We construct an embedding of a free Burnside group $B(m,n)$ of odd $n > 2^{48}$ and rank $m >1$ in a finitely presented group with some special properties. The main application of this embedding is an easy construction of finitely presented non-amenable groups without noncyclic free subgroups (which provides a finitely presented counterexample to the von Neumann problem on amenable groups). As another application, we construct weakly finitely presented groups of odd exponent $n \gg 1$ which are not locally finite.
For all sufficiently large odd integers $n$, the following version of Higman's embedding theorem is proved in the variety ${\cal B}_n$ of all groups satisfying the identity $x^n=1$. A finitely generated group $G$ from ${\cal B}_n$ has a presentation $G=\langle A\mid R\rangle$ with a finite set of generators $A$ and a recursively enumerable set $R$ of defining relations if and only if it is a subgroup of a group $H$ finitely presented in the variety ${\cal B}_n$. It follows that there is a 'universal' $2$-generated finitely presented in ${\cal B}_n$ group containing isomorphic copies of all fin…
The RP-property of Fel'shtyn and Troitsky is proved for wreath products of finitely generated Abelian groups with the group of integers. Such wreath products become the first known example of finitely generated RP-groups being not almost polycyclic.
In this paper we study geometric versions of Burnside's Problem and the von Neumann Conjecture. This is done by considering the notion of a translation-like action. Translation-like actions were introduced by Kevin Whyte as a geometric analogue of subgroup containment. Whyte proved a geometric version of the von Neumann Conjecture by showing that a finitely generated group is non-amenable if and only if it admits a translation-like action by any (equivalently every) non-abelian free group. We strengthen Whyte's result by proving that this translation-like action can be chosen to be transitive …
The Burnside Problem asks whether a finitely generated group of exponent n is finite. We present a solution for 2-generator groups of prime power exponent. Results of P. Hall and G. Higman extends the finiteness conclusion to groups having composite exponents. Our main result, called the Generalized Burnside Theorem, is a solvability theorem that applies to a family of groups called GB (Generalized Burnside) groups that contain infinite as well as finite groups. The final section discusses the extension to k-generator groups although details are left for another time.
A group $Γ$ is said to be periodic if for any $g$ in $Γ$ there is a positive integer $n$ with $g^n=id$. We first prove that a finitely generated periodic group acting on the 2-sphere $\SS^2$ by $C^1$-diffeomorphisms with a finite orbit, is finite and conjugate to a subgroup of $\mathrm{O}(3,\R)$ and we use it for proving that a finitely generated periodic group of spherical diffeomorphisms with even bounded orders is finite. Finally, we show that a finitely generated periodic group of homeomorphisms of any orientable compact surface other than the 2-sphere or the 2-torus (which is the purpose …
We construct the first examples of finitely presented groups with cubic Dehn function containing a finitely generated infinite torsion subgroup. Moreover, we show that any infinite free Burnside group with sufficiently large odd exponent can be embedded as a subgroup of a finitely presented group with cubic Dehn function.
A group $G$ is said to be periodic if for any $g\in G$ there exists a positive integer $n$ with $g^n=id$. We prove that a finitely generated periodic group of homeomorphisms on the 2-torus that preserves a measure $μ$ is finite. Moreover if the group consists in homeomorphisms isotopic to the identity, then it is abelian and acts freely on $\mathbb{T}^2$. In the Appendix, we show that every finitely generated 2-group of toral homeomorphisms is finite.
We develop a version of small cancellation theory in the variety of Burnside groups. More precisely, we show that there exists a critical exponent $n_0$ such that for every odd integer $n\geq n_0$, the well-known classical $C'(1/6)$-small cancellation theory, as well as its graphical generalization and its version for free products, produce examples of infinite $n$-periodic groups. Our result gives a powerful tool for producing (uncountable collections of) examples of $n$-periodic groups with prescribed properties. It can be applied without any prior knowledge in the subject of $n$-periodic gr…
We construct easy embeddings of relatively free groups (say the free Burnside group, the free solvable group) into finitely presented groups. We introduce a concept of verbal isoperimetric function of a group variety. We prove that if the verbal Dehn function of a relatively free group is bounded by a polynomial then the group can be embedded quasi-isometrically into a finitely presented group with polynomial isoperimetric function. We also construct an easy embedding of any Baumslag-Solitar solvable group into a finitely presented group with polynomial Dehn function.
