Automatic groups admitting prefix closed automatic structures with uniqueness are characterized as the quotients of free groups by normal subgroups possessing sets of free generators satisfying certain language-theoretic conditions.
We show that the Bianchi group $\mathrm{PSL}_2(\mathcal{O}_d)$, where $\mathcal{O}_d$ is the ring of integers in $\Q(\sqrt{d})$, $d<0$, has a free quotient of rank $\geq |d|^{1/4-ε}$, as $|d|\to\infty$.
Given a group with at least two more generators than relations, we give an effective estimate on the minimal index of a subgroup with a nonabelian free quotient. We show that the index is bounded by a polynomial in the length of the relator word. We also provide a lower bound on the index.
First, we study a descending filtration of the ring of Fricke characters of a free group consisting of ideals on which the automorphism group of a free group acts. Then using it, we define a descending filtration of the IA-automorphism group of a free group, and investigate a relation between it and the Andreadakis-Johnson filtration.
We introduce certain directed multigraphs with extra structure, called Weyl graphs, which model quotients of Tits buildings by type-preserving chamber-free group actions. Their advantage over complexes of groups, which are often used for the CAT(0) Davis realization of buildings, is that Weyl graphs exploit the ultimate combinatorial W-metric structure of buildings. Weyl graphs generalize Tits's chambers systems of type M by allowing 2-residues to be quotients of generalized polygons by flag-free group actions, and Weyl graphs are easily constructed by amalgamating such quotients. We develop c…
We prove a conjecture of Boston that if $p\geq 5$, all $p$-central quotients of the free group on two generators and of the free product of two cyclic groups of order $p$ are Beauville groups. In the case of the free product, we also determine Beauville structures in $p$-central quotients when $p=3$. As a consequence, we give an explicit infinite family of Beauville $3$-groups, which is different from the only one that was known up to date.
This paper describes some generalizations of the results presented in the book "Geometry of defining Relations in Groups" , of A.Yu.Ol'shanskii to the case of non-cyclic torsion-free hyperbolic groups. In particular, it is proved that for every non-cyclic torsion-free hyperbolic group, there exists a non-Abelian torsion-free quotient group in which all proper subgroups are cyclic, and the intersection of any two of them is not trivial.
In arXiv:1303.1129, the authors provided a bound for the palindromic width of free abelian-by-nilpotent group $AN_n$ of rank $n$ and free nilpotent group ${\rm N}_{n,r}$ of rank $n$ and step $r$. In the present paper we study palindromic widths of groups $\widetilde{AN}_n$ and $\widetilde{\rm N}_{n,r}$. We denote by $\widetilde{G}_n = G_n / \langle \langle x_1^2, \ldots, x_n^2 \rangle \rangle$ the quotient of group $G_n = \langle x_1, \ldots, x_n \rangle$, which is free in some variety by the normal subgroup generated by $x_1^2, \ldots, x_n^2$. We prove that the palindromic width of the quotie…
We describe the pronilpotent quotients of a class of projective profinite groups, that we call $ω$-presented groups, defined using a special type of presentations. The pronilpotent quotients of an $ω$-presented group are completely determined by a single polynomial, closely related with the characteristic polynomial of a matrix. We deduce that $ω$-presented groups are either perfect or admit the $p$-adic integers as quotients for cofinitely many primes. We also find necessary conditions for absolute and relative freeness of $ω$-presented groups. Our main motivation comes from semigroup theory:…
We give an new, elementary proof of the result that the smallest non-cyclic quotients of automorphism group of free group is the linear group over the field of two elements, and moreover all minimal quotients are obtained by the standard projection composed with an automorphism of the image. This result, originally due to Baumeister-Kielak-Pierro, proves a conjecture of Mecchia-Zimmermann.
In this paper, we consider certain descending filtrations of the $\mathrm{SL}(m,\C)$-representation algebras of free groups and free abelian groups. By using it, we introduce analogs of the Johnson homomorphisms of the automorphism groups of free groups. We show that the first homomorphisms are extended to the automorphism groups of free groups as crossed homomorphisms. Furthermore we show that the extended crossed homomorphisms induce Kawazumi's cocycles and Morita's cocycles. This works are generalization of our previous results for the $\mathrm{SL}(2,\C)$-representation algebras.
