Finitely generated infinite simple groups of infinite commutator width
Alexey Muranov
备注:
v4: 49 pages, 2 figures, a couple of obvious mistakes corrected; v3: 49 pages, 2 figures; multiple corrections and improvements; added reference to John Wilson; numbering of theorems, equations, etc. is changed to match that of IJAC version; v2: 53 pages, 2 figures; corrections, improvements; minor changes in terminology and notation; v1: 54 pages
发表信息:
International Journal of Algebra and Computation, Vol. 17, No. 3 (2007) 607--659
It is shown that there exists a finitely generated infinite simple group of infinite commutator width, and that the commutator width of a finitely generated infinite boundedly simple group can be arbitrarily large. Besides, such groups can be constructed with decidable word and conjugacy problems.
It is shown that there exist finitely generated infinite simple groups of infinite commutator width and infinite square width on which there exists no stably unbounded conjugation-invariant norm, and in particular stable commutator length vanishes. Moreover, a recursive presentation of such a group with decidable word and conjugacy problems is constructed.
We provide the first example of a finitely presented (in fact, type $F_\infty$) group with elements whose stable commutator length is algebraic and irrational, answering a question of Calegari. Our example is the lift to the real line of the \emph{golden ratio Thompson group} $T_τ$: the circle analogue of the Cleary's golden ratio Thompson group $F_τ$ which acts on the interval.
We present an explicit structure for the Baer invariant of a finitely generated abelian group with respect to the variety $[\mathfrak{N}_{c_1},\mathfrak{N}_{c_2}]$, for all $c_2\leq c_1\leq 2c_2$. As a consequence we determine necessary and sufficient conditions for such groups to be $[\mathfrak{N}_{c_1},\mathfrak{N}_{c_2}]$-capable. We also show that if $c_1\neq 1\neq c_2$, then a finitely generated abelian group is $[\mathfrak{N}_{c_1},\mathfrak{N}_{c_2}]$-capable if and only if it is capable. Finally we show that $\mathfrak{S}_2$-capability implies capability but there is a finitely generat…
For a family of group words $w$ we show that if $G$ is a profinite group in which all $w$-values are contained in a union of finitely many subgroups with a prescribed property, then $w(G)$ has the same property as well. In particular, we show this in the case where the subgroups are periodic or of finite rank. If $G$ contains finitely many subgroups $G_1,G_2,...,G_s$ of finite exponent $e$ whose union contains all $γ_k$-values in $G$, it is shown that $γ_k(G)$ has finite $(e,k,s)$-bounded exponent. If $G$ contains finitely many subgroups $G_1,G_2,...,G_s$ of finite rank $r$ whose union contain…
This paper investigate bounds of the commutator width \cite {Mur} of a wreath product of two groups. The commutator width of direct limit of wreath product of cyclic groups are found. For given a permutational wreath product sequence of cyclic groups we investigate its commutator width and some properties of its commutator subgroup. It was proven that the commutator width of an arbitrary element of the wreath product of cyclic groups $C_{p_i}, \, p_i\in \mathbb{N} $ equals to 1. As a corollary, it is shown that the commutator width of Sylows $p$-subgroups of symmetric and alternating groups $p…
An estimate on the commutator width is given for Chevalley groups over rings of stable rank 1, and the general method suitable for other rings of small dimension.
We classify pairs of conjugacy classes in almost simple algebraic groups whose product consists of finitely many classes. This leads to several interesting families of examples which are related to a generalization of the Baer--Suzuki theorem for finite groups. We also answer a question of Pavel Shumyatsky on commutators of pairs of conjugacy classes in simple algebraic groups. It turns out that the resulting examples are exactly those for which the product also consists of only finitely many classes.
