In this paper we construct a gathering process by the means of which we obtain new normal forms in braid groups. The new normal forms generalise Artin-Markoff normal forms and possess an extremely natural geometric description. In the two last sections of the paper we discuss the implementation of the introduced gathering process and the questions that arose in our work. This discussion leads us to some interesting observations, in particular, we offer a method of generating a random braid.
We prove by explicit construction that graph braid groups and most surface groups can be embedded in a natural way in right-angled Artin groups, and we point out some consequences of these embedding results. We also show that every right-angled Artin group can be embedded in a pure surface braid group. On the other hand, by generalising to right-angled Artin groups a result of Lyndon for free groups, we show that the Euler characteristic -1 surface group (given by the relation x^2y^2=z^2) never embeds in a right-angled Artin group.
In a recent paper by L. A. Bokut, V. V. Chaynikov and K. P. Shum in 2007, Braid group $B_n$ is represented by Artin-Burau's relations. For such a representation, it is told that all other compositions can be checked in the same way. In this note, we support this claim and check all compositions.
We study braid diagrams with a minimal number of crossings. Such braid diagrams correspond to geodesic words for the braid groups with standard Artin generators. We prove that a diagram of a homogeneous braid is minimal if and only if it is homogeneous. We conjecture that monoids of homogeneous braids are Artin-Tits monoids and prove that monoids of alternating braids are right-angled Artin monoids. Using this, we give a lower bound on the growth rate of the braid groups.
Let $G$ be a group endowed with a solution to the conjugacy problem and with an algorithm which computes the centralizer in $G$ of any element of $G$. Let $H$ be a subgroup of $G$. We give some conditions on $H$, under which we provide a solution to the conjugacy problem in $H$. We apply our results to some Artin groups and braid type groups. In particular, we give explicit solutions to the conjugacy problem in the Artin groups of type $\tilde{A}_n$ and $\tilde{C}_n$.
We classify an action of the $n$-strand braid group on the free group of rank $n$ which is similar to the Artin representation in the sense that the $i$-th generator $σ_{i}$ of $B_{n}$ acts so that it fixes all free generators $x_{j}$ except $j = i,i+1$. We determine all such representations and discuss knot invariants coming from such representations.
We prove that if a right-angled Artin group $A_Γ$ is abstractly commensurable to a group splitting non-trivially as an amalgam or HNN-extension over $\mathbb{Z}^n$, then $A_Γ$ must itself split non-trivially over $\mathbb{Z}^k$ for some $k\le n$. Consequently, if two right-angled Artin groups $A_Γ$ and $A_Δ$ are commensurable and $Γ$ has no separating $k$-cliques for any $k\le n$ then neither does $Δ$, so "smallest size of separating clique" is a commensurability invariant. We also discuss some implications for issues of quasi-isometry. Using similar methods we also prove that for $n\ge 4$ the…
In his initial paper on braids E.Artin gave a presentation with two generators for an arbitrary braid group. We give analogues of this Artin's presentation for various generalizations of braids.
In this paper we will present the results of Artin--Markov on braid groups by using the Groebner--Shirshov basis. As a consequence we can reobtain the normal form of Artin--Markov--Ivanovsky as an easy corollary.
The goal of this paper is to construct examples of centralizers in the Artin braid groups requiring the number of generators quadratic in the number of strings. These examples disprove a recent conjecture of N. Franco and J. Gonzalez-Meneses.
In this paper, we give a Groebner-Shirshov basis of the braid group $B_{n+1}$ in the Artin--Garside generators. As results, we obtain a new algorithm for getting the Garside normal form, and a new proof that the braid semigroup $B^+{n+1}$ is the subsemigroup in $B_{n+1}$.
We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a graph to have a right-angled Artin group as its braid group for braid index $\ge 5$. In order to have the necessity part, graphs are organized into small classes so that one of homological or cohomological characteristics of right-angled Artin groups can be applied. Finally we show that a given graph is planar iff the first homology of its 2-braid group is torsion-free and leave the corresponding statement for $n$-braid groups as a conjecture along with few other conjectures about graphs whose braid groups of index $\le 4$ are right-angled Art…
A generalization of the topological fundamental group is developed in order to exhibit a topologically complete braid group containing Artin's braid group on infinitely many strands with respect to the following notion of convergence: A sequence of braids b(n) converges to the trivial braid iff for each M>0 eventually the first M strands of b(n) are trivial.