We study blocks with an abelian defect group and a cyclic inertial quotient acting freely but not transitively. We prove that when p=2, such blocks are inertial, i.e. basic Morita equivalent to their Brauer correspondent. Together with a result of the second author on Singer cycle actions on homocyclic defect groups, this completes the classification of 2-blocks with a cyclic inertial quotient acting freely on an abelian defect group.
We determine the structure of the quotient of the free group on 26 generators by English language anagrams. This group admits a surprisingly simple presentation as a quotient of the free group by 301 of the possible 325 commutators of pairs of generators; all of the 24 missing commutators involve at least one of the letters j, q, x, z. We describe the algorithm which can be used to determine this group given any dictionary, and provide examples from the SOWPODS scrabble dictionary witnessing the 301 commutators found.
In 1993, the homophonic quotient groups for French and English (the quotient of the free group generated by the French (respectively English) alphabet determined by relations representing standard pronunciation rules) were explicitly characterized [5]. In this paper we apply the same methodology to three different language systems: German, Korean, and Turkish. We argue that our results point to some interesting differences between these three languages (or at least their current script systems).
There currently exists no algebraic algorithm for computing twisted conjugacy classes in free groups. We propose a new technique for deciding twisted conjugacy relations using nilpotent quotients. Our technique is generalization of the common abelianization method, but admits significantly greater rates of success. We present experimental results demonstrating the efficacy of the technique, and detail how it can be applied the related settings of surface groups and doubly twisted conjugacy.
Let G be a non-elementary torsion-free hyperbolic group. We prove that the exponential growth rate of the periodic quotient G/G^n tends to the one of G as n odd approaches infinity. Moreover we provide an estimate at which the convergence is taking place.
We strengthen Marshall Hall's Theorem to show that free groups are locally extended residually alternating. Let F be any free group of rank at least two, let H be a finitely generated subgroup of infinite index in F and let {g_1,...,g_n} be a finite subset of F-H. Then there is a surjection f from F to a finite alternating group such that f(g_i) is not in f(H) for any i. The techniques of this paper can also provide symmetric quotients.
For a positive integer $n$, with $n \geq 2$, let $M_n$ be a free metabelian group of rank $n$. For $c \in \mathbb{N}$, let $γ_c(M_n)$ be the $c$-th term of the lower central series of $M_n$. For $c \geq 2$, let ${\rm I}_{c}{\rm A}(M_n)$ be the subgroup of ${\rm Aut}(M_{n})$ consisting of all automorphisms inducing the identity mapping on $M_n/γ_c(M_n)$. In this paper, we study the quotient groups ${\cal L}^{c}({\rm IA}(M_{n})) = {\rm I}_{c}{\rm A}(M_n)/{\rm I}_{c+1}{\rm A}(M_n)$ for all $n$ and $c$. For $c \geq 2$, we show $γ_{c}({\rm IA}(M_{2})) = {\rm I}_{c+1}{\rm A}(M_{2}))$. For $n = 3$, w…
We prove that, for any positive integer $c$, the quotient group $γ_{c}(M_{3})/γ_{c+1}(M_{3})$ of the lower central series of the McCool group $M_{3}$ is isomorphic to two copies of the quotient group $γ_{c}(F_{3})/γ_{c+1}(F_{3})$ of the lower central series of a free group $F_{3}$ of rank $3$ as $\mathbb{Z}$-modules. Furthermore, we give a necessary and sufficient condition whether the associated graded Lie algebra ${\rm gr}(M_{3})$ of $M_3$ is naturally embedded into the Johnson Lie algebra ${\cal L}({\rm IA}(F_{3}))$ of the IA-automorphisms of $F_{3}$.
We prove that, for n=3 and 4, the minimal nonabelian finite factor group of the outer automorphism group Out F_n of a free group of rank n is the linear group PSL_n(Z_2) (conjecturally, this may remain true for arbitrary rank n > 2). We also discuss some computational results on low index subgroups of Aut F_n and Out F_n, for n = 3 and 4, using presentations of these groups.
