Densities in free groups and \(\mathbb{Z}^k\), visible points and test elements. (Q2459315)

Let \(F=F(A)\) be a free group with a fixed finite basis \(A=\{a_1,\dots,a_k\}\). For \(w\in F\), \(|w|_A\) denotes the freely reduced length of \(w\) with respect to the basis \(A\). Let \(S\subseteq F\) and \(n\geq 0\), we denote \(\varrho_A(n,S):=\#\{w\in S:|w|_A\leq n\}\) and \(\gamma_A(n,S):=\#\{w\in S:|w|_A=n\}\). The `asymptotic density' of \(S\) in \(F\) is defined to be \[ \overline\varrho_A(S):=\limsup_{n\to\infty}\tfrac{\varrho_A(n,S)}{\varrho_A(n,F)} \] and the `annular density' of \(S\) in \(F\) is defined to be \[ \overline\sigma_A(S):=\limsup_{n\to\infty}\tfrac 12(\tfrac{\gamma_A(n-1,S)}{\gamma_A(n-1,F)}+\tfrac{\gamma_A(n,S)}{\gamma_A(n,F)}). \] If the actual limits exist then these limits are called `strict asymptotic density' and `strict annular density' and denoted by \(\varrho_A(S)\) and \(\sigma_A(S)\), respectively. If \(\|\cdot\|_p\) is a norm from \(\mathbb{R}^k\) for \(1\leq p\leq \infty\), then the restriction of \(\|\cdot\|_p\) to \(\mathbb{Z}^k\) defines a length function \(\ell_p\colon\mathbb{Z}^k\to\mathbb{R}\). So for a subset \(S\) of \(\mathbb{Z}^k\), as above, can be defined the corresponding (strict) asymptotic density denoted by (\(\varrho_p(S)\)) \(\overline\varrho_p(S)\). In the present paper it is studied the asymptotic and annular density for several subsets of a free group \(F\) and comparison of them. Here we quote some of the results. 1. If for \(S\subseteq F\) the strict asymptotic density \(\varrho_A(S)\) exists, then the strict annular density \(\sigma_A(S)\) exists and \(\varrho_A(S)=\sigma_A(S)\), but it is possible that \(\sigma_A(S)\) exists while \(\varrho_A(S)\) does not (Example 1.5). 2. Let \(F=F(A)\) be a free group of rank \(k\geq 2\) and \(\alpha\colon F\to\mathbb{Z}^k\) the Abelianization homomorphism, if \(H\) is an \(\text{SL}(k,\mathbb{Z})\)-invariant subset of \(\mathbb{Z}^k\) and \(S=\alpha^{-1}(H)\subseteq F\), then the asymptotic density of \(H\) in \(\mathbb{Z}^k\) and the annular density of \(S=\alpha^{-1}(H)\) in \(F\) are equal (Theorem A). 3. A non zero element \(z\) of \(\mathbb{Z}^k\) is `\(t\)-visible', for a positive integer \(t\), if the greatest common divisor of the coordinates of \(z\) is equal to \(t\). If \(F\) is a free group of rank \(k\geq 2\), an element \(w\in F\) is \(t\)-visible if its image \(\alpha(w)\) in \(\mathbb{Z}^k\) is \(t\)-visible. Let \(V_t\) be the set of all \(t\)-visible elements in \(F\), then \(\sigma_A(V_t)=\tfrac {1}{t^k\zeta(k)}\) and \[ \tfrac{4k-4}{(2k-1)^2t^k\zeta(k)}\leq\overline\varrho_A(V_t)\leq\tfrac {4k-4}{(2k-1)^2}(1-\tfrac {1}{t^k\zeta(k)}), \] where \(\zeta\) is the Riemann zeta-function (Theorem B). 4. An element \(g\) of a group \(G\) is called a `test element' if every endomorphism of \(G\) fixing \(g\) is an automorphism of \(G\). Let \(F_2\) be the free group of rank 2 and \(\mathcal T\) be the set of all test elements in \(F_2\), then \(\sigma_A(\mathcal T)=1-\tfrac {6}{\pi^2}\) and \[ \tfrac{4}{9}(1-\tfrac{6}{\pi^2})\leq\overline\varrho_A(\mathcal T)\leq 1-\tfrac{8}{3\pi^2} \] (Theorem D). The paper concludes with some open problems.