In this paper we describe the structure of a group of conjugating automorphisms $C_n$ of free group and prove that this structure is similar to the structure of a braid group $B_n$ with $n>1$ strings. We find the linear representation of group $C_n$. Also we prove that the braid group $B_n(S^2)$ of 2--sphere, mapping class group M(0,n) of the $n$--punctured 2--sphere and the braid group $B_3(P^2)$ of the projective plane are linear. Using result of J. Dyer, E. Formanek, E. Grossman and the faithful linear representation of Lawrence--Krammer of $B_4$ we construct faithful linear representation of the automorphism group $Aut(F_2)$.
We compute the topological complexity of Eilenberg-Mac Lane spaces associated to the group of automorphisms of a finitely generated free group which act by conjugation on a given basis, and to certain subgroups.
An automorphism of a graph product of groups is conjugating if it sends each factor to a conjugate of a factor (possibly different). In this article, we determine precisely when the group of conjugating automorphisms of a graph product satisfies Kazhdan's property (T) and when it satisfies some vastness properties including SQ-universality.
We determine the structure of the first resonance variety of the cohomology ring of the group of automorphisms of a finitely generated free group which act by conjugation on a given basis.
Let F_n = <x_1,...,x_n> denote the free group with generators {x_1,...,x_n}. Nielsen and Magnus described generators for the kernel of the canonical epimorphism from the automorphism group of F_n to the general linear group over the integers. In particular among them are the automorphisms chi_{k,i} which conjugate the generator x_k by the generator x_i leaving the x_j fixed for j not k. A computation of the cohomology ring as well as the Lie algebra obtained from the descending central series of the group generated by chi_{k,i} for i<k is given here. Partial results are obtained for the group …
We construct a linear representation of the group IA(F_n) of IA-automorphisms of a free group F_n, an extension of the Gassner representation of the pure braid group P_n. Although the problem of faithfulness of the Gassner representation is still open for n > 3, we prove that the restriction of our representation to the group of basis conjugating automorphisms Cb_n contains a non-trivial kernel even if n=2. We construct also an extensions of the Burau representation to the group of conjugating automorphisms C_n. This representation is not faithful for n > 1.
Let G be a right-angled Artin group. We use geometric methods to compute a presentation of the subgroup H of Aut(G) consisting of the automorphisms that send each generator to a conjugate of itself. This generalizes a result of McCool on basis-conjugating automorphisms of free groups.
In the present paper the representation of the virtual braid group $VB_n$ into the automorphism group of free product of the free group and free abelian group is constructed. This representation generalizes the previously constructed ones. The fact that these already known representations are not faithful for $n \geq 4$ is verified. Using representations of $VB_n$, the virtual link group is defined. Also representations of welded braid group $WB_n$ are constructed and the welded link group is defined.
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 find finite presentations for the automorphism group of the Artin pure braid group and the automorphism group of the pure braid group associated to the full monomial group.
In this paper we determine the automorphism groups of the profinite braid groups with four or more strings in terms of the profinite Grothendieck-Teichmüller group.
In this paper, we generalize the tools that were introduced in [Dar19b] in order to study the Andreadakis problem for subgroups of IAn. In particular, we study the behaviour of the Andreadakis problem when we add inner automorphisms to a subgroup of IAn. We notably use this to show that the Andreadakis equality holds for the pure braid group on n strands modulo its center acting on the free group on n-1 generators , that is, for the (pure, based) mapping class group of the n-punctured sphere acting on its fundamental group.
Based on a normal form for braid group elements suggested by Dehornoy, we prove several representations of braid groups by automorphisms of a free group to be faithful. This includes a simple proof of the standard Artin's representation being faithful.
We describe an algorithm to find the virtual cohomological dimension of the automorphism group of a right-angled Artin group. The algorithm works in the relative setting; in particular it also applies to untwisted automorphism groups and basis-conjugating automorphism groups. The main new tool is the construction of free abelian subgroups of certain Fouxe-Rabinovitch groups of rank equal to their virtual cohomological dimension, generalizing a result of Meucci in the setting of free groups.
In this paper, we investigate the structure of the automorphism groups of pure braid groups. We prove that, for $n>3$, $\Aut(P_n)$ is generated by the subgroup $\Aut_c(P_n)$ of central automorphisms of $P_n$, the subgroup $\Aut(B_n)$ of restrictions of automorphisms of $B_n$ on $P_n$ and one extra automorphism $w_n$. We also investigate the lifting and extension problem for automorphisms of some well-known exact sequences arising from braid groups, and prove that that answers are negative in most cases. Specifically, we prove that no non-trivial central automorphism of $P_n$ can be extended to…
In this paper, we prove that each automorphism of a surface braid group is induced by a homeomorphism of the underlying surface, provided that this surface is a closed, connected, orientable surface of genus at least 2, and the number of strings is at least three. This result generalizes previous results for classical braid groups, mapping class groups, and Torelli groups.
