We exploit Zlil Sela's description of the structure of groups having the same elementary theory as free groups: they and their finitely generated subgroups form a prescribed subclass E of the hyperbolic limit groups.
We prove that if $G_1,...,G_n$ are in E then a subgroup $Γ\subset G_1\times...\times G_n$ is of type $\FP_n$ if and only if $Γ$ is itself, up to finite index, the direct product of at most $n$ groups from $\mathcal E$. This answers a question of Sela.
Elementarily free groups are the finitely generated groups with the same elementary theory as free groups. We prove that elementarily free groups are subgroup separable, answering a question of Zlil Sela.
We study to what extent torsion-free (Gromov)-hyperbolic groups are elementarily equivalent to their finite index subgroups. In particular, we prove that a hyperbolic limit group either is a free product of cyclic groups and surface groups, or admits infinitely many subgroups of finite index which are pairwise non elementarily equivalent.
We give an algebraic characterization of elementary equivalence for polycyclic-by-finite groups. Using this characterization, we investigate the relations between their elementary equivalence and the elementary equivalence of the factors in their decompositions in direct products of indecomposable groups. In particular we prove that the elementary equivalence of two such groups G,H is equivalent to each of the following properties: 1)Gx...xG (k times G) and Hx...xG (k times H) are elementarily equivalent for a strictly positive integer k; 2)AxG and AxH are elementarily equivalent for two eleme…
The aim of this paper is to describe all definable subgroups of SL2(K), for K a p-adically closed field. We begin by giving some "frame subgroups" which contain all nilpotent or solvable subgroups of SL2(K). A complete description is givien for K a p-adically closed field, some results are generalizable to K a field elementarily equivalent to a finite extension of Qp and an almost complete description is given for Q an p . We give also some indications about genericity and generosity in SL2(K).
We show that graph products of finite abelian groups are elementarily equivalent if and only if they are $\exists\forall$-equivalent if and only if they are isomorphic. In particular, two right-angled Coxeter groups are elementarily equivalent if and only if they are isomorphic.
We prove that if a countable group is elementarily equivalent to a non-abelian free group and all of its abelian subgroups are cyclic, then the group is a union of a chain of regular NTQ groups (i.e., hyperbolic towers).
Suppose that a group $G$ acts non-elementarily on a hyperbolic space $S$ and does not fix any point of $\partial S$. A subgroup $H\le G$ is said to be geometrically dense in $G$ if the limit sets of $H$ and $G$ coincide and $H$ does not fix any point of $\partial S$. We prove that every invariant random subgroup of $G$ is either geometrically dense or contained in the elliptic radical (i.e., the maximal normal elliptic subgroup of $G$). In particular, every ergodic measure preserving action of an acylindrically hyperbolic group on a Borel probability space $(X,μ)$ either has finite stabilizers…
We consider embeddings in a torsion-free hyperbolic group which are elementary in the sense of first-order logic. We give a description of these embeddings in terms of Sela's hyperbolic towers. We deduce as a corollary that subgroups elementarily embedded in finitely generated free groups are free factors.
A profinite group is called small if it has only finitely many open subgroups of index n for each positive integer n. We show that every Frattini cover of a small profinite group is small. A profinite group is called strongly complete if every subgroup of finite index is open. We show that two profinite groups that are elementarily equivalent, in the first-order language of groups, are isomorphic if one of them is strongly complete, extending a result of Moshe Jarden and Alexander Lubotzky which treats the case of finitely generated profinite groups.
By definition, an $ω$-residually free tower is positive-genus if all surfaces used in its construction are of positive genus. We prove that every limit group is virtually a subgroup of a positive-genus $ω$-residually free tower. By combining this with results of Gaboriau, we prove that elementarily free groups are measure equivalent to free groups.
In a remarkable series of papers, Zlil Sela classified the first-order theories of free groups and torsion-free hyperbolic groups using geometric structures he called towers. It was later proved by Chloé Perin that if $H$ is an elementarily embedded subgroup (or elementary submodel) of a torsion-free hyperbolic group $G$, then $G$ is a tower over $H$. We prove a generalization of Perin's result to toral relatively hyperbolic groups using JSJ and shortening techniques.
If S is a subgroup of a direct product of two limit groups, and S is of type FP(2) over the rationals, then S has a subgroup of finite index that is a direct product of at most two limit groups.
This paper is devoted to the first-order theory of torsion-free hyperbolic groups. One of its purposes is to review some results and to provide precise and correct statements and definitions, as well as some proofs and new results. A key concept is that of a tower (Sela) or NTQ system (Kharlampovich-Myasnikov). We discuss them thoroughly. We state and prove a new general theorem which unifies several results in the literature: elementarily equivalent torsion-free hyperbolic groups have isomorphic cores (Sela); if $H$ is elementarily embedded in a torsion-free hyperbolic group $G$, then $G$ is …
If $G_1,...,G_n$ are limit groups and $S\subset G_1\times...\times G_n$ is of type $\FP_n(\mathbb Q)$ then $S$ contains a subgroup of finite index that is itself a direct product of at most $n$ limit groups. This settles a question of Sela.