We show that the simple elements of the dual Garside structure of an Artin group of type $D_n$ are Mikado braids, giving a positive answer to a conjecture of Digne and the second author. To this end, we use an embedding of the Artin group of type $D_n$ in a suitable quotient of an Artin group of type $B_n$ noticed by Allcock, of which we give a simple algebraic proof here. This allows one to give a characterization of the Mikado braids of type $D_n$ in terms of those of type $B_n$ and also to describe them topologically. Using this topological representation and Athanasiadis and Reiner's model…
We construct a quasi-Garside monoid structure for the free group. This monoid should be thought of as a dual braid monoid for the free group, generalising the constructions by Birman-Ko-Lee and by the author of new Garside monoids for Artin groups of spherical type. Conjecturally, an analog construction should be available for arbitrary Artin groups and for braid groups of well-generated complex reflection groups.
We define the braid groups of a two-dimensional orbifold and introduce conventions for drawing braid pictures. We use these to realize the Artin groups associated to the spherical Coxeter diagrams A_n, B_n=C_n and D_n and the affine diagrams tilde{A}_n, tilde{B}_n, tilde{C}_n and tilde{D}_n as subgroups of the braid groups of various simple orbifolds. The cases D_n, tilde{B}_n, tilde{C}_n and tilde{D}_n are new. In each case the Artin group is a normal subgroup with abelian quotient; in all cases except tilde{A}_n the quotient is finite. We illustrate the value of our braid calculus by perform…
The n-string braid group of a graph X is defined as the fundamental group of the n-point configuration space of the space X. This configuration space is a finite dimensional aspherical space. A. Abrams and R. Ghrist have conjectured that this braid group is a right angled Artin group if X is planar. We prove their conjecture if X is a tree whose nodes all lie in a single interval of X.
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.
This article is a survey on the braid groups, the Artin groups, and the Garside groups. It is a presentation, accessible to non-experts, of various topological and algebraic aspects of these groups. It is also a report on three points of the theory: the faithful linear representations, the cohomology, and the geometrical representations.
This paper is the first part of a series of papers aimed at improving the classification by Formanek of the irreducible representations of Artin braid groups of small dimension. In this paper we classify all the irreducible complex representations $ρ$ of Artin braid group $B_n$ with the condition $rank (ρ(σ_i)-1)=2$ where $σ_i$ are the standard generators. For $n \geq 7$ they all belong to some one-parameter family of $n$-dimensional representations.
Let $n\geq 3$. In this paper we deal with the conjugacy problem in the Artin braid group quotient $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$. To solve it we use systems of equations over the integers arising from the action of $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$ over the abelianization of the pure Artin braid group $P_n/[P_n,P_n]$. Using this technique we also realize explicitly infinite virtually cyclic subgroups in $B_n/[P_n,P_n]$.
We investigate the Hurwitz action of the braid group Br_n on the n-fold Cartesian product of Br_3 and determine some stabilisers of its Artin systems. Our algebraic result is complemented by a geometric study of families of plane polynomial coverings of degree 3. Together they lead to characterisations of the set of 'paths realised by degenerations' of the polynomials as defined by Donaldson in 'Polynomials, vanishing cycles and Floer homology'.
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…
A conjecture of Dehornoy claims that, given a presentation of an Artin-Tits group, every word that represents the identity can be transformed into the trivial word using the braid relations, together with certain rules (between pairs of words that are not both positive) that can be derived directly from the braid relations, as well as free reduction, but without introducing trivial factors $ss^{-1} $ or $s^{-1} s$. This conjecture is known to be true for Artin-Tits groups of spherical type or of FC type. We prove the conjecture for Artin--Tits groups of sufficiently large type.