We present and discuss some open problems formulated by participants of the International Workshop "Knots, Braids, and Auto\-mor\-phism Groups" held in Novosibirsk, 2014. Problems are related to palindromic and commutator widths of groups; properties of Brunnian braids and two-colored braids, corresponding to an amalgamation of groups; extreme properties of hyperbolic 3-orbifold groups, relations between inner and quasi-inner automorphisms of groups; and Staic's construction of symmetric cohomology of groups.
The goal of this paper is to construct and describe certain arithmetic subgroups of the automorphism group of a partially commutative group. More precisely, given an arbitrary finite graph $Γ$ we construct an arithmetic subgroup $St(L(G))$, represented as a subgroup of $GL(n,Z)$, where $n$ is the number of vertices of the graph $Γ$. In the last section of the paper we give a description of the decomposition of the group of automorphisms $St^{conj}(L(G))$ as a semidirect product of the group of conjugating automorphisms $Conj(G)$ and $St(L(G))$. This result is closely related to Theorem 1.4 of …
We define and study extensions of Artin's representation and braid monodromy representation to the case of topological and algebraical generalisations of braid groups. In particular we provide faithful representations of braid groups of oriented surfaces with boundary components as (outer) automorphisms of free groups. We give also similar representations for braid groups of non oriented surfaces with boundary components and we show a representation of braid groups of closed surfaces as outer automorphisms of free groups. Finally, we provide faithful representations of Artin-Tits groups of typ…
We show several geometric and algebraic aspects of a necklace: a link composed with a core circle and a series of circles linked to this core. We first prove that the fundamental group of the configuration space of necklaces (that we will call braid group of a necklace) is isomorphic to the braid group over an annulus quotiented by the square of the center. We then define braid groups of necklaces and affine braid groups of type A in terms of automorphisms of free groups and characterize these automorphisms among all automorphisms of free groups. In the case of affine braid groups of type A su…
If $G$ is a free product of finite groups, let $ΣAut_1(G)$ denote all (necessarily symmetric) automorphisms of $G$ that do not permute factors in the free product. We show that a McCullough-Miller [D. McCullough and A. Miller, {\em Symmetric Automorphisms of Free Products}, Mem. Amer. Math. Soc. 122 (1996), no. 582] and Gutiérrez-Krstić [M. Gutiérrez and S. Krstić, {\em Normal forms for the group of basis-conjugating automorphisms of a free group}, International Journal of Algebra and Computation 8 (1998) 631-669] derived (also see Bogley-Krstić [W. Bogley and S. Krstić, {\em String groups and…
We study the $n$th degree representations $\hat{ρ_G}$ of $Cb_{n}$ and $\hat{ρ_B}$ of $C_{n}$, defined by Valerij G. Bardakov, where $Cb_{n}$ is the group of basis conjugating automorphisms and $C_n$ is the group of conjugating automorphisms. We prove that $\hat{ρ_G}$ is reducible and its $(n-1)$th degree composition factor $\hat{ϕ_G}$ is irreducible if and only if $t_i\neq 1$ for all $1\leq i \leq n$. Also we prove that $\hat{ρ_B}$ is reducible and its $(n-1)$th degree composition factor $\hat{ϕ_B}$ is irreducible if and only if $t\neq 1$. Moreover, for $n=3$, we prove that $\hat{ϕ_G}(t_1,t_2,…
In the paper, we introduce the notion of a (virtual) multi-switch which generalizes the notion of a (virtual) switch. Using (virtual) multi-switches we introduce a general approach on how to construct representations of (virtual) braid groups by automorphisms of algebraic systems. As a corollary, we introduce new representations of virtual braid groups which generalize several previously known representations.
