Growing words in the free group on two generators. (Q351749)

Let \(F_n\) be the free group of rank \(n\) and \(L_n=\{a_i,\overline{a_i},\;i=1,2,\dots,n\}\) a subset of \(F_n\), where \(a_i\) are free generators of \(F_n\) and \(\overline{a_i}\) are their inverses. Let \(C_n\) be the subset of all cyclically reduced elements of \(F_n\). Two elements \(v,w\) of \(F_n\) are equivalent if there exists an automorphism \(\varphi\) of \(F_n\) such that \(\varphi(v)=w\). An element \(w\in F_n\) is called minimal if \(|w|\leq|\varphi(w)|\) for all \(\varphi\in\Aut (F_n)\). \textit{J. H. C. Whitehead} [in Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 41, 48-56 (1936; Zbl 0013.24801); Ann. Math. (2) 37, 782-800 (1936; Zbl 0015.24804)] gave two kinds of finite subsets of \(\Aut(F_n)\) which are enough to determine whether an element of \(F_n\) is minimal. \textit{B. Khan}, [Contemp. Math. 349, 115-196 (2004; Zbl 1078.20035)], \textit{D. Lee}, [J. Algebra 301, No. 1, 35-58 (2006; Zbl 1100.20028); J. Algebra 305, No. 2, 1093-1101 (2006; Zbl 1112.20022)], and \textit{A. G. Myasnikov} and \textit{V. Shpilrain}, [J. Algebra 269, No. 1, 18-27 (2003; Zbl 1035.20019)], studied the equivalence classes and have obtained upper bounds on the time required to determine whether two words \(v,w\in F_n\) are equivalent. In this paper the authors give a new characterization of minimal words in \(F_2\). Here we quote some of their results. Let \(w=w_1w_2\cdots w_\ell\) and \(v\) be two non empty words on \(L_2\) with \(k=|v|\leq|w|=\ell\), let \([v]_w\) denote the number of (possibly overlapping) occurrences of the subword \(v\) in \(w_1w_2\cdots w_\ell w_1\cdots w_{k-1}\) and let \((v)_w=[v]_w+[v^{-1}]_w\). Theorem A. (Theorem 4 in the paper) Let \(w\in C_2\). The following are equivalent. (1) \(w\) is minimal. (2) \(|(ab)_w-(a\overline b)_w|\leq\min((aa)_w,(bb)_w)\). (3) \(|(yx)_w-(y\overline x)_w|\leq\min((xx)_w,(yy)_w)\) for some \(x,y\in L_2\) with \(x\not\in\{y,\overline y\}\). Corollary 1. (Corollary 5 in the paper) Let \(w\) be a word on the alphabet \(\{a,b\}\). Then \(w\) is minimal if and only if \([ab]_w\leq\min([aa]_w,[bb]_w)\). Corollary 2. (Corollary 6 in the paper) If \(w\) and \(u\) are minimal words with the same initial letter, then \(wu\) is minimal. Let \(w=w_1w_2\cdots w_\ell\) be a cyclically reduced element of \(F_2\) and let \(1\leq i\leq\ell\). The word \(u=w_1w_2\cdots w_{i-1}w_iw_iw_{i+1}\cdots w_\ell\) obtained by duplicating the letter \(w_i\) is called a child of \(w\) and \(w\) is called the parent of \(u\). A root word is a minimal word that is not a child of any minimal word. Theorem B. (Theorem 7 in the paper) Let \(w\in C_2\). The following are equivalent. (1) \(w\) is a root word. (2) \(|(ab)_w-(a\overline b)_w|=(aa)_w=(bb)_w\). (2) \(|(yx)_w-(y\overline x)_w|=(xx)_w=(yy)_w\) for some \(x,y\in L_2\) with \(x\not\in\{y,\overline y\}\). Corollary 3. (Corollary 8 in the paper) Let \(w\) be a word on the alphabet \(\{a,b\}\). Then \(w\) is a root word if and only if \([ab]_w=[aa]_w=[bb]_w\). Theorem C. (Theorem 11 in the paper) If \(w\) is a root word, then \(|w|\) is divisible by 4. Theorem D. (Theorem 16 in the paper) If \(w\) is a root word, \(w\sim v\), and \(|w|=|v|\), then \(v\) is a root word.