The study of word hyperbolic groups is a prominent topic in geometric group theory; however word hyperbolic groups are defined by a geometric condition which does not extend naturally to semigroups. We propose a linguistic definition. Roughly speaking a semigroup is word hyperbolic if its multiplication table is a context free language. For groups this definition is equivalent to the original geometric one. We also briefly consider word problems of semigroups.
We show that all of the Schützenberger complexes of an Adian inverse semigroup are finite if the Schützenberger complex of every positive word is finite. This enables us to solve the word problem for certain classes of Adian inverse semigroups (and hence for the corresponding Adian semigroups and Adian groups).
Every semigroup which is a finite disjoint union of copies of the free mono- genic semigroup (natural numbers under addition) has soluble word prob- lem and soluble membership problem. Efficient algorithms are given for both problems.
This paper studies decision problems for semigroups that are word-hyperbolic in the sense of Duncan & Gilman. A fundamental investigation reveals that the natural definition of a `word-hyperbolic structure' has to be strengthened slightly in order to define a unique semigroup up to isomorphism. The isomorphism problem is proven to be undecidable for word-hyperbolic semigroups (in contrast to the situation for word-hyperbolic groups). It is proved that it is undecidable whether a word-hyperbolic semigroup is automatic, asynchronously automatic, biautomatic, or asynchronously biautomatic. (These…
We introduce the space function $s(n)$ of a finitely presented semigroup $S =<A\mid R>.$ To define $s(n)$ we consider pairs of words $w,w'$ over $A$ of length at most $n$ equal in $S$ and use relations from $R$ for the transformations $w=w_0\to...\to w_t= w'$; $s(n)$ bounds from above the tape space (or computer memory) sufficient to implement all such transitions $w\to...\to w'.$ One of the results obtained is the following criterion: A finitely generated semigroup $S$ has decidable word problem of polynomial space complexity if and only if $S$ is a subsemigroup of a finitely presented semigr…
The set of idempotents of any semigroup carries the structure of a biordered set, which contains a great deal of information concerning the idempotent generated subsemigroup of the semigroup in question. This leads to the construction of a free idempotent generated semigroup $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$ - the `free-est' semigroup with a given biordered set $\mathcal{E}$ of idempotents. We show that when $\mathcal{E}$ is finite, the word problem for $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$ is equivalent to a family of constraint satisfaction problems involving rational subsets of direct products of pairs of ma…
Motivated by issues arising in computer science, we investigate the loop-free paths from the identity transformation and corresponding straight words in the Cayley graph of a finite transformation semigroup with a fixed generator set. Of special interest are words that permute a given subset of the state set. Certain such words, called minimal permutators, are shown to comprise a code, and the straight ones comprise a finite code. Thus, words that permute a given subset are uniquely factorizable as products of the subset's minimal permutators, and these can be further reduced to straight minim…
The category of all idempotent generated semigroups with a prescribed structure $\mathcal{E}$ of their idempotents $E$ (called the biordered set) has an initial object called the free idempotent generated semigroup over $\mathcal{E}$, defined by a presentation over alphabet $E$, and denoted by $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$. Recently, much effort has been put into investigating the structure of semigroups of the form $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$, especially regarding their maximal subgroups. In this paper we take these investigations in a new direction by considering the word problem for $\mathsf{IG…
Building on the previous extensive study of Yang, Gould and the present author, we provide a more precise insight into the group-theoretical ramifications of the word problem for free idempotent generated semigroups over finite biordered sets. We prove that such word problems are in fact equivalent to the problem of computing intersections of cosets of certain subgroups of direct products of maximal subgroups of the free idempotent generated semigroup in question, thus providing decidability of those word problems under group-theoretical assumptions related to the Howson property and the coset…
A new construction of a free inverse semigroup was obtained by Poliakova and Schein in 2005. Based on their result, we find a Groebner-Shirshov basis of a free inverse semigroup relative to the deg-lex order of words. In particular, we give the (unique and shortest) Groebner-Shirshov normal forms in the classes of equivalent words of a free inverse semigroup together with the Groebner-Shirshov algorithm to transform any word to its normal form.