We show that many normal subgroups of the braid group modulo its centre, and of the mapping class group of a sphere with marked points, have the property that their automorphism and abstract commensurator groups are mapping class groups of such spheres. As one application, we establish the automorphism groups of each term in the lower central series and derived series of the pure braid group. We also obtain new proofs of results of Dyer-Grossman and Orevkov, showing that the automorphism groups of the braid group and of its commutator subgroup are isomorphic. We then calculate the automorphism…
We show that the conjugacy problem is solvable in [finitely generated free]-by-cyclic groups, by using a result of O. Maslakova that one can algorithmically find generating sets for the fixed subgroups of free group automorphisms, and one of P. Brinkmann that one can determine whether two cyclic words in a free group are mapped to each other by some power of a given automorphism. The algorithm effectively computes a conjugating element, if it exists. We also solve the power conjugacy problem and give an algorithm to recognize if two given elements of a finitely generated free group are Reideme…
We define several "standard" subgroups of the automorphism group Aut(G) of a partially commutative (right-angled Artin) group and use these standard subgroups to describe decompositions of Aut(G). If C is the commutation graph of G, we show how Aut(G) decomposes in terms of the connected components of C: obtaining a particularly clear decomposition theorem in the special case where C has no isolated vertices. If C has no vertices of a type we call dominated then we give a semi-direct decompostion of Aut(G) into a subgroup of locally conjugating automorphisms by the subgroup stabilising a certa…
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…
It is well-known that there is a faithful representation of braid groups on automorphism groups of free groups, and it is also well-known that free groups are bi-orderable. We investigate which n-strand braids give rise to automorphisms which preserve some bi-ordering of the free group rank n. As a consequence of our work we find that of the two minimal volume hyperbolic 2-cusped orientable 3-manifolds, one has bi-orderable fundamental group whereas the other does not. We prove a similar result for the 1-cusped case, and have further results for more cusps. In addition, we study pseudo-Anosov …
We obtain new presentations for the imprimitive complex reflection groups of type $(de,e,r)$ and their braid groups $B(de,e,r)$ for $d,r \ge 2$. Diagrams for these presentations are proposed. The presentations have much in common with Coxeter presentations of real reflection groups. They are positive and homogeneous, and give rise to quasi-Garside structures. Diagram automorphisms correspond to group automorphisms. The new presentation shows how the braid group $B(de,e,r)$ is a semidirect product of the braid group of affine type $\widetilde A_{r-1}$ and an infinite cyclic group. Elements of $…
Consider the space of double cosets of the product of $n$ copies of $\SU(2)$ with respect to the diagonal subgroup. We get a parametrization of this space, the radial part of the Haar measure, and explicit formulas for the actions of the group of outer automorphisms of the free group $F_{n-1}$ and of the braid group of $n-1$ strings.
The McCool group has families of subgroups such as the ordinary pure braid group, the upper triangular McCool group and the partial inner automorphism group. The generalized Andreadakis conjecture holds for the ordinary pure braid group and the upper triangular McCool group. In this paper, we prove a similar result for the partial inner automorphism group and also establish an isomorphism between this group and the inner automorphism group of the upper triangular McCool group.
In this paper, we prove that each automorphism of the Torelli group of a surface is induced by a diffeomorphism of the surface, provided that the surface is a closed, connected, orientable surface of genus at least 3. This result was previously announced by Benson Farb for genus at least 4 and has recently been announced by Benson Farb and Nikolai Ivanov for subgroups of finite index in the Torelli group for surfaces of genus at least 5. This result is also directly analogous to previous results established for classical braid groups, mapping class groups, and surface braid groups.
We prove that the smallest non-trivial quotients of the commutator subgroups of the braid groups are the alternating groups, proving a conjecture of Chudnovsky-Kordek-Li-Partin. Furthermore, we show that any minimal quotient map is the standard projection, composed with an automorphism of the alternating group.
We linearize the Artin representation of the braid group given by (right) automorphisms of a free group providing a linear faithful representation of the braid group. This result is generalized to obtain linear representations for the coloured braid groupoid and pure braid group too. Applications to some areas of two-dimensional physics are discussed.
In this note we solve the twisted conjugacy problem for braid groups, i.e. we propose an algorithm which, given two braids $u,v\in B_n$ and an automorphism $ϕ\in Aut (B_n)$, decides whether $v=(ϕ(x))^{-1}ux$ for some $x\in B_n$. As a corollary, we deduce that each group of the form $B_n \rtimes H$, a semidirect product of the braid group $B_n$ by a torsion-free hyperbolic group $H$, has solvable conjugacy problem.
Artin's representation is an injective homomorphism from the braid group $B_n$ on $n$ strands into $\operatorname{Aut}\mathbb{F}_n$, the automorphism group of the free group $\mathbb{F}_n$ on $n$ generators. The representation induces maps $B_n\to\operatorname{Aut}C^*_r(\mathbb{F}_n)$ and $B_n\to\operatorname{Aut}C^*(\mathbb{F}_n)$ into the automorphism groups of the corresponding group $C^*$-algebras of $\mathbb{F}_n$. These maps also have natural restrictions to the pure braid group $P_n$. In this paper, we consider twisted versions of the actions by cocycles with values in the circle, and d…
In this paper we first show that many braid groups of low genus surfaces have their centers as direct factors. We then give a description of centralizers and normalizers of prime order elements in pure mapping class groups of surfaces with spherical quotients using automorphism groups of fundamental groups of the quotient surfaces. As an application, we use these to show that the $p$-primary part of the Farrell cohomology groups of certain mapping class groups are elementary abelian groups. At the end we compute the $p$-primary part of the Farrell cohomology of a few pure mapping class groups.
