On the ends of pairs of groups (Q1802152)

Let \(G\) be a finitely generated infinite group and let \(H\) be a subgroup of \(G\). Denote by \(e(G,H)\) the number of ends of the pair \((G,H)\). If \(H\) is the trivial group then this invariant is simply the number of ends of \(G\) and is computed via techniques in group cohomology to be \(1 + \text{rank }H^ 1(G, {\mathbf Z} G)\). The main result of this paper is a generalization of this calculation to cases other than \(H\) trivial. For instance in the case of \(H\) an infinite cyclic group, it is shown that \(e(G,H) = 1 + \text{rank }H^ 1 (G, {\mathbf Z}[G/H])\).