This article studies the properties of word-hyperbolic semigroups and monoids, i.e. those having context-free multiplication tables with respect to a regular combing, as defined by Duncan & Gilman. In particular, the preservation of word-hyperbolicity under taking free products is considered. Under mild conditions on the semigroups involved, satisfied e.g. by monoids or regular semigroups, we prove that the semigroup free product of two word-hyperbolic semigroups is again word-hyperbolic. Analogously, with a mild condition on the uniqueness of representation for the identity element, satisfied…
Let H be a pseudovariety of groups in which the kappa-word problem is decidable. Here, kappa denotes the canonical implicit signature, which consists of the multiplication and the (omega-1)-power. We prove that the kappa-word problem is also decidable over DRH, the pseudovariety of all finite semigroups whose regular R-classes lie in H. Further, we present a canonical form for elements in the free kappa-semigroup over DRH, based on the knowledge of a canonical form for elements in the free kappa-semigroup over H. This extends work of Almeida and Zeitoun on the pseudovariety of all finite R-tri…
With each semigroup one can associate a partial algebra, called the biordered set, which captures important algebraic and geometric features of the structure of idempotents of that semigroup. For a biordered set $\mathcal{E}$, one can construct the free idempotent-generated semigroup over $\mathcal{E}$, $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$, which is the free-est semigroup (in a definite categorical sense) whose biorder of idempotents is isomorphic to $\mathcal{E}$. Studies of these intriguing objects have been recently focusing on their particular aspects, such as maximal subgroups, the word problem, et…
Motivated by the question of which completely regular semigroups have context-free word problem, we show that for certain classes of languages $\mathfrak{C}$(including context-free), every completely regular semigroup that is a union of finitely many finitely generated groups with word problem in $\mathfrak{C}$ also has word problem in $\mathfrak{C}$. We give an example to show that not all completely regular semigroups with context-free word problem can be so constructed.
This note proves a generalisation to inverse semigroups of Anisimov's theorem that a group has regular word problem if and only if it is finite, answering a question of Stuart Margolis. The notion of word problem used is the two-tape word problem -- the set of all pairs of words over a generating set for the semigroup which both represent the same element.
In this paper we investigate the word problem of the free Burnside semigroup satisfying x^2=x^3 and having two generators. Elements of this semigroup are classes of equivalent words. A natural way to solve the word problem is to select a unique "canonical" representative for each equivalence class. We prove that overlap-free words and so-called almost overlap-free words (this notion is some generalization of the notion of overlap-free words) can serve as canonical representatives for corresponding equivalence classes. We show that such a word in a given class, if any, can be efficiently found.…
We show that if the Schützenberger graph of every positive word, that contains an $R$-word only once as it's subword, is finite over an Adain presentation $\langle X|u=v\rangle$, then the Schützenberger graph of every positive word is finite over the presentation $\langle X|u=v\rangle$. This enable us to solve the word problem ffor some classes of one relation Adian inverse semigroups.
Given a locally constant linear cocycle over a subshift of finite type, we show that the existence of a uniform gap between the i-th and (i+1)-th Lyapunov exponents for all invariant measures implies the existence of a dominated splitting of index i. We establish a similar result for sofic subshifts coming from word hyperbolic groups, in relation with Anosov representations of such groups. We discuss the case of finitely generated semigroups, and propose a notion of Anosov representation in this setting.
We study the language-theoretic aspects of the word problem, in the sense of Duncan & Gilman, of free products of semigroups and monoids. First, we provide algebraic tools for studying classes of languages known as super-AFLs, which generalise e.g. the context-free or the indexed languages. When $\mathcal{C}$ is a super-AFL closed under reversal, we prove that the semigroup (monoid) free product of two semigroups (resp. monoids) with word problem in $\mathcal{C}$ also has word problem in $\mathcal{C}$. This recovers and generalises a recent result by Brough, Cain & Pfeiffer that the class of c…
This paper studies the classes of semigoups and monoids with context-free and deterministic context-free word problem. First, some examples are exhibited to clarify the relationship between these classes and their connection with the notions of word-hyperbolicity and automaticity. Second, a study is made of whether these classes are closed under applying certain semigroup constructions, including direct products and free products, or under regressing from the results of such constructions to the original semigroup(s) or monoid(s).
Let $A$ be a finite dimensional $Q-$algebra and $Γsubset A$ a $Z-$order. We classify those $A$ with the property that $Z^2$ does not embed in $\mathcal{U}(Γ)$. We call this last property the hyperbolic property. We apply this in the case that $A = KS$ a semigroup algebra with $K = Q$ or $K = Q(\sqrt{-d})$. In particular, when $KS$ is semi-simple and has no nilpotent elements, we prove that $S$ is an inverse semigroup which is the disjoint union of Higman groups and at most one cyclic group $C_n$ with $n \in \{5,8,12\}$.
This work is concerned with the stable norm in word hyperbolic groups as defined by Gromov. We give a short elementary proof of one of its basic property, that is existence of a computable uniform non null lower bound for stable norm in a word hyperbolic group.
We prove that the compressed word problem in a group that is hyperbolic relative to a collection of free abelian subgroups is solvable in polynomial time.
Formal languages based on the multiplication tables of finitely generated groups are investigated and used to give a linguistic characterization of word hyperbolic groups.