Let $B^\times$ be the biset functor over $\mathbb{F}_2$ sending a finite group~$G$ to the group $B^\times(G)$ of units of its Burnside ring $B(G)$, and let $\widehat{B^\times}$ be its dual functor. The main theorem of this paper gives a characterization of the cokernel of the natural injection from $B^\times$ in the dual Burnside functor $\widehat{\mathbb{F}_2B}$, or equivalently, an explicit set of generators $\mathcal{G}_S$ of the kernel $L$ of the natural surjection $\mathbb{F}_2B\to \widehat{B^\times}$. This yields a two terms projective resolution of $\widehat{B^\times}$, leading to some …
We construct the first examples of finitely presented groups with quadratic Dehn function containing a finitely generated infinite torsion subgroup. These examples are "optimal" in the sense that the Dehn function of any such finitely presented group must be at least quadratic. Moreover, we show that for any $n\geq2^{48}$ such that $n$ is either odd or divisible by $2^9$, any infinite free Burnside group with exponent $n$ is a quasi-isometrically embedded subgroup of a finitely presented group with quadratic Dehn function satisfying the Congruence Extension Property.
Let $S$ be a closed surface and $\text{Diff}_{\text{Vol}}(S)$ be the group of volume preserving diffeomorphisms of $S$. A finitely generated group $G$ is periodic of bounded exponent if there exists $k \in \mathbb{N}$ such that every element of $G$ has order at most $k$. We show that every periodic group of bounded exponent $G \subset \text{Diff}_{\text{Vol}}(S)$ is a finite group.
In Classical Knot Theory and in the new Theory of Quantum Invariants substantial effort was directed toward the search for unknotting moves on links. We solve, in this note, several classical problems concerning unknotting moves. Our approach uses a new concept, Burnside groups of links, which establishes unexpected relationship between Knot Theory and Group Theory. Our method has the potential to be used in computational biology in the analysis of DNA via tangle embedding theory, as developed by D.W.Sumners.
For a wide class of groups including polycyclic and finitely generated polynomial growth groups it is proved that the Reidemeister number of an automorphism f is equal to the number of finite-dimensional fixed points of the induced map f^ on the unitary dual, if one of these numbers is finite. This theorem is a natural generalization of the classical Burnside-Frobenius theorem to infinite groups. This theorem also has important consequences in topological dynamics and in some sense is a reply to a remark of J.-P. Serre. The main technical results proved in the paper yield a tool for a further …
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.
It is proved that any countable abelian group $D$ can be embedded as a centre into a $m$-generated group $A$ such that the quotient group $A/D$ is isomorphic to the free Burnside group $B(m,n)$ of rank $m>1$ and of odd period $n\ge665$. The proof is based on some modification of the method which was used by S.I.Adian in his monograph in 1975 for a positive solution of Kontorovich's famous problem from Kourovka Notebook on the existence of a finitely generated non-commutative analogue of the additive group of rational numbers. More precisely, he proved that the desired analogues in which the in…
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.
The purpose of the present paper is to prove for finitely generated groups of type I the following conjecture of A.Fel'shtyn and R.Hill, which is a generalization of the classical Burnside theorem. Let G be a countable discrete group, f one of its automorphisms, R(f) the number of f-conjugacy classes, and S(f)=# Fix (f^) the number of f-invariant equivalence classes of irreducible unitary representations. If one of R(f) and S(f) is finite, then it is equal to the other. This conjecture plays an important role in the theory of twisted conjugacy classes and has very important consequences in Dyn…
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 $G$
The purpose of the present paper is to discuss the following conjecture of Fel'shtyn and Hill, which is a generalization of the classical Burnside theorem: Let G be a countable discrete group, f its automorphism, R(f) the number of f-conjugacy classes (Reidemeister number), S(f):=# Fix (f^) the number of f-invariant equivalence classes of irreducible unitary representations. If one of R(f) and S(f) is finite, then it is equal to the other. This conjecture plays a very important role in the theory of twisted conjugacy classes having a long history and has very serious consequences in Dynamics, …
We observe that the group of all lifts of elements of Thompson's group $T$ to the real line is finitely presented and contains the additive group $\mathbb{Q}$ of the rational numbers. This gives an explicit realization of the Higman embedding theorem for $\mathbb{Q}$, answering a Kourovka notebook question of Martin Bridson and Pierre de la Harpe.
