No iterated identities satisfied by all finite groups (Q2327969)

Given a word \(w\) on \(m\) letters, a group \(G\) is said to satisfy the iterated identity \(w\) if for all \(x_1,\dots,x_m,\) there exists \(n\) such that the \(n\)-th iteration of \(w\) of Engel type, applied to \(x_1,\dots,x_m\), is equal to the identity. The author shows that there is no iterated identity satisfied by all finite groups. More precisely, there exists a constant \(c>0\) such that, for any \(l\geq 1\) and any non-trivial word \(w\) of length \(l,\) there exists a finite group \(G\) of cardinality at most exp\((l^c)\) which does not satisfy the iterated identity \(w.\) The author also proves a more general statement concerning iterations of an endomorphism of a free group. The proof uses the approach of \textit{A. Borisov} and \textit{M. Sapir} [Invent. Math. 160, No. 2, 341--356 (2005; Zbl 1083.14023)], who used dynamics of polynomial mappings for the proof of non-residual finiteness of some groups.