We give a complete classification of homomorphisms from the commutator subgroup of the braid group on $n$ strands to the braid group on $n$ strands when $n$ is at least 7. In particular, we show that each nontrivial homomorphism extends to an automorphism of the braid group on $n$ strands. This answers four questions of Vladimir Lin. Our main new tool is the theory of totally symmetric sets.
We present examples of characters of absolute Galois groups of number fields that can be recovered through their action by automorphisms on the profinite completion of the braid groups, using a ``rigidity'' approach. The way we use to recover them is through classical representations of the braid groups, and in particular through the Burau representation. This enables one to extend these characters to Grothendieck-Teichmueller groups.
We show that the morphisms from the braid group with n strands in the mapping class group of a surface with a possible non empty boundary, assuming that its genus is smaller or equal to n/2 are either cyclic morphisms (their images are cyclic groups), or transvections of monodromy morphisms (up to multiplication by an element in the centralizer of the image, the image of a standard generator of the braid group is a Dehn twist, and the images of two consecutive standard generators are two Dehn twists along two curves intersecting in one point). As a corollary, we determine the endomorphisms, th…
In the paper, we construct a representation $θ:FVB_n\to{\rm Aut}(F_{2n})$ of the flat virtual braid group $FVB_n$ on $n$ strands by automorphisms of the free group $F_{2n}$ with $2n$ generators which does not preserve the forbidden relations in the flat virtual braid group. This representation gives a positive answer to the problem formulated by V. Bardakov in the list of unsolved problems in virtual knot theory and combinatorial knot theory by R. Fenn, D. Ilyutko, L. Kauffman and V. Manturov. Using this representation we construct a new group invariant for flat welded links. Also we find the …
Let $G$ be one of the Artin groups of finite type ${\mathbf B}_n={\mathbf C}_n$, and affine type $\tilde{\mathbf A}_{n-1}$ and $\tilde{\mathbf C}_{n-1}$. In this paper, we show that if $α$ and $β$ are elements of $G$ such that $α^k=β^k$ for some nonzero integer $k$, then $α$ and $β$ are conjugate in $G$. For the Artin group of type $\mathbf A_n$, this was recently proved by J. González-Meneses. In fact, we prove a stronger theorem, from which the above result follows easily by using descriptions of those Artin groups as subgroups of the braid group on $n+1$ strands. Let $P$ be a subset of $\{1…
We generalize a result of T. Koberda by showing that the natural action of the automorphism group on the space of left-orderings is faithful for all nonabelian bi-orderable groups G, as well as for a certain class of left-orderable groups that includes the braid groups. As a corollary we show that the action of the automorphism group of G on the boundary of G is faithful whenever G is bi-orderable and hyperbolic. We also analyze the action of the commensurator of G on its space of virtual left-orderings.
We investigate a group $B\_\bullet$ that includes Artin's braid group $B\_\infty$ and Thompson's group $F$. The elements of $B\_\bullet$ are represented by braids diagrams in which the distances between the strands are not uniform and, besides the usual crossing generators, new rescaling operators shrink or strech the distances between the strands. We prove that $B\_\bullet$ is a group of fractions, that it is orderable, admits a non-trivial self-distributive structure, i.e., one involving the law $x(yz)=(xy)(xz)$, embeds in the mapping class group of a sphere with a Cantor set of punctures, a…
Let $F\_n$ be the free group on $n$ generators. Consider the group $IA\_n$ of automorphisms of $F\_n$ acting trivially on its abelianization. There are two canonical filtrations on $IA\_n$: the first one is its lower central series $Γ\_*$; the second one is the Andreadakis filtration $\mathcal A\_*$, defined from the action on $F\_n$. The Andreadakis problem consists in understanding the difference between these filtrations. Here, we show that they coincide when restricted to the subgroup of triangular automorphisms, and to the pure braid group.
We prove that the automorphism group of the braid group on four strands acts faithfully and geometrically on a CAT(0) 2-complex. This implies that the automorphism group of the free group of rank two acts faithfully and geometrically on a CAT(0) 2-complex, in contrast to the situation for rank three and above.
We are concerned with orderable groups and particularly those with orderings invariant not only under multiplication, but also under a given automorphism or family of automorphisms. Several applications to topology are given: we prove that the fundamental groups of hyperbolic nonorientable surfaces, and the groups of certain fibred knots are bi-orderable. Moreover, we show that the pure braid groups associated with hyperbolic nonorientable surfaces are left-orderable.
We prove that the braid group $B_4$ on 4 strings, as well as its central quotient $B_4/< z>$, have the property RD of Haagerup-Jolissaint. It follows that the automorphism group $\Aut(F_2)$ of the free group $F_2$ on 2 generators has property RD. We also prove that the braid group $B_4$ is a group of intermediate rank (of dimension 3). Namely, we show that both $B_4$ and its central quotient have exponential mesoscopic rank, i.e., that they contain exponentially many large flat balls which are not included in flats.
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…
