In this paper we prove, without the finite rank assumption, that any irreducible Coxeter group of infinite order is directly indecomposable as an abstract group. The key ingredient of the proof is that we can determine, for an irreducible Coxeter group, the centralizers of the normal subgroups that are generated by involutions. As a consequence, we show that the problem of deciding whether two general Coxeter groups are isomorphic, as abstract groups, is reduced to the case of irreducible Coxeter groups, without assuming the finiteness of the number of the irreducible components or their ranks. We also give a description of the automorphism group of a general Coxeter group in terms of those of its irreducible components.
In this paper we describe a family of isomorphism invariants of a finitely generated Coxeter group W. Each of these invariants is the isomorphism type of a quotient group W/N of W by a characteristic subgroup N. The virtue of these invariants is that W/N is also a Coxeter group. For some of these invariants, the isomorphism problem of W/N is solved and so we obtain isomorphism invariants that can be effectively used to distinguish isomorphism types of finitely generated Coxeter groups.
By a recent result obtained by R. Howlett and the author considerable progress has been made towards a complete solution of the isomorphism problem for Coxeter groups. In this paper we give a survey on the isomorphism problem and explain in particular how the result mentioned above reduces it to its `reflection preserving' version. Furthermore we desrcibe recent developments concerning the solution of the latter.
A solution of the isomorphism problem is presented for the class of Coxeter groups W that have a finite set of Coxeter generators S such that the underlying graph of the presentation diagram of the system (W,S) has the property that every cycle of length at least four has a cord. As an application, we construct counterexamples to two main conjectures concerning the isomorphism problem for Coxeter groups.
We consider presentations that were derived in \cite{BaumeisterNeaimeRees} for the interval groups associated with proper quasi-Coxeter elements of the Coxeter group $W(D_n)$. We use combinatorial methods to derive alternative presentations for the groups, and use these new presentations to show that the interval group associated with a proper quasi-Coxeter element of $W(D_n)$ cannot be isomorphic to the Artin group of type $D_n$. While the specific problems we solve arise from the study of interval groups, their solution provides an illustration of how techniques indicated by computational ob…
Let $W$ be a Coxeter group and $r\in W$ a reflection. If the group of order 2 generated by $r$ is the intersection of all the maximal finite subgroups of $W$ that contain it, then any isomorphism from $W$ to a Coxeter group $W'$ must take $r$ to a reflection in $W'$. The aim of this paper is to show how to determine, by inspection of the Coxeter graph, the intersection of the maximal finite sugroups containing $r$. In particular we show that the condition above is satisfied whenever $W$ is infinite and irreducible, and has the property that all rank two parabolic subgroups are finite. So in th…
In this paper, given a split extension of an arbitrary Coxeter group by automorphisms of the Coxeter graph, we determine the involutions in that extension whose centralizer has finite index. Our result has applications to many problems such as the isomorphism problem of general Coxeter groups. In the argument, some properties of certain special elements and of the fixed-point subgroups by graph automorphisms in Coxeter groups, which are of independent interest, are also given.
The isomorphism problem for Coxeter groups has been reduced to its 'reflection preserving version' by B. Howlett and the second author. Thus, in order to solve it, it suffices to determine for a given Coxeter system (W,R) all Coxeter generating sets S of W which are contained in R^W, the set of reflections of (W,R). In this paper, we provide a further reduction: it suffices to determine all Coxeter generating sets S in R^W which are sharp-angled with respect to R.
This paper studies the rigidity properties of the abstract commensurator of the outer automorphism group of a universal Coxeter group of rank $n$, which is the free product $W_n$ of $n$ copies of $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$. We prove that for $n\geq 5$ the natural map $\mathrm{Out}(W_n) \to \mathrm{Comm}(\mathrm{Out}(W_n))$ is an isomorphism and that every isomorphism between finite index subgroups of $\mathrm{Out}(W_n)$ is given by a conjugation by an element of $\mathrm{Out}(W_n)$.
We prove that two angle-compatible Coxeter generating sets of a given finitely generated Coxeter group are conjugate provided one of them does not admit any elementary twist. This confirms a basic case of a general conjecture which describes a potential solution to the isomorphism problem for Coxeter groups.
