Large scale properties for bounded automata groups. (Q2347081)

We recall some basic notions. Let \(X\) be a finite set with cardinality \(d\), and \(X^*\) be the free monoid generated by \(X\). There is a natural correspondence between \(X^*\) and the vertex set of a rooted \(d\)-regular tree \(T_d\) in which two words are connected by an edge if and only if they are of the form \(w\) and \(wx\), where \(w\in X^*\), \(x\in X\). The empty word \(\emptyset\) is the root of the tree. A map \(f\colon X^*\to X^*\) is called an endomorphism of the tree \(X^*\) if it preserves the root and adjacency of the vertices. An automorphism is a bijective endomorphism. The automorphism group of the rooted tree \(X^*\) is denoted by \(\Aut(X^*)\). Let \(G\) be a group, and \(d\) be a positive integer. The permutation group of \(d\) elements is denoted by \(S_d\). The wreath product \(G\wr d\) is defined as semi-product of \(G^d\) and \(S_d\). Let \(g\in\Aut(X^*)\), and fix a vertex \(v\in X^*\). The subtree \(vX^*\) is the rooted tree with the root \(v\) and all the words in \(X^*\) starting with \(v\). Then \(g\) naturally induces a map \(vX^*\to g(v)X^*\). We can identify the tree \(X^*\) with the subtree \(vX^*\) by sending \(w\) to \(vw\), also \(X^*\) with \(g(v)X^*\). Under these identifications, \(g\) induces an automorphism \(g|_v\in\Aut(X^*)\) which is called the restriction of \(g\) on \(v\). Let \(G\) be a subgroup in \(\Aut(X^*)\). \(G\) is called \textit{self similar} if for any \(v\in X^*\), one has \(g|_v\in G\). An automaton \(A\) over the alphabet \(X\) is given by two things: the set of states, also denoted by \(A\); a map \(\tau\colon X\times A\to X\times A\). A self similar group is interpreted in terms of automata and conversely, given any self similar group \(G\), it is easy to construct an automaton \(A\) such that the associated group is just \(G\). Let \(G\) be a self similar subgroup in \(\Aut(X^*)\) generated by an automaton \(A\). Given an automorphism \(\alpha\in G\), the set of states of \(\alpha\) is defined to be \(S(\alpha)=\{\alpha|_w:w\in X^*\}\). If \(S(\alpha)\) is finite, then \(\alpha\) is called \textit{automatic}. The set of all automatic automorphisms forms a subgroup \(A(X)\) in \(\Aut(X^*)\). An automorphism \(\alpha\) is called \textit{bounded} if the sets \(\{w\in X^n:\alpha|_w\neq 1\}\) have uniformly bounded cardinalities over all \(n\). The set of all bounded automorphisms forms a subgroup \(\mathcal B(X)\) in \(\Aut(X^*)\). The group of all bounded automatic automorphisms of the regular tree \(X^*\) is denoted by \(\mathcal{BA}(X)\). A group \(G\) is called a \textit{bounded automaton group} if it is a subgroup of \(\mathcal{BA}(X)\) for some \(X\). Let \(B_d=S_d\wr (d-1)\), \(F_d=S_d*B_d\) be the free product of \(S_d\) and \(B_d\). The self similar structure on \(F_d\) is defined recursively so that there is a natural homomorphism from \(F_d\) to \(\Aut(T_d)\). The image \(G_d\) of \(F_d\) in \(\Aut(T_d)\) is called the \textit{mother group of degree} \(d\). The authors study two large scale properties of the mother groups: asymptotic dimension and finite decomposition complexity introduced by \textit{E. Guentner} et al. [Invent. Math. 189, No. 2, 315-357 (2012; Zbl 1257.57028)]. First by two methods they prove that all of the mother groups \(G_d\) of bounded automata groups have infinite asymptotic dimensions for \(d>2\). Then they prove that the mother group \(G_3\) contains a subgroup \(T\) which has finite decomposition complexity with respect to any proper length metric but has infinite asymptotic dimension.