Finiteness results for subgroups of finite extensions. (Q479771)

Theorems of Howson and Takahasi concern subgroups of free groups. This article provides generalisations of these theorems to finite extensions of Howson and Takahasi groups. A group \(G\) is a \textit{Howson group} if for all finitely generated subgroups \(H_1,H_2\leq G\) the rank \(\mathrm{rk}(H_1\cap H_2)<\infty\). Howson's theorem [\textit{A. G. Howson}, J. Lond. Math. Soc. 29, 428-434 (1954; Zbl 0056.02106)] is that every free group is a Howson group. Generalising this concept the authors set \[ \varepsilon_G(n_1,n_2)=\sup(\mathrm{rk}(H_1\cap H_2)\mid H_1,H_2\leq G,\;\mathrm{rk}(H_1)\leq n_1,\;\mathrm{rk}(H_2)\leq n_2\} \] and say that \(G\) is \textit{strongly Howson} if \(\varepsilon_G(n_1,n_2)<\infty\) for all \(n_1,n_2\in\mathbb N\). If \(G\) is strongly Howson then \(\mathrm{rk}(H_1\cap H_2)\leq\varepsilon(\mathrm{rk}(H_1),\mathrm{rk}(H_2))<\infty\) so \(G\) is Howson. (The question as to whether strongly Howson groups are Howson groups is not considered.) The first main theorem asserts that every finite extension of a strongly Howson group \(F\) is strongly Howson and gives an upper bound for \(\varepsilon_G(n_1,n_2)\) in terms of \(n_1,n_2,\varepsilon_F\) and the index of \(F\). Combining this with the Hannah Neumann Theorem it is shown that every virtually free group \(G\) is strongly Howson and an upper bound for \(\varepsilon_G(n_1,n_2)\) is given in terms of \(n_1,n_2\) and the index of a free subgroup. This bound is compared with bounds obtained by \textit{A. Zakharov} [J. Algebra 418, 29-43 (2014; Zbl 1307.20024)] and it is shown to be an improvement in certain cases (for example when the index of a free subgroup is at most 5). The theorem is also used to show that if \(G\) is a virtually polycyclic group then \(G\) is strongly Howson and \(\varepsilon_G\) is a bounded function. More generally, it is shown that every virtually nilpotent group \(G\) is strongly Howson and an upper bound for \(\varepsilon_G(n_1,n_2)\) is given in terms of the class and index of any finite index nilpotent subgroup. The fundamental group \(G\) of a finite graph of groups with virtually polycyclic vertex groups and finite edge groups is also considered and it is shown that such a \(G\) is strongly Howson and that there is some constant \(M>0\) such that \(\varepsilon_G(n_1,n_2)\leq M(n_1-1)(n_2-1)+M\) for all \(n_1,n_2\geq 1\). The authors call a group \(G\) a \textit{Takahasi} group if every ascending chain \(H_1\leq H_2\leq H_3\leq\cdots\) of finitely generated subgroups of \(G\) with bounded rank is stationary. In this language, Takahasi's theorem [\textit{M. Takahasi}, J. Inst. Polytechn., Osaka City Univ., Ser. A 1, 65-70 (1950; Zbl 0041.00801)] is that free groups are Takahasi groups. Subgroups of Takahasi groups are Takahasi. The second main theorem is that every finite extension of a Takahasi group is Takahasi, and so every virtually free group is Takahasi. A more general corollary proved here is that the fundamental group of a finite graph of groups with virtually polycyclic vertex groups and finite edge groups is Takahasi. The last main result concerns the fundamental group \(G\) of a finite graph of groups with finitely generated virtually nilpotent vertex groups and finite edge groups. Given \(\varphi\in\mathrm{End}(G)\), the \textit{fixed subgroup} of \(\varphi\) is defined by \(\mathrm{Fix}(\varphi)=\{x\in G\mid\varphi(x)=x\}\) and the \textit{periodic subgroup} of \(\varphi\) is \(\mathrm{Per}=\bigcup_{n\geq 1}\mathrm{Fix}(\varphi^n)\). For \(x\in\mathrm{Per}(\varphi)\) the \textit{period} of \(x\) is the least \(n\geq 1\) such that \(\varphi^n(x)=x\). It is shown that if \(G\) is the fundamental group of a finite graph of groups with finitely generated virtually nilpotent vertex groups and finite edge groups then there exists a constant \(M>0\) such that \(\mathrm{rk}(\mathrm{Per}(\varphi))\leq M\) for every \(\varphi\in\mathrm{End}(G)\). A corollary is that, for such a group \(G\) and any \(\varphi\in\mathrm{End}(G)\) there is a constant \(R_\varphi>0\) such that every \(\varphi\in\mathrm{Per}(\varphi)\) has period at most \(R_\varphi\).