For every odd prime $p$ and every integer $n\geq 12$ there is a Heisenberg group of order $p^{5n/4+O(1)}$ that has $p^{n^2/24+O(n)}$ pairwise nonisomorphic quotients of order $p^{n}$. Yet, these quotients are virtually indistinguishable. They have isomorphic character tables, every conjugacy class of a non-central element has the same size, and every element has order at most $p$. They are also directly and centrally indecomposable and of the same indecomposability type. The recognized portions of their automorphism groups are isomorphic, represented isomorphically on their abelianizations, an…
It has been known that the centralizer $Z_W(W_I)$ of a parabolic subgroup $W_I$ of a Coxeter group $W$ is a split extension of a naturally defined reflection subgroup by a subgroup defined by a 2-cell complex $\mathcal{Y}$. In this paper, we study the structure of $Z_W(W_I)$ further and show that, if $I$ has no irreducible components of type $A_n$ with $2 \leq n < \infty$, then every element of finite irreducible components of the inner factor is fixed by a natural action of the fundamental group of $\mathcal{Y}$. This property has an application to the isomorphism problem in Coxeter groups.
In this paper we consider the class of 2-dimensional Artin groups with connected, large type, triangle-free defining graphs (type CLTTF). We classify these groups up to isomorphism, and describe a generating set for the automorphism group of each such Artin group. In the case where the defining graph has no separating edge or vertex we show that the Artin group is not abstractly commensurable to any other CLTTF Artin group. If, moreover, the defining graph satisfies a further `vertex rigidity' condition, then the abstract commensurator group of the Artin group is isomorphic to its automorphism…
The Matsuo-Cherednik correspondence is an isomorphism from solutions of Knizhnik-Zamolodchikov equations to eigenfunctions of generalized Calogero-Moser systems associated to Coxeter groups G and a multiplicity function m on their root systems. We apply this correspondence to the most degenerate case of zero spectral parameters. The space of eigenfunctions is then the space H_m of m-harmonic polynomials, recently introduced in math-ph/0105014. We compute the Poincare' polynomials for the space H_m and of its isotypical components corresponding to each irreducible representation of the group G.…
We study the subregular $J$-ring $J_C$ of a Coxeter system $(W,S)$, a subring of Lusztig's $J$-ring. We prove that $J_C$ is isomorphic to a quotient of the path algebra of the double quiver of $(W,S)$ by a suitable ideal that we associate to a family of Chebyshev polynomials. As applications, we use quiver representations to study the category mod-$A_K$ of finite dimensional right modules of the algebra $A_K=K\otimes_\Z J_C$ over an algebraically closed field $K$ of characteristic zero. Our results include classifications of Coxeter systems for which mod-$A_K$ is semisimple, has finitely many …
An even Artin group is a group which has a presentation with relations of the form $(st)^n=(ts)^n$ with $n\ge 1$. With a group $G$ we associate a Lie $\mathbb Z$-algebra $\mathcal{TG}r(G)$. This is the usual Lie algebra defined from the lower central series, truncated at the third rank. For each even Artin group $G$ we determine a presentation for $\mathcal{TG}r(G)$. Then we prove a criterion to determine whether two Coxeter matrices are isomorphic. Let $c,d\in\mathbb N$ such that $c\ge1$, $d\ge2$ and $\gcd(c,d)=1$. We show that, if two even Artin groups $G$ and $G'$ having presentations with …
Each quiver appearing in a seed of a cluster algebra determines a corresponding group, which we call a cluster group, which is defined via a presentation. Grant and Marsh showed that, for quivers appearing in seeds of cluster algebras of finite type, the associated cluster groups are isomorphic to finite reflection groups. As for finite Coxeter groups, we can consider parabolic subgroups of cluster groups. We prove that, in the type $A_{n}$ case, there exists an isomorphism between the lattice of subsets of the defining generators of the cluster group and the lattice of its parabolic subgroups…
We study a class of two-generator two-relator groups, denoted $J_n(m,k)$, that arise in the study of relative asphericity as groups satisfying a transitional curvature condition. Particular instances of these groups occur in the literature as finite groups of intriguing orders. Here we find infinite families of non-elementary virtually free groups and of finite metabelian non-nilpotent groups, for which we determine the orders. All Mersenne primes arise as factors of the orders of the non-metacyclic groups in the class, as do all primes from other conjecturally infinite families of primes. We …
Irreducible Artin groups of finite type can be parametrized via their associated Coxeter diagrams into six sporadic examples and four infinite families, each of which is further parametrized by the natural numbers. Within each of these four infinite families, we investigate the relationship between elementary equivalence and isomorphism. For three out of the four families, we show that two groups in the same family are equivalent if and only if they are isomorphic; a positive, but weaker, result is also attained for the fourth family. In particular, we show that two braid groups are elementari…
