Subgroups of free groups: a contribution to the Hanna Neumann conjecture (Q1855279)

The Strengthened Hanna Neumann Conjecture as formulated by \textit{W. D. Neumann} [in Lect. Notes Math. 1456, 161-170 (1990; Zbl 0722.20016)] is treated here with graph theoretic tools and proven to hold for a large class of groups characterized by geometric properties. As one of the applications of their methods the authors provide a proof that the Strengthened Hanna Neumann Conjecture holds for positively generated subgroups of a free group generated by a finite alphabet. An alternate proof for the result on positively generated subgroups was given by \textit{B. Khan} [in Contemp. Math. 296, 155-170 (2002; Zbl 1013.20018)].