Generators and relations of ``lower-triangular'' automorphism groups of free groups (Q1985759): Difference between revisions

Let $F_n$ be a free group of rank $n\geq 2$ with basis $x_1,x_2,\ldots,x_n$, $A_n=\Aut(F_n)$ the automorphism group of $F_n$, and $\Lambda_n$ the group of integral lower-triangular matrices in $\mathrm{GL}(n,\mathbb{Z})$ whose diagonal entries are one. For every $1\leq i\not= j\leq n$, automorphisms of $F_n$ defined by $x_i\mapsto x_i x_j$ and $x_i\mapsto x_j^{-1} x_i$ are denoted by $E_{ij}$ and $E_{i^{-1}j}$, respectively (see [\textit{W. Magnus}, Acta Math. 64, 353-367 (1935; Zbl 0012.05405)]). Let $SA_n$ be the preimage of $\mathrm{SL}(n,\mathbb{Z})$ by the natural epimorphism $\rho:A_n\longrightarrow \Aut(F_n/[F_n,F_n])$, which is called the special automorphism group of $F_n$. Consider the subgroup $A_n^{+}$ of $SA_n$ generated by the automorphisms $E_{ij}$ and $E_{i^{-1}j}$, for all $1\leq j<i\leq n$. The group $A_n^{+}$ is said to be the lower-triangular automorphism group of $F_n$, and it can be regarded as a free group analogue of $\Lambda_n$. In this paper, it is given a finite presentation for $A_n^{+}$ and a normal form for its elements, using a similar technique as that Magnus used to give the presentation for $\Lambda_n$ in the above paper. Moreover, the kernel of $\rho$ is called the $IA$-automorphism group of $F_n$, denoted by $IA_n$, which is finitely generated by automorphisms \[ K_{ij}:x_t\mapsto\begin{cases} x_j^{-1}x_i x_j,&t=i\\ x_t,&t\not=i \end{cases} \] for distinct $i,j\in \{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ and \[ K_{ijl}:x_t\mapsto\begin{cases} x_i[x_j,x_l], &t=i\\ x_t, &t\not=i \end{cases} \] for distinct $i,j,l\in \{1,2,\ldots,n\}$ such that $j<l$ (see the Magnus's paper). The author introduced the lower-triangular $IA$-automorphism group $IA_n^{+}$ in his previous paper [J. Algebra Appl. 16, No. 5, Article ID 1750099, 31 p. (2017; Zbl 1378.20050)], which is defined to be the subgroup of $IA_n$ generated by $K_{ij}$ for all $1\leq j<i\leq n$ and $K_{pqr}$ for all $1\leq r<q<p\leq n$. In the paper under review, it is shown that $\ker (\rho|_{A_n^{+}})=IA_n^{+}$ and also it is provided an infinite presentation for $IA_n^{+}$ and a normal form for its elements. Finally in the last section, the author computes the second homology groups $H_2(\Lambda_n,L)$ where $L$ is a principal ideal domain in which the element 2 is invertible and $\Lambda_n$ acts trivially on $L$. This gives a lower bound on the integral second homology group of $A_n^{+}$.