Growth functions of surface groups (Q810937): Difference between revisions

Let G be a group with finite generating set S. The growth power series of G relative to S is defined to be \(f_ S(x)=\sum^{\infty}_{n=0}a_ nx^ n\), where \(a_ n\) is the number of elements of G which are words of length n in S. In this paper it is shown that the growth series of the closed surface and compact hyperbolic Coxeter groups, relative to certain canonical generators, are rational analytic functions whose zeros are roots of unity and whose poles are algebraic units with very special placement in the complex plane. The denominators are intimately related to the Tchebycheff polynomials arising in approximation theory and to the Salem polynomials arising in Fourier analysis. For the 3-generator Coxeter groups and closed-surface groups (with canonical generators), with the exception of a single real reciprocal pair of poles, the poles of the growth function lie on the unit circle. This phenomenon persists for the compact hyperbolic Coxeter groups having 4 generators but fails for the 5 generator groups. For a hyperbolic triangle group, the location of those poles that are roots of unity is related to invariants of certain finite Coxeter groups.