Thurston has claimed (unpublished) that central extensions of word hyperbolic groups by finitely generated abelian groups are automatic. We show that they are in fact biautomatic. Further, we show that every 2-dimensional cohomology class on a word hyperbolic group can be represented by a bounded 2-cocycle. This lends weight to the claim of Gromov that for a word hyperbolic group, the cohomology in every dimension is bounded.
We explore a natural class of semigroups that have word problem decidable by finite state automata. Among the main results are invariance of this property under change of generators, invariance under basic algebraic constructions and algebraic properties of these semigroups.
This paper proves that any monoid presented by a confluent context-free monadic rewriting system is word-hyperbolic. This result then applied to answer a question asked by Duncan & Gilman by exhibiting an example of a word-hyperbolic monoid that does not admit a word-hyperbolic structure with uniqueness (that is, in which the language of representatives maps bijectively onto the monoid).
We prove that $(λ_g\mapsto e^{-t|g|^r}λ_g)_{t>0}$ defines a completely bounded semigroup of multipliers on the von Neuman algebra of hyperbolic groups for all real number $r$. One ingredient in the proof is the observation that a construction of Ozawa allows to characterize the radial multipliers that are bounded on every hyperbolic graph, partially generalizing results of Haagerup--Steenstrup--Szwarc and Wysoczański. Another ingredient is an upper estimate of trace class norms for Hankel matrices, which is based on Peller's characterization of such norms.
In this paper, we study the word problem for automaton semigroups and automaton groups from a complexity point of view. As an intermediate concept between automaton semigroups and automaton groups, we introduce automaton-inverse semigroups, which are generated by partial, yet invertible automata. We show that there is an automaton-inverse semigroup and, thus, an automaton semigroup with a PSPACE-complete word problem. We also show that there is an automaton group for which the word problem with a single rational constraint is PSPACE-complete. Additionally, we provide simpler constructions for …
We formulate and explain the extended Burrows-Wheeler transform of Mantaci et al from the viewpoint of permutations on a chain taken as a union of partial order-preserving mappings. In so doing we establish a link with syntactic semigroups of languages that are themselves cyclic semigroups. We apply the extended transform with a view to generating de Bruijn words through inverting the transform.
We prove that, for a finitely generated group hyperbolic relative to virtually abelian subgroups, the generalised word problem for a parabolic subgroup is the language of a real-time Turing machine. Then, for a hyperbolic group, we show that the generalised word problem for a quasiconvex subgroup is a real-time language under either of two additional hypotheses on the subgroup. By extending the Muller-Schupp theorem we show that the generalised word problem for a finitely generated subgroup of a finitely generated virtually free group is context-free. Conversely, we prove that a hyperbolic gro…
We study the complexity of computation in finitely generated free left, right and two-sided adequate semigroups and monoids. We present polynomial time (quadratic in the RAM model of computation) algorithms to solve the word problem and compute normal forms in each of these, and hence also to test whether any given identity holds in the classes of left, right and/or two-sided adequate semigroups.
We construct an example of a torsion free freely indecomposable finitely presented non-quasiconvex subgroup $H$ of a word hyperbolic group $G$ such that the limit set of $H$ is not the limit set of a quasiconvex subgroup of $G$. In particular, this gives a counterexample to the conjecture of G.Swarup that a finitely presented one-ended subgroup of a word hyperbolic group is quasiconvex if and only if it has finite index in its virtual normalizer.
We prove that the generalised word problem of a finitely generated subgroup of a finitely generated virtually free group is context-free, that a hyperbolic group must be virtually free if it has a torsion-free quasiconvex subgroup of infinite index with context-free generalised word problem, and that, for any hyperbolic group, the generalised word problem of a torsion-free quasiconvex subgroup is recognised by a real-time Turing machine.
For each positive integer $k$ we present an example of Coxeter system $(G_k,S_k)$ such that $G_k$ is a word-hyperbolic Coxeter group, for any two generating reflections $s,t\in S_k$ the product $st$ has finite order, and the Coxeter graph of $S_k$ has negative inertia index equal to $k$. In particular, $G_k$ cannot be embedded into pseudo-orthogonal group $O(n,k-1)$ for any $n$ as a reflection group with generating set being reflections w.r.t. $(G_k,S_k)$
A result of Gersten states that if $G$ is a hyperbolic group with integral cohomological dimension $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Z}}(G)=2$ then every finitely presented subgroup is hyperbolic. We generalize this result for the rational case $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Q}}(G)=2$. In particular, our result applies to the class of torsion-free hyperbolic groups $G$ with $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Z}}(G)=3$ and $\mathsf{cd}_{\mathbb{Q}}(G)=2$ discovered by Bestvina and Mess.