The size of minimal generating set for commutator of Sylow 2-subgroup of alternating group was found. Given a permutational wreath product of finite cyclic groups sequence we prove that the commutator width of such groups is 1 and we research some properties of its commutator subgroup. It was shown that $(Syl_2 A_{2^k})^2 = Syl'_2 (A_{2^k}), \, k>2$. A new approach to presentation of Sylow 2-subgroups of alternating group ${A_{2^{k}}}$ was applied. As a result the short proof that the commutator width of Sylow 2-subgroups of alternating group ${A_{2^{k}}}$, permutation group ${S_{2^{k}}}$ and …
We prove that Chevalley groups over polynomial rings $\mathbb F_q[t]$ and over Laurent polynomial $\mathbb F_q[t,t^{-1}]$ rings, where $\mathbb F_q$ is a finite field, are boundedly elementarily generated. Using this we produce explicit bounds of the commutator width of these groups. Under some additional assumptions, we prove similar results for other classes of Chevalley groups over Dedekind rings of arithmetic rings in positive characteristic. As a corollary, we produce explicit estimates for the commutator width of affine Kac--Moody groups defined over finite fields. The paper contains als…
Let N be a normal subgroup of a finite group G. We prove that under certain (unavoidable) conditions the subgroup [N,G] is a product of commutators [N,y] (with prescribed values of y from a given set Y) of length bounded by a function of d(G) and |Y| only. This has several applications: 1. A new proof that G^n is closed (and hence open) in any finitely generated profinite group G. 2. A finitely generated abstract quotient of a compact Hausdorff group must be finite. 3. Let G be a topologically finitely generated compact Hausdorff group. Then G has a countably infinite abstract quotient if and …
Let $G$ be the first Grigorchuk group. We show that the commutator width of $G$ is $2$: every element $g\in [G,G]$ is a product of two commutators, and also of six conjugates of $a$. Furthermore, we show that every finitely generated subgroup $H\leq G$ has finite commutator width, which however can be arbitrarily large, and that $G$ contains a subgroup of infinite commutator width. The proofs were assisted by the computer algebra system GAP.
Given a permutational wreath product sequence of cyclic groups of prime order we research a commutator width of such groups and some properties of its commutator subgroup. Commutator width of Sylow 2-subgroups of alternating group $A_{2^{k}}$, permutation group $S_{2^k}$ and $C_p \wr B$ were founded. The result of research was extended on subgroups $(Syl_2 {A_{2^k}})'$, $p>2$. The paper presents a construction of commutator subgroup of Sylow 2-subgroups of symmetric and alternating groups. Also minimal generic sets of Sylow 2-subgroups of $A_{2^k}$ were founded. Elements presentation of $(Syl_…
We consider profinite groups in which all commutators are contained in a union of finitely many procyclic subgroups. It is shown that if G is a profinite group in which all commutators are covered by m procyclic subgroups, then G possesses a finite characteristic subgroup M contained in G' such that the order of M is m-bounded and G'/M is procyclic. If G is a pro-p group such that all commutators in G are covered by m procyclic subgroups, then G' is either finite of m-bounded order or procyclic.
We investigate the palindromic width of finitely generated solvable groups. We prove that every finitely generated $3$-step solvable group has finite palindromic width. More generally, we show the finiteness of palindromic width for finitely generated abelian-by-nilpotent-by-nilpotent groups. For arbitrary solvable groups of step $\geq 3$, we prove that if $G$ is a finitely generated solvable group that is an extension of an abelian group by a group satisfying the maximal condition for normal subgroups, then the palindromic width of $G$ is finite. We also prove that the palindromic width of $\…
We consider the class of finitely generated groups whose relators are powers of commutators of the generators. This class contains as a small subclass graph groups (also called RAAGs), namely if all powers are one. Graph groups are the only torsionfree groups in this class. The generators are of infinite order, but we may also add torsion by assigning arbitrary orders to the generators. Then the above mentioned small subclass contains partially commutative Shephard groups. We show that these groups embed into Coxeter groups as finite index subgroups, thus establishing the linearity of these gr…
Let $VB_n$, resp. $WB_n$ denote the virtual, resp. welded, braid group on $n$ strands. We study their commutator subgroups $VB_n' = [VB_n, VB_n]$ and, $WB_n' = [WB_n, WB_n]$ respectively. We obtain a set of generators and defining relations for these commutator subgroups. In particular, we prove that $VB_n'$ is finitely generated if and only if $n \geq 4$, and $WB_n'$ is finitely generated for $n \geq 3$. Also we prove that $VB_3'/VB_3'' =\mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus\mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}^{\infty}$, $VB_4' / VB_4'' = \mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_3 \oplus \mathbb{Z}_3$, $WB…
We prove that the nilpotent product of a set of groups $A_{1},\dots, A_{s}$ has finite palindromic width if and only if the palindromic widths of $A_{i}, i=1,\dots, s,$ are finite. We give a new proof that the commutator width of $F_n \wr K$ is infinite, where $F_n$ is a free group of rank $n \geq 2$ and $K$ a finite group. This result, combining with a result of Fink \cite{f1} gives examples of groups with infinite commutator width but finite palindromic width with respect to some generating set.
This is the third paper in a sequence on Krull dimension for limit groups, answering a question of Z. Sela. We give generalizations of the well known fact that a nontrivial commutator in a free group is not a proper power to both graphs of free groups over cyclic subgroups and freely decomposable groups. None of the paper is specifically about limit groups.
