Splitting groups of signature \((1;n)\) (Q1125899): Difference between revisions

It is an old problem whether the Fuchsian group \(G=\langle a,b:[a,b]^n=1\rangle\), \(n\geq 2\), of signature \((1;n)\) has a decomposition as a free product with amalgamation. Using a suitable representation of \(G\) in \(\text{PSL}_2(\mathbb{Q}_p)\), where \(\mathbb{Q}_p\) denotes the \(p\)-adic rationals, and the Bass-Serre theory on groups acting on trees it can be shown that \(G\) has such a decomposition.