In this paper, we give some necessary and sufficient conditions for a normal subgroup of an amalgamated product of groups to be finitely generated. We apply these conditions together with Stallings' fibering theorem to prove that an irreducible multilink in a homology 3-sphere fibers if and only if each of its multilink splice components fibers.
A graph product kernel means the kernel of the natural surjection from a graph product to the corresponding direct product. We prove that a graph product kernel of countable groups is special, and a graph product of finite or cyclic groups is virtually cocompact special in the sense of Haglund and Wise. The proof of this yields conditions for a graph over which the graph product of arbitrary nontrivial groups (or some cyclic groups, or some finite groups) contains a hyperbolic surface group. In particular, the graph product of arbitrary nontrivial groups over a cycle of length at least five, o…
This paper is the 10th in a sequence on the structure of sets of solutions to systems of equations over groups, projections of such sets (Diophantine sets), and the structure of definable sets over few classes of groups. In the 10th paper we answer affirmatively a question of R. L. Vaught on the elementary equivalence of free products of pairs of elementarily equivalent groups, and obtain a generalization of Tarski's problem on the elementary equivalence of non-abelian free groups. Finally, we prove that free products of stable groups is stable, generalizing a previous result on the stability …
This paper gives necessary and sufficient conditions that the free product with amalgamation of circularly-ordered groups admit a circular ordering extending the given orderings of the factors. Our result follows from establishing a categorical framework that allows the problem to be restated in terms of amalgamating certain left-ordered central extensions, where we are able to apply work of Bludov and Glass.
In this paper we study the elementary theory of graph products of groups and show that under natural conditions on the vertex groups we can recover (the core of) the underlying graph and the associated vertex groups. More precisely, we require the vertex groups to satisfy a non-generic almost positive sentence, a condition which generalizes a range of natural ``non-freeness conditions" such as the satisfaction of a group law, having nontrivial center or being boundedly simple. As a corollary, we determine an invariant of the elementary theory of a right-angled Artin group, the core of the defi…
We partly generalize the estimate for the rank of intersection of subgroups in free products of groups, proved earlier by S.V.Ivanov and W.Dicks, to the case of free amalgamated products of groups with normal finite amalgamated subgroup. We also prove that the obtained estimate is sharp and cannot be further improved when the amalgamated product contains an involution.
It is proved that all finitely generated subgroups of generalized free product of two groups are finitely separable provided that free factors have this property and amalgamated subgroups are normal in corresponding factors and satisfy the maximum condition for subgroups.
We solve an open problem of Herfort and Ribes: Profinite Frobenius groups of certain type do occur as closed subgroups of free profinite products of two profinite groups. This also solves a question of Pop about prosolvable subgroups of free profinite products.
This paper is devoted to the investigation of the property of order separability for HNN extensions and free products with commutative subgroups. Particularly it was proven that HNN extension of a free group with maximal connected cyclic subgroups is 2-order separable.
A conjecture of Dicks and the author on rank of the intersection of factor-free subgroups in free products of groups is proved for the case of left ordered groups.
We provide elementary proofs of the Nielsen-Schreier Theorem and the Kurosh Subgroup Theorem via wreath products. Our proofs are diagrammatic in nature and work simultaneously in the abstract and profinite categories. A new proof that open subgroups of quasifree profinite groups are quasifree is also given.
We derive a generating series for the number of free subgroups of finite index in $Δ^+ = \mathbb{Z}_p*\mathbb{Z}_q$ by using a connection between free subgroups of $Δ^+$ and certain hypermaps (also known as ribbon graphs or "fat" graphs), and show that this generating series is transcendental. We provide non-linear recurrence relations for the above numbers based on differential equations that are part of the Riccati hierarchy. We also study the generating series for conjugacy classes of free subgroups of finite index in $Δ^+$, which correspond to isomorphism classes of hypermaps. Asymptotic f…
We give an explicit characterization of which direct products $G$ of surface groups of Euclidean type satisfy that the fixed subgroup of any automorphism (or endomorphism) of $G$ is compressed, and of which is it always inert.
We determine all the ways in which a direct product of two finite groups can be expressed as the set-theoretical union of proper subgroups in a family of minimal cardinality.
We study the effects of subgroup distortion in the wreath products A wr Z, where A is finitely generated abelian. We show that every finitely generated subgroup of A wr Z has distortion function equivalent to some polynomial. Moreover, for A infinite, and for any polynomial l^k, there is a 2-generated subgroup of A wr Z having distortion function equivalent to the given polynomial. Also a formula for the length of elements in arbitrary wreath product H wr G easily shows that the group Z_2 wr Z^2 has distorted subgroups, while the lamplighter group Z_2 wr Z has no distorted (finitely generated)…
An explicit and elementary proof is given to the fact that Suzuki and Ree groups can be decomposed into the product of 4 of their Sylow p-subgroups, where p is the defining characterictic.