A residually nilpotent group is \emph{$k$-parafree} if all of its lower central series quotients match those of a free group of rank $k$. Magnus proved that $k$-parafree groups of rank $k$ are themselves free. In this note we mimic this theory with finite extensions of free groups, with an emphasis on free products of the cyclic group $C_p$, for $p$ an odd prime. We show that for $n \leq p$ Magnus' characterization holds for the $n$-fold free product $C_p^{*n}$ within the class of finite-extensions of free groups. Specifically, if $n \leq p$ and $G$ is a finitely generated, virtually free, res…
We consider the fundamental group $π$ of a surface of finite type equipped with the infinite generating set consisting of all simple closed curves. We show that every nilpotent quotient of $π$ has finite diameter with respect to the word metric given by this set. This is in contrast with a result of Danny Calegari that shows that $π$ has infinite diameter with respect to this set. Furthermore, we give a general criterion for a finitely generated group equipped with a generating set to have this property.
For the class of solvable groups of homeomorphisms of the line preserving orientation and containing a freely acting element, we establish the metabelianity of the quotient group $G/H_G$, where the elements of the normal subgroup $H_G$ are stabilizers of the minimal set. This fact is an important element in the classification theorem, used, in particular, in the study of the Thompson's group $F$.
For a prime number $p$ and a free profinite group $S$, let $S^{(n,p)}$ be the $n$th term of its lower $p$-central filtration, and $S^{[n,p]}$ the corresponding quotient. Using tools from the combinatorics of words, we construct a canonical basis of the cohomology group $H^2(S^{[n,p]},\mathbb{Z}/p)$, which we call the Lyndon basis, and use it to obtain structural results on this group. We show a duality between the Lyndon basis and canonical generators of $S^{(n,p)}/S^{(n+1,p)}$. We prove that the cohomology group satisfies shuffle relations, which for small values of $n$ fully describe it.
Let O(f,Z) be the integral orthogonal group of an integral quadratic form f of signature (n,1). Let R(f,Z) be the subgroup of O(f,Z) generated by all hyperbolic reflections. Vinberg proved that if n > 29 then the reflective quotient O(f,Z)/R(f,Z) is infinite. In this note we generalize Vinberg's theorem and prove that if n > 91 then O(f,Z)/R(f,Z) contains a non-abelian free group (and thus it is not amenable).
This paper presents a description of the fourth dimension quotient, using the theory of limits of functors from the category of free presentations of a given group to the category of abelian groups. A functorial description of a quotient of the third Fox subgroup is given and, as a consequence, an identification (not involving an isolator) of the third Fox subgroup is obtained. It is shown that the limit over the category of free representations of the third Fox quotient represents the composite of two derived quadratic functors.
There are limit groups having non-conjugate elements whose images are conjugate in every free quotient. Towers over free groups are freely conjugacy separable.
In the case where $G=$SL$_{2}(F)$ for a non-archimedean local field $F$ and $Γ$ is a discrete torsion-free cocompact subgroup of $G$, there is a known relationship between the Ihara zeta function for the quotient of the Bruhat-Tits tree of $G$ by the action of $Γ$, and an alternating product of determinants of twisted Poincaré series for parabolic subgroups of the affine Weyl group of $G$. We show how this can be generalised to other split simple algebraic groups of rank two over $F$, and formulate a conjecture about how this might be generalised to groups of higher rank.
If G is a semidirect product N by H with N normal and finitely generated then G has the property that every finite group is a quotient of some finite index subgroup of G if and only if one of N and H has this property. This has applications to 3-manifolds and to cyclically presented groups, for instance for any fibred hyperbolic 3-manifold M and any finite simple group S, there is a cyclic cover of M whose fundamental group surjects to S. We also give a short proof of the residual finiteness of ascending HNN extensions of finite rank free groups when the induced map on homology is injective.
We discuss a problem posed by Gersten: Is every automatic group which does not contain Z+Z subgroup, hyperbolic? To study this question, we define the notion of "n-tracks of length n", which is a structure like Z+Z, and prove its existence in the non-hyperbolic automatic groups with mild conditions. As an application, we show that if a group acts effectively, cellularly, properly discontinuously and cocompactly on a CAT(0) cube complex and its quotient is "weakly special", then the above question is answered affirmatively.