We construct an embedding of any right-angled Artin group $G(Δ)$ defined by a graph $Δ$ into a graph braid group. The number of strands required for the braid group is equal to the chromatic number of $Δ$. This construction yields an example of a hyperbolic surface subgroup embedded in a two strand planar graph braid group.
We show thatthe double reversing algorithm proposed by dehornoy for solving the word problem in the braid group can also be used to recognize the conjugates of powers of the generators in an Artin group of spherical type. The proof uses a characterization of these powers in terms of their fractional decomposition. This algorithm could have potential applications to braid-based cryptography; it also provides a fast method for testing a necessary condition in the classification of surfaces in algebraic geometry.
We prove that an arbitrary right-angled Artin group $G$ admits a quasi-isometric group embedding into a right-angled Artin group defined by the opposite graph of a tree. Consequently, $G$ admits quasi-isometric group embeddings into a pure braid group and into the area-preserving diffeomorphism groups of the 2--disk and the 2--sphere, answering questions due to Crisp--Wiest and M. Kapovich. Another corollary is that a pure braid group contains a closed hyperbolic manifold group as a quasi-isometrically embedded subgroup up to dimension eight. Finally, we show that the isomorphism problem, conj…
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…
We solve the simultaneous conjugacy problem in Artin's braid groups and, more generally, in Garside groups, by means of a complete, effectively computable, finite invariant. This invariant generalizes the one-dimensional notion of super summit set to arbitrary dimensions. One key ingredient in our solution is the introduction of a provable high-dimensional version of the Birman--Ko--Lee cycling theorem. The complexity of this solution is a small degree polynomial in the cardinalities of our generalized super summit sets and the input parameters. Computer experiments suggest that the cardinalit…
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…
In this short note we provide an alternative proof of a theorem of Kapovich and Millson about the Malcev completion of an arbitrary Artin group, and determine the Malcev completion of the braid group of an irreducible finite complex reflection group.
We give a complete classification of conjugacy stable parabolic subgroups of Artin-Tits groups of spherical type. This answers a question posed by Ivan Marin and generalizes a theorem obtained by Juan González-Meneses in the specific case of Artin braid groups.
We introduce methods to study the combinatorics of the normal form of large random elements in Artin-Tits monoids. These methods also apply in an axiomatic framework that encompasses other monoids such as dual braid monoids.
According to the Tits conjecture proved by Crisp and Paris, [CP], the subgroups of the braid group generated by proper powers of the Artin elements are presented by the commutators of generators which are powers of commuting elements. Hence they are naturally presented as right-angled Artin groups. The case of subgroups generated by powers of the band generators is more involved. We show that the groups are right-angled Artin groups again, if all generators are proper powers with exponent at least 3. We also give a presentation in cases at the other extreme, when all generators occur with expo…
Artin groups of finite type are not as well understood as braid groups. This is due to the additional geometric properties of braid groups coming from their close connection to mapping class groups. For each Artin group of finite type, we construct a space (simplicial complex) analogous to Teichmueller space that satisfies a weak nonpositive curvature condition and also a space "at infinity" analogous to the space of projective measured laminations. Using these constructs, we deduce several group-theoretic properties of Artin groups of finite type that are well-known in the case of braid group…
Let n be greater than or equal to 3. We study the quotient group B\_n/[P n,P\_n] of the Artin braid group B\_n by the commutator subgroup of its pure Artin braid group P\_n. We show that B\_n/[P n,P\_n] is a crystallographic group, and in the case n=3, we analyse explicitly some of its subgroups. We also prove that B\_n/[P n,P\_n] possesses torsion, and we show that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the conjugacy classes of the finite-order elements of B\_n/[P n,P\_n] with the conjugacy classes of the elements of odd order of the symmetric group S\_n, and that the isomorphism class …
Let $n, k \geq 3$. In this paper, we analyse the quotient group $B\_n/Γ\_k(P\_n)$ of the Artin braid group $B\_n$ by the subgroup $Γ\_k(P\_n)$ belonging to the lower central series of the Artin pure braid group $P\_n$. We prove that it is an almost-crystallographic group. We then focus more specifically on the case $k=3$. If $n \geq 5$, and if $τ\in N$ is such that $gcd(τ, 6) = 1$, we show that $B\_n/Γ\_3 (P\_n)$ possesses torsion $τ$ if and only if $S\_n$ does, and we prove that there is a one-to-one correspondence between the conjugacy classes of elements of order $τ$ in $B\_n/Γ\_3 (P\_n)$ w…
Presentations are computed for a braided version BV of Thompson's group V and for V itself showing that there is an Artin group/Coxeter group relation between them. The presentation for V is obtained from that for BV by declaring all that all generators are involutions.
