A and B, transposed by an automorphism of order 2. The case where G is metacyclic having been dealt with elsewhere, we show that for each e>2 there are exactly three such non-metacyclic groups G with $|A|=|B|=2^e$, and for e=2 there is one. These groups appear in a classification by Berkovich and Janko of 2-groups with one non-metacyclic maximal subgroup; we enumerate these groups, give simpler presentations for them, and determine their automorphism groups.
We give a description of elementary subgroups (in the sense of first-order logic) of finitely generated virtually free groups. In particular, we recover the fact that elementary subgroups of finitely generated free groups are free factors. Moreover, we give an algorithm that takes as input a finite presentation of a virtually free group $G$ and a finite subset $X$ of $G$, and decides if the subgroup of $G$ generated by $X$ is $\exists\forall\exists$-elementary. We also prove that every elementary embedding of an equationally noetherian group into itself is an automorphism.