We study stable commutator length on mapping class groups of certain infinite-type surfaces. In particular, we show that stable commutator length defines a continuous function on the commutator subgroups of such infinite-type mapping class groups. We furthermore show that the commutator subgroups are open and closed subgroups and that the abelianizations are finitely generated in many cases. Our results apply to many popular infinite-type surfaces with locally coarsely bounded mapping class groups.
Let G be a finitely presented group, and G' its commutator subgroup. Let C be the Cayley graph of G' with all commutators in G as generators. Then C is large scale simply connected. Furthermore, if G is a torsion-free nonelementary word-hyperbolic group, C is one-ended. Hence (in this case), the asymptotic dimension of C is at least 2.
In 1904, Issai Schur proved the following result. If $G$ is an arbitrary group such that $G/\Z(G)$ is finite, where $\Z(G)$ denotes the center of the group $G$, then the commutator subgroup of $G$ is finite. A partial converse of this result was proved by B. H. Neumann in 1951. He proved that if $G$ is a finitely generated group with finite commutator subgroup, then $G/\Z(G)$ is finite. In this short note, we exhibit few arguments of Neumann, which provide further generalizations of converse of the above mentioned result of Schur. We classify all finite groups $G$ such that $|G/\Z(G)| = |γ_2(G…
Let $WB_n$ be the welded (or loop) braid group on n strands, $n \geq 3$. We investigate commutator subgroup of $WB_n$. We prove that the commutator subgroup $WB_n'$ is finitely generated and Hopfian. We show that $WB_n'$ is perfect if and only if $n \geq 5$. We also compute finite presentation for $FWB_n'$, the commutator subgroup of the flat welded braid group $FWB_n$. Along the way, we investigate adorability of these groups.
In 2012 Monod introduced examples of groups of piecewise projective homeomorphisms which are not amenable and which do not contain free subgroups, and later Lodha and Moore introduced examples of finitely presented groups with the same property. In this article we examine the normal subgroup structure of these groups. Two important cases of our results are the groups $H$ and $G_0$. We show that the group $H$ of piecewise projective homeomorphisms of $\mathbb{R}$ has the property that $H"$ is simple and that every proper quotient of $H$ is metabelian. We establish simplicity of the commutator s…
Let w be a group-word. Suppose that the set of all w-values in a profinite group G is contained in a union of countably many cosets of subgroups. We are concerned with the question to what extent the structure of the verbal subgroup w(G) depends on the properties of the subgroups. We prove the following theorem. Let C be a class of groups closed under taking subgroups, quotients, and such that in any group the product of finitely many normal C-subgroups is again a C-subgroup. If w is a multilinear commutator and G is a profinite group such that the set of all w-values is contained in a union o…
The singular braids with $n$ strands, $n \geq 3$, were introduced independently by Baez and Birman. It is known that the monoid formed by the singular braids is embedded in a group that is known as singular braid group, denoted by $SG_n$. There has been another generalization of braid groups, denoted by $GVB_n$, $n \geq 3$, which was introduced by Fang as a group of symmetries behind quantum quasi-shuffle structures. The group $GVB_n$ simultaneously generalizes the classical braid group, as well as the virtual braid group on $n$ strands. We investigate the commutator subgroups $SG_n'$ and $GVB…
A group is metabelian if its commutator subgroup is abelian. For finitely generated metabelian groups, classical commutative algebra, algebraic geometry and geometric group theory, especially the latter two subjects, can be brought to bear on their study. The object of this paper is to describe some of the new ideas and open problems that arise.
We give a new proof of a theorem of D. Calegari that says that the Cayley graph of a surface group with respect to any generating set lying in finitely many mapping class group orbits has infinite diameter. This applies, for instance, to the generating set consisting of all simple closed curves.
We prove that in every finitely generated profinite group, every subgroup of finite index is open; this implies that the topology on such groups is determined by the algebraic structure. This is deduced from the main result about finite groups: let $w$ be a `locally finite' group word and $d\in\mathbb{N}$. Then there exists $f=f(w,d)$ such that in every $d$-generator finite group $G$, every element of the verbal subgroup $w(G)$ is equal to a product of $f$ $w$-values. An analogous theorem is proved for commutators; this implies that in every finitely generated profinite group, each term of the…
We show that the wreath product $G \wr \mathbb{Z}^n$ of any finitely generated group $G$ with $\mathbb{Z}^n$ has finite palindromic width. We also show that $C \wr A$ has finite palindromic width if $C$ has finite commutator width and $A$ is a finitely generated infinite abelian group. Further we prove that if $H$ is a non-abelian group with finite palindromic width and $G$ any finitely generated group, then every element of the subgroup $G' \wr H$ can be expressed as a product of uniformly boundedly many palindromes. From this we obtain that $P \wr H$ has finite palindromic width if $P$ is a …
We prove the definability, and actually the finiteness of the commutator width, of many commutator subgroups in groups definable in o-minimal structures. It applies in particular to derived series and to lower central series of solvable groups. Along the way, we prove some generalities on groups with the descending chain condition on definable subgroups and/or with a definable and additive dimension.