We prove that every countable left-ordered group embeds into a finitely generated left-ordered simple group. Moreover, if the first group has a computable left-order, then the simple group also has a computable left-order. We also obtain a Boone-Higman-Thompson type theorem for left-orderable groups with recursively enumerable positive cones. These embeddings are Frattini embeddings, and isometric whenever the initial group is finitely generated. Finally, we reprove Thompson's theorem on word problem preserving embeddings into finitely generated simple groups and observe that the embedding is …
Following the work done by Olshanskii for groups, we describe, for a given semigroup $S$, which functions $l : S \rightarrow \mathbb{N}$ can be realized up to equivalence as length functions $g \mapsto |g|_{H}$ by embedding $S$ into a finitely generated semigroup $H$. We also, following the work done by Olshanskii and Sapir, provide a complete description of length functions of a given finitely generated semigroup with enumerable set of relations inside a finitely presented semigroup.
Motivated by the Benjamini-Schramm non-unicity of percolation conjecture we study the following question. For a given finitely generated non-amenable group $Γ$, does there exist a generating set $S$ such that the Cayley graph $(Γ,S)$, without loops and multiple edges, has non-unique percolation, i.e., $p_c(Γ,S)<p_u(Γ,S)$? We show that this is true if $Γ$ contains an infinite normal subgroup $N$ such that $Γ/ N$ is non-amenable. Moreover for any finitely generated group $G$ containing $Γ$ there exists a generating set $S'$ of $G$ such that $p_c(G,S')<p_u(G,S')$. In particular this applies to fr…
We give a complete survey of a construction by Boone and Collins for embedding any finitely presented group into one with $8$ generators and $26$ relations. We show that this embedding preserves the set of orders of torsion elements, and in particular torsion-freeness. We combine this with the independent results of Belegradek and Chiodo to prove that there is an $8$-generator $26$-relator universal finitely presented torsion-free group (one into which all finitely presented torsion-free groups embed).
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.
We generalize the small cancellation theory over hyperbolic groups developed by Olshanskii to the case of relatively hyperbolic groups. This allows us to construct infinite finitely generated groups with exactly $n$ conjugacy classes for every $n\ge 2$. In particular, we give the affirmative answer to the well--known question of the existence of a finitely generated group $G$ other than $\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z$ such that all nontrivial elements of $G$ are conjugate.
Let K be a Cantor set embedded in the real line R. Following Funar and Neretin, we define the diffeomorphism group of K as the group of homeomorphisms of K which locally look like a diffeomorphism between two intervals of R. Higman-Thompson's groups Vn appear as subgroups of such groups. In this article, we prove some properties of this group. First, we study the Burnside problem in this group and we prove that any finitely generated subgroup consisting of finite order elements is finite. This property was already proved by Rover in the case of the groups Vn. We also prove that any finitely ge…
We prove that, for a finitely generated residually finite group, having solvable word problem is not a sufficient condition to be a subgroup of a finitely presented residually finite group. The obstruction is given by a residually finite group with solvable word problem for which there is no effective method that allows, given some non-identity element, to find a morphism onto a finite group in which this element has a non-trivial image. We also prove that the depth function of this group grows faster than any recursive function.
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.
We study a function $\mathcal{L}_Γ$ which quantifies the LEF (local embeddability into finite groups) property for a finitely generated group $Γ$. We compute this "LEF growth" function in some examples, including certain wreath products. We compare LEF growth with the analogous quantitative version of residual finiteness, and exhibit a family of finitely generated residually finite groups which nevertheless admit many more local embeddings into finite groups than they do finite quotients. Along the way, we give a new proof that B.H. Neumann's continuous family of $2$-generated groups contains …
For a finitely generated group $G$ the Nielsen graph $N_n(G)$, $n\geq \operatorname{rank}(G)$, describes the action of the group $\operatorname{Aut}F_n$ of automorphisms of the free group $F_n$ on generating $n$-tuples of G by elementary Nielsen moves. The question of (non)amenability of Nielsen graphs is of particular interest in relation with the open question about Property $(T)$ for $\operatorname{Aut}F_n$, $n\geq 4$. We prove nonamenability of Nielsen graphs $N_n(G)$ for all $n\ge \max\{2,\operatorname{rank}(G)\}$ when $G$ is indicable, and for $n$ big enough when $G$ is elementary amenab…
We combine classical methods of combinatorial group theory with the theory of small cancellations over relatively hyperbolic groups to construct finitely generated torsion-free groups that have only finitely many classes of conjugate elements. Moreover, we present several results concerning embeddings into such groups. As another application of these techniques, we prove that every countable group $C$ can be realized as a group of outer automorphisms of a group $N$, where $N$ is a finitely generated group having Kazhdan's property (T) and containing exactly two conjugacy classes.
