A generating function for the Euler characteristic of \(Out(F_ n)\) (Q1821195)

Let \(A\) be a group satisfying suitable homological finiteness conditions and \(A'\leq A\) any torsion-free subgroup of finite index. Then the rational Euler characteristic \(\chi(A)\) of \(A\) is defined as \(\chi(A')/| A:A'|\) where \(\chi(A')\) is the usual alternating sum of the ranks of the homology groups \(H_ i(A',{\mathbb{Z}})\) [cf. \textit{C. T. C. Wall}, Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 57, 182-184 (1961; Zbl 0100.257)]. The authors concentrate on the group \(Out(F_ n)\) of outer automorphisms of the free group \(F_ n\) of degree \(n\). Let \(\chi(z)\) be the ordinary generating function for \(\chi(Out(F_{n+1}))\). It is proved that \(\chi(z)=C(1/z,z/2)\) where \(C(x,y)=\log (1+H(x,y))\), \(\bar H(x,y)= \bar N(x,y)\cdot \exp (2xy),\) \(N(x,y)=e^{-x}(1+2xy)^{-1/2}(1+A(x,y))-1,\) \(A(x,y)= \sum^{\infty}_{v=1}F_ v(x,-y)\cdot \exp (v^ 2y)\), \(F(x,y)=\exp (T(x,y))=1\), and \[ T(x,y)= (1/2\;y)\sum^{\infty}_{n=1}(n^{n-2}/n!)(2xy)^ n. \] Here, for any formal power series \(Q(x,y)=\sum q_{ij}x^ iy^ j\), \(\bar Q(x,y)\) denotes the series \(\bar Q(x,y)=\sum (q_{ij}/(j-1)!)x^ iy^ j\), and \(Q_ v(x,y)\) denotes the series consisting of the terms in \(Q(x,y)\) with \(x\)-degree equal to \(v\).