Chevalley's theorem and it's converse, the Sheppard-Todd theorem, assert that finite reflection groups are distinguished by the fact that the ring of invariant polynomials is freely generated. We show that in the Euclidean case, a weaker condition suffices to characterize finite reflection groups, namely that a freely-generated polynomial subring is closed with respect to the gradient product.
It was previously shown by Grunewald and Lubotzky that the automorphism group of a free group, $\text{Aut}(F_n)$, has a large collection of virtual arithmetic quotients. Analogous results were proved for the mapping class group by Looijenga and by Grunewald, Larsen, Lubotzky, and Malestein. In this paper, we prove analogous results for the automorphism group of a right-angled Artin group for a large collection of defining graphs. As a corollary of our methods we produce new virtual arithmetic quotients of $\text{Aut}(F_n)$ for $n \geq 4$ where $k$th powers of all transvections act trivially fo…
We give a short proof of Masbaum and Reid's result that mapping class groups involve any finite group, appealing to free quotients of surface groups and a result of Gilman, following Dunfield-Thurston.
We show that there is no algorithm deciding whether the maximal residually free quotient of a given finitely presented group is finitely presentable or not. Given a finitely generated subgroup G of a finite product of limit groups, we discuss the possibility of finding an explicit set of defining equations (i.e. of expressing G as the maximal residually free quotient of an explicit finitely presented group).
This paper is a continuation of our previous work with Margalit where we studied group actions on projection complexes. In that paper, we demonstrated sufficient conditions so that the normal closure of a family of subgroups of vertex stabilizers is a free product of certain conjugates of these subgroups. In this paper, we study both the quotient of the projection complex by this normal subgroup and the action of the quotient group on the quotient of the projection complex. We show that under certain conditions that the quotient complex is $δ$-hyperbolic. Additionally, under certain circumstan…
This paper is the first in a sequence on the first order theory of free products. In the first paper we generalize the analysis of systems of equations over free and (torsion-free) hyperbolic groups, and analyze system of equations over free products. To do that we introduce limit groups over the class of free products, and show that a finitely presented group has a canonical (finite) collection of maximal limit quotients. We further extend this finite collection and associate a Makanin-Razborov diagram over free products with a finitely presented group. This MR diagram encodes all the quotien…
We prove that the group of birational transformations of a Del Pezzo fibration of degree 3 over a curve is not simple, by giving a surjective group homomorphism to a free product of infinitely many groups of order 2. As a consequence we also obtain that the Cremona group of rank 3 is not generated by birational maps preserving a rational fibration. Besides, its subgroup generated by all connected algebraic subgroups is a proper normal subgroup.
We prove that the profinite completion of the fundamental group of a compact 3-manifold $M$ satisfies a Tits alternative: if a closed subgroup $H$ does not contain a free pro-$p$ subgroup for any $p$, then $H$ is virtually soluble, and furthermore of a very particular form. In particular, the profinite completion of the fundamental group of a closed, hyperbolic 3-manifold does not contain a subgroup isomorphic to $\hat{\mathbb{Z}}^2$. This gives a profinite characterization of hyperbolicity among irreducible 3-manifolds. We also characterize Seifert fibred 3-manifolds as precisely those for wh…
For any $n\geqslant 4$ let $\tilde B_n=B_n/Z(B_n)$ be the quotient of the braid group $B_n$ through its center. We prove that any free ergodic probability measure preserving (pmp) action $\tilde B_n\curvearrowright (X,μ)$ is W$^*$-superrigid in the following sense: if $L^{\infty}(X)\rtimes\tilde B_n\cong L^{\infty}(Y)\rtimesΛ$, for an arbitrary free ergodic pmp action $Λ\curvearrowright (Y,ν)$, then the actions $\tilde B_n\curvearrowright X,Λ\curvearrowright Y$ are stably (or, virtually) conjugate. Moreover, we prove that the same holds if $\tilde B_n$ is replaced with a finite index subgroup …