The local normal zeta functions of a finitely generated, torsion-free nilpotent group $G$ of class 2 depend on the geometry of the Pfaffian hypersurface associated to the bilinear form induced by taking commutators in $G$. The smallest examples of zeta functions which are not finitely uniform arise from groups whose associated Pfaffian hypersurfaces are plane curves. In this paper we study groups whose Pfaffians define singular curves, illustrating that the local normal zeta functions may indeed invoke all the degeneracy loci of the Pfaffian.
For a finitely generated group $G$ we calculate the Bieri-Neumann-Strebel-Renz invariant $Σ^1(\X(G))$ for the weak commutativity construction $\X(G)$. Identifying $S(\X(G))$ with $S(\X(G) / W(G))$ we show $Σ^2(\X(G),\Z) \subseteq Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G),\Z)$ and $Σ^2(\X(G)) \subseteq $ $ Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G))$ that are equalities when $W(G)$ is finitely generated and we explicitly calculate $Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G),\Z)$ and $ Σ^2(\X(G)/ W(G))$ in terms of the $Σ$-invariants of $G$. We calculate completely the $Σ$-invariants in dimensions 1 and 2 of the group $ν(G)$ and show that if $G$ is finitely generated group …
We associate with every locally expanding self-covering $f:M\to M$ of a compact path connected metric space a finitely presented group $V_f$. We prove that this group is a complete invariant of the dynamical system: two groups $V_{f_1}$ and $V_{f_2}$ are isomorphic as abstract groups if and only if the corresponding dynamical systems are topologically conjugate. We also show that the commutator subgroup of $V_f$ is simple, and give a topological interpretation of $V_f/V_f'$.
Let $TW_n$ be the twin group on $n$ arcs, $n \geq 2$. The group $TW_{m+2}$ is isomorphic to Grothendieck's $m$-dimensional cartographical group $\mathcal C_m$, $m \geq 1$. In this paper we give a finite presentation for the commutator subgroup $TW_{m+2}'$, and prove that $TW_{m+2}'$ has rank $2m-1$. We derive that $TW_{m+2}'$ is free if and only if $m \leq 3$. From this it follows that $TW_{m+2}$ is word-hyperbolic and does not contain a surface group if and only if $m \leq 3$. It also follows that the automorphism group of $TW_{m+2}$ is finitely presented for $m \leq 3$.
We prove two results. (1) There is an absolute constant $D$ such that for any finite quasisimple group $S$, given 2D arbitrary automorphisms of $S$, every element of $S$ is equal to a product of $D$ `twisted commutators' defined by the given automorphisms. (2) Given a natural number $q$, there exist $C=C(q)$ and $M=M(q)$ such that: if $S$ is a finite quasisimple group with $| S/\mathrm{Z}(S)| >C$, $β_{j}$ $ (j=1,...,M)$ are any automorphisms of $S$, and $q_{j}$ $ (j=1,...,M)$ are any divisors of $q$, then there exist inner automorphisms $α_{j}$ of $S$ such that $S=\prod_{1}^{M}[S,(α_{j}β_{j})^…
The goal of this article is to exhibit two new families of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of $\mathbf{R}$. These families are strikingly different from existing families owing to the nature of their actions on $\mathbf{R}$, and exhibit surprising algebraic and dynamical features. In particular, one construction provides the first examples of finitely generated simple groups of homeomorphisms of the real line which also admit a minimal action by homeomorphisms on the circle. This provides new examples of finitely generated simple groups with infinite commutator width, and th…
The class $A$ of anabelian groups is defined as the collection of finite groups without abelian composition factors. We prove that the commutator word $[x_1,x_2]$ and the power word $x_1^p$ have bounded width in $A$ when $p$ is an odd integer. By contrast the word $x^{30}$ does not have bounded width in $A$. On the other hand any given word $w$ has bounded width for those groups in $A$ whose composition factors are sufficiently large as a function of $w$. In the course of the proof we establish that sufficiently large almost simple groups cannot satisfy $w$ as a coset identity.
