The isomorphism problem for all hyperbolic groups. (Q540014): Difference between revisions

The authors present a solution to the isomorphism problem for hyperbolic groups. The first author with D. Groves had previously published a solution of this problem for hyperbolic groups without torsion. The authors also prove a relative version for groups with peripheral structure. As a corollary, they obtain a uniform solution to Whitehead's problem which in the present setting asks whether two tuples of elements in a hyperbolic group \(G\) are in the same orbit under the action of \(\Aut(G)\). The authors also obtain an algorithm computing a generating set of the group of automorphisms of a hyperbolic group preserving a peripheral structure. The strategy of the proof follows ideas of Sela, and the main ingredients are (1) the Stallings-Dunwoody deformation space of maximal decompositions of a hyperbolic group over finite groups; (2) A rigidity criterion stating that the outer automorphism group of a one-ended hyperbolic group is infinite if and only if the group has an ``interesting'' splitting that provides an infinite group of Dehn twists; (3) a kind of JSJ decomposition adapted to the rigidity criterion.