Sacerdote [Sa] has shown that the non-Abelian free groups satisfy precisely the same universal-existential sentences Th(F$_2$)$\cap \forall \exists $ in a first-order language L$_o$ appropriate for group theory. It is shown that in every model of Th(F$_2$)$\cap \forall \exists $ the maximal Abelian subgroups are elementarily equivalent to locally cyclic groups (necessarily nontrivial and torsion free). Two classes of groups are interpolated between the non-Abelian locally free groups and Remeslennikov's $\exists $-free groups. These classes are the \textbf{almost locally free groups} and the \…
We prove that the property of being cyclic subgroup separable, that is having all cyclic subgroups closed in the profinite topology, is preserved under forming graph products. Furthermore, we develop the tools to study the analogous question in the pro-$p$ case. For a wide class of groups we show that the relevant cyclic subgroups - which are called $p$-isolated - are closed in the pro-$p$ topology of the graph product. In particular, we show that every $p$-isolated cyclic subgroup of a right-angled Artin group is closed in the pro-$p$ topology, and we fully characterise such subgroups.
We construct torsion-free hyperbolic groups without unique product whose subgroups up to some given finite index are themselves non-unique product groups. This is achieved by generalising a construction of Comerford to graphical small cancellation presentations, showing that for every subgroup $H$ of a graphical small cancellation group there exists a free group $F$ such that $H*F$ admits a graphical small cancellation presentation.
We show that the product of two partial normal subgroups of a locality (in the sense of Chermak) is again a partial normal subgroup. This generalizes a theorem of Chermak and fits into the context of building a local theory of localities.
Let G be the free product of groups A and B with commuting subgroups H \leqslant A and K \leqslant B, and let C be the class of all finite groups or the class of all finite p-groups. We derive the description of all C-separable cyclic subgroups of G provided this group is residually a C-group. We prove, in particular, that if A, B are finitely generated nilpotent groups and H, K are p'-isolated in the free factors, then all p'-isolated cyclic subgroups of G are separable in the class of all finite p-groups. The same statement is true provided A, B are free and H, K are p'-isolated and cyclic.
We show that the class of amalgamated free products of two free groups over a cyclic subgroup admits amenable, faithful and transitive actions on infinite countable sets. This work generalizes the results on such actions for doubles of free group on 2 generators.
In this paper we compute the subgroup zeta functions of nilpotent semi-direct products of groups of the form $$G_n=<x_1,...,x_n,y_1,...,y_{n-1}|[x_i,x_n]=y_i, 1\leq i\leq n-1, \text{all other $[,]$ trivial}>$$ and deduce local functional equations.
We prove that a uniform pro-p group with no nonabelian free subgroups has a normal series with torsion-free abelian factors. We discuss this in relation to unique product groups. We also consider generalizations of Hantzsche-Wendt groups.
In the context of group-theoretic fast matrix multiplication the TPP capacity is used to bound the exponent $ω$ of matrix multiplication. We prove a new and sharper upper bound for the TPP subgroup capacity of a finite group
In this paper, we describe the automorphism group of semidirect product of two groups that fixes the non-normal subgroup of it. We have computed these automorphisms for the non-abelian metacyclic $p$-group and non-abelian $p$-groups $(p\ge 5)$ of order $p^{4}$, where $p$ is a prime.
Let $G$ be a free product of two groups with amalgamated subgroup, $π$ be either the set of all prime numbers or the one-element set \{$p$\} for some prime number $p$. Denote by $Σ$ the family of all cyclic subgroups of group $G$, which are separable in the class of all finite $π$-groups. Obviously, cyclic subgroups of the free factors, which aren't separable in these factors by the family of all normal subgroups of finite $π$-index of group $G$, the subgroups conjugated with them and all subgroups, which aren't $π^{\prime}$-isolated, don't belong to $Σ$. Some sufficient conditions are obtaine…
We determine all maximal subgroups of the direct product $\sc G^n$ of $\sc n$ copies of a group~$\sc G$. If $\sc G$ is finite, we show that the number of maximal subgroups of~$\sc G^n$ is a quadratic function of~$\sc n$ if $\sc G$ is perfect, but grows exponentially otherwise. We~deduce a theorem of Wiegold about the growth behaviour of the number of generators of~$\sc G^n$.
Let $G$ be a group. We give an explicit description of the set of elements $x \in G$ such that $x^{|G:H|} \in H$ for every subgroup of finite index $H \leqslant G$. This is related to the following problem: given two subgroups $H$ and $K$, with $H$ of finite index, when does $|HK:H|$ divide $|G:H|$?
Free products of two residually finite groups with amalgamated retracts are considered. It is proved that a cyclic subgroup of such a group is not finitely separable if, and only if, it is conjugated with a subgroup of a free factor which is not finitely separable in this factor. A similar result is obtained for the case of separability in the class of finite p-groups.