The width $\wid(G,W)$ of the verbal subgroup $v(G,W)$ of a group $G$ defined by a collection of group words $W$ is the smallest number $m$ in $\mathbb N \cup {+\infty}$ such that every element of $v(G,W)$ is can be represented as the product of at most $m$ words in $W$ evaluated on the group $G$ and their inverses. Recall that every verbal subgroup of the group $T_{n} (K)$ of triangular matrices over an arbitrary field $K$ can be defined by just one word: an outer commutator word or a power word. We prove that for every outer commutator word $w$ the equality $\wid(T_{n} (K),w)=1$ holds on the …
In this note, we compute the Σ^1(G) invariant when 1 {\to} H {\to} G {\to} K {\to} 1 is a short exact sequence of finitely generated groups with K finite. As an application, we construct a group F semidirect Z_2 where F is the R. Thompson's group F and show that F semidirect Z_2 has the R-infinity property while F is not characteristic. Furthermore, we construct a finite extension G with finitely generated commutator subgroup G' but has a finite index normal subgroup H with infinitely generated H'.
In this paper we consider the palindromic width of free nilpotent groups. In particular, we prove that the palindromic width of a finitely generated free nilpotent group is finite. We also prove that the palindromic width of a free abelian-by-nilpotent group is finite.
We show that the finitely generated simple left orderable groups $G_ρ$ constructed by the first two authors in arXiv:1807.06478 are uniformly perfect - each element in the group can be expressed as a product of three commutators of elements in the group. This implies that the group does not admit any homogeneous quasimorphism. Moreover, any nontrivial action of the group on the circle, which lifts to an action on the real line, admits a fixed point. Most strikingly, it follows that the groups are examples of left orderable monsters, which means that any faithful action on the real line without…
Let S be a generating set of a group G. We say that G has FINITE WIDTH relative to S if G=(S\cup S^{-1})^k for a suitable natural number k. We say that a group G is a group of FINITE C-WIDTH if G has finite width with respect to all conjugation-invariant generating sets. We give a number of examples of groups of finite C-width, and, in particular, we prove that the commutator subgroup F' of Thompson's group F is a group of finite C-width. We also study the behaviour of the class of all groups of finite C-width under some group-theoretic constructions; it is established, for instance, that this…
In this paper we show that there exists an uncountable family of finitely generated simple groups with the same positive theory as any non-abelian free group. In particular, these simple groups have infinite $w$-verbal width for all non-trivial words $w$.
A combing is a set of normal forms for a finitely generated group. This article investigates the language-theoretic and geometric properties of combings for nilpotent and polycyclic groups. It is shown that a finitely generated class 2 nilpotent group with cyclic commutator subgroup is real-time combable, as are also all 2 or 3-generated class 2 nilpotent groups, and groups in certain families of nilpotent groups, e.g. the finitely generated Heisenberg groups, groups of unipotent matrices over the integers and the free class 2 nilpotent groups. Further it is shown that any polycyclic-by-finite…
The main theme of this paper is higher virtual algebraic fibering properties of right-angled Coxeter groups (RACGs), with a special focus on those whose defining flag complex is a finite building. We prove for particular classes of finite buildings that their random induced subcomplexes have a number of strong properties, most prominently that they are highly connected. From this we are able to deduce that the commutator subgroup of a RACG, with defining flag complex a finite building of a certain type, admits an epimorphism to $\mathbb{Z}$ whose kernel has strong topological finiteness proper…
We show that every bounded automaton group can be embedded in a finitely generated, simple amenable group. The proof is based on the study of the topological full groups associated to the Schreier dynamical system of the mother groups. We also show that if $\mathcal{G}$ is a minimal étale groupoid with unit space the Cantor set, the group $[[\mathcal{G}]]_t$ generated by all torsion elements in the topological full group has simple commutator subgroup.
We study conditions under which subdirect products of various types of algebraic structures are finitely generated or finitely presented. In the case of two factors, we prove general results for arbitrary congruence permutable varieties, which generalise previously known results for groups, and which apply to modules, rings, $K$-algebras and loops. For instance, if $C$ is a fiber product of $A$ and $B$ over a common quotient $D$, and if $A$, $B$ and $D$ are finitely presented, then $C$ is finitely generated. For subdirect products of more than two factors we establish a general connection with…
We present a theoretical algorithm which, given any finite presentation of a group as input, will terminate with answer yes if and only if the group is large. We then implement a practical version of this algorithm using Magma and apply it to a range of presentations. Our main focus is on 2-generator 1-relator presentations where we have a complete picture of largeness if the relator has exponent sum zero in one generator and word length at most 12, as well as when the relator is in the commutator subgroup and has word length at most 18. Indeed all but a tiny number of presentations define lar…