We describe the most efficient solutions to the word problem of Artin's braid group known so far, i.e., in other words, the most efficient solutions to the braid isotopy problem, including the Dynnikov method, which could be especially suitable for cryptographical applications. Most results appear in literature; however, some results about the greedy normal form and the symmetric normal form and their connection with grid diagrams may have never been stated explicitly.
In this paper, we introduce a broad family of group homomorphisms that we name the Gauss-Epple homomorphisms. In the setting of braid groups, the Gauss-Epple invariant was originally defined by Epple based on a note of Gauss as an action of the braid group $B_n$ on the set $\{1, \dots, n\}\times\mathbb{Z}$; we prove that it is well-defined. We consider the associated group homomorphism from $B_n$ to the symmetric group $\text{Sym}(\{1, \dots, n\}\times\mathbb{Z})$. We prove that this homomorphism factors through $\mathbb{Z}^n\rtimes S_n$ (in fact, its image is an order 2 subgroup of the previo…
It is known that the pure braid groups are residually torsion-free nilpotent. This property is however widely open for the most obvious generalizations of these groups, like pure Artin groups and like fundamental groups of hyperplane complements (even reflection ones). In this paper we relate this problem to the faithfulness of linear representations, and prove the residual torsion-free nilpotence for a few other groups.
We present a new algorithm to solve the conjugacy problem in Artin braid groups, which is faster than the one presented by Birman, Ko and Lee. This algorithm can be applied not only to braid groups, but to all Garside groups (which include finite type Artin groups and torus knot groups among others).
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…
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…
Birman, Ko and Lee have introduced a new monoid ${\cal B}^{*}_{n}$--with an explicit presentation--whose group of fractions is the $n$-strand braid group ${\cal B}_{n}$. Building on a new approach by Digne, Michel and himself, Bessis has defined a {\it dual} braid monoid for every finite Coxeter type Artin-Tits group extending the type A case. Here, we give an explicit presentation for this dual braid monoid in the case of types B and D, and we study the combinatorics of the underlying Garside structures.
We construct a new monoid structure for Artin groups associated with finite Coxeter systems. This monoid shares with the classical positive braid monoid a crucial algebraic property: it is a Garside monoid. The analogy with the classical construction indicates there is a ``dual'' way of studying Coxeter systems, where the pair (W,S) is replaced by (W,T), with T the set of all reflections. In the type A case, we recover the monoid constructed by Birman-Ko-Lee
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.
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…
We describe Artin's braid group on a (fixed) finite number of strings as a crossed module over itself. In particular, we interpret the braid relations as crossed module structure relations.
We expound the properties of ribbons in a setting which is general enough to encompass spherical Artin monoids and dual braid monoids of well-generated complex reflection groups. We generalize to our setting results on parabolic subgroups of spherical Artin group of Godelle, Cumplido, and others.
We show that the smallest non-cyclic quotients of braid groups are symmetric groups, proving a conjecture of Margalit. Moreover we recover results of Artin and Lin about the classification of homomorphisms from braid groups on n strands to symmetric groups on k letters, where k is at most n. Unlike the original proofs, our method does not use the Bertrand-Chebyshev theorem, answering a question of Artin. Similarly for mapping class group of closed orientable surfaces, the smallest non-cyclic quotient is given by the mod two reduction of the symplectic representation. We provide an elementary p…
Recent results on the linearity of braid groups are extended in two ways. We generalize the Lawrence Krammer representation as well as Krammer's faithfulness proof for this linear representation to Artin groups of finite type.