Since the work of Jennings (1955), it is well-known that any finitely generated torsion-free nilpotent group can be embedded into unitriangular integer matrices $UT_N(Z)$ for some $N$. In 2006, Nickel proposed an algorithm to calculate such embeddings. In this work, we show that if $UT_n(Z)$ is embedded into $UT_N(Z)$ using Nickel's algorithm, then $N \geq 2^{n/2 -2}$ if the standard ordering of the Mal'cev basis (as in Nickel's original paper) is used. In particular, we establish an exponential worst-case running time of Nickel's algorithm. On the other hand, we also prove a general exponenti…
In this paper, we prove a series of results on group embeddings in groups with a small number of generators. We show that each finitely generated group $G$ lying in a variety ${\mathcal M}$ can be embedded in a $4$-generated group $H \in {\mathcal M}{\mathcal A}$ (${\mathcal A}$ means the variety of abelian groups). If $G$ is a finite group, then $H$ can also be found as a finite group. It follows, that any finitely generated (finite) solvable group $G$ of the derived length $l$ can be embedded in a $4$-generated (finite) solvable group $H$ of length $l+1$. Thus, we answer the question of V. H…
In this note we introduce the class of $\mathcal H$-groups (or Hall groups) related to the class of $\mathcal B$-groups defined by Ph. Hall in 1950's. Establishing some basic properties of Hall groups we use them to obtain results concerning embeddings of abelian groups. In particular, we give an explicit classification of all abelian groups that can occur as subgroups in finitely-generated metabelian groups. Hall groups allow to give a negative answer to the Baumslag's conjecture of 1990 on the cardinality of the set of isomorphism classes for abelian subgroups in finitely generated metabelia…
We prove that every finitely generated group $G$ discriminated by a locally quasi-convex torsion-free hyperbolic group $Γ$ is effectively coherent: that is, presentations for finitely generated subgroups can be computed from the subgroup generators. We study $G$ via its embedding into an iterated centralizer extension of $Γ$, and prove that this embedding can be computed. We also give algorithms to enumerate all finitely generated groups discriminated by $Γ$ and to decide whether a given group, with decidable word problem, is discriminated by $Γ$. If $Γ$ may have torsion, we prove that groups …
Let $Δ$ be a cocompact lattice in $\mathsf{Sp}(m,1)$, $m \geq 2$, or $F_{4}^{(-20)}$. We exhibit examples of finitely generated subgroups of $Δ\times Δ$ with positive first Betti number all of whose discrete faithful representations into any real semisimple Lie group are quasi-isometric embeddings. The examples of this paper are inspired by the counterexamples of Bass-Lubotzky [BL00] to Platonov's conjecture.
We prove that every finitely-generated right-angled Artin group can be embedded into some Brin-Thompson group $nV$. It follows that many other groups can be embedded into some $nV$ (e.g., any finite extension of any of Haglund and Wise's special groups), and that various decision problems involving subgroups of $nV$ are unsolvable.
We establish a general criterion for the finite presentability of subdirect products of groups and use this to characterize finitely presented residually free groups. We prove that, for all $n\in\mathbb{N}$, a residually free group is of type ${\rm{FP}}_n$ if and only if it is of type ${\rm{F}}_n$. New families of subdirect products of free groups are constructed, including the first examples of finitely presented subgroups that are neither ${\rm{FP}}_\infty$ nor of Stallings-Bieri type. The template for these examples leads to a more constructive characterization of finitely presented residua…
We demonstrate under appropriate finiteness conditions that a coarse embedding induces an inequality of homological Dehn functions. Applications of the main results include a characterization of what finitely presentable groups may admit a coarse embedding into a hyperbolic group of geometric dimension $2$, characterizations of finitely presentable subgroups of groups with quadratic Dehn function with geometric dimension $2$, and to coarse embeddings of nilpotent groups into other nilpotent groups of the same growth and into hyperbolic groups.
We show that every group $H$ of at most exponential growth with respect to some left invariant metric admits a bi-Lipschitz embedding into a finitely generated group $G$ such that $G$ is amenable (respectively, solvable, satisfies a non-trivial identity, elementary amenable, of finite decomposition complexity, etc.) whenever $H$ is. We also discuss some applications to compression functions of Lipschitz embeddings into uniformly convex Banach spaces, Følner functions, and elementary classes of amenable groups.