Motivated by a problem on the dynamics of compositions of plane hyperbolic isometries, we prove several fundamental results on semigroups of isometries, thought of as real Möbius transformations. We define a semigroup $S$ of Möbius transformations to be \emph{semidiscrete} if the identity transformation is not an accumulation point of $S$. We say that $S$ is \emph{inverse free} if it does not contain the identity element. One of our main results states that if $S$ is a semigroup generated by some finite collection $\mathcal{F}$ of Möbius transformations, then $S$ is semidiscrete and inverse fr…
We investigate which free constructions (amalgamated products and HNN-extensions) over word hyperbolic groups produce groups that are again word hyperbolic. A complete answer is obtained for the case when the amalgamated subgroups are virtually cyclic. The results are applied, in particular, to show that a ${\bf Q}$-completion of a torsion-free hyperbolic group has solvable word problem and conjugacy problem.
We investigate the orbits of automaton semigroups and groups to obtain algorithmic and structural results, both for general automata but also for some special subclasses. First, we show that a more general version of the finiteness problem for automaton groups is undecidable. This problem is equivalent to the finiteness problem for left principal ideals in automaton semigroups generated by complete and reversible automata. Then, we look at $ω$-word (i.e. right infinite words) with a finite orbit. We show that every automaton yielding an $ω$-word with a finite orbit already yields an ultimately…
We show that if $G$ is a non-elementary torsion-free word hyperbolic group then there exists another word hyperbolic group $G^*$, such that $G$ is a subgroup of $G^*$ but $G$ is not quasiconvex in $G^*$.
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 describe a procedure which verifies that a group given by generators and relators is word-hyperbolic. This procedure always works with a group which is word-hyperbolic, provided there is sufficient memory and time devoted to the problem. If the group is not word-hyperbolic, the procedure continues indefinitely. We also describe a procedure which computes the thinness of geodesic triangles in the Cayley graph of a word-hyperbolic group. Again this procedure is bound to work, given sufficient memory and time.
We give a generalization to convex co-compact semigroups of a beautiful theorem of Patterson-Sullivan, telling that the critical exponent (that is the exponential growth rate) equals the Hausdorff dimension of the limit set (that is the smallest closed non-empty invariant subset), for a isometries discrete group of a proper hyperbolic space with compact boundary. To do that, we introduce a notion of entropy, which generalize the notion of critical exponent of discrete groups, and we show that it is equal to the upper bound of critical exponents of Schottky sub-semigroups (which are semigroups …
In this note we prove the claim given in the title. A group G is noncommutatively slender if each map from the fundamental group of the Hawaiian Earring to G factors through projection to a canonical free subgroup. Graham Higman, in his seminal 1952 paper, proved that free groups are noncommutatively slender. Such groups were first defined by K. Eda. Eda has asked which finitely presented groups are noncommutatively slender. This result demonstrates that random finitely presented groups in the few- relator sense of Gromov are noncommutatively slender.
The words separation problem, originally formulated by Goralcik and Koubek (1986), is stated as follows. Let $Sep(n)$ be the minimum number such that for any two words of length $\le n$ there is a deterministic finite automaton with $Sep(n)$ states, accepting exactly one of them. The problem is to find the asymptotics of the function $Sep$. This problem is inverse to finding the asymptotics of the length of the shortest identity in full transformation semigroups $T_k$. The known lower bound on $Sep$ stems from the unary identity in $T_k$. We find the first series of identities in $T_k$ which a…
We show that an automaton group or semigroup is infinite if and only if it admits an $ω$-word (i. e. a right-infinite word) with an infinite orbit, which solves an open problem communicated to us by Ievgen V. Bondarenko. In fact, we prove a generalization of this result, which can be applied to show that finitely generated subgroups and subsemigroups as well as principal left ideals of automaton semigroups are infinite if and only if there is an $ω$ -word with an infinite orbit under their action. The proof also shows some interesting connections between the automaton semigroup and its dual. F…
We discuss the linearity and discreteness of amalgamated products of linear word-hyperbolic groups. In particular, we prove that the double of an Anosov group along a maximal cyclic subgroup is always linear, and we construct examples of such groups which do not admit any discrete and faithful representation in rank 1. We also build new examples of non-linear word-hyperbolic groups, elaborating on a previous work of Canary--Stover--Tsouvalas.
We examine residual properties of word-hyperbolic groups, adapting a method introduced by Darren Long to study the residual properties of Kleinian groups.
The Lodha-Moore group $G$ first arose as a finitely presented counterexample to von Neumann's conjecture. The group $G$ acts on the unit interval via piecewise projective homemorphisms. A result of Lodha shows that $G$ in fact has type $F_{\infty}$. Here we will describe $G$ as a group that is "locally determined" by an inverse semigroup $S_{2}$, in the sense of the author's joint work with Hughes. The semigroup $S_{2}$ is generated by three linear fractional transformations $A$, $B$, and $C_{2}$, where $A$ and $B$ are elliptical transformations of the hyperbolic plane and $C_{2}$ is a hyperbo…
