An index theorem for automorphisms of free products (Q4239563)

Let \(G=*^m_{i=1}G_i\) be a free product of (freely) indecomposable groups. If \(H\) is a subgroup of \(G\), then \(H\) is of the form \(H=F_s*^t_{j=1}H_i\), where each \(H_i\) is an intersection of a conjugate of one of the \(G_i\)'s and \(F_s\) is a free group of rank \(s\). The Kurosh rank of \(G\), denoted by \(\text{K-rank}(G)\), is defined to be \(m\) and the Kurosh rank of \(H\) in \(G\), denoted by \(\text{K-rank}(G,H)\), is defined to be \(s+t\). If \(\varphi\) is an automorphism and \(\text{Fix }\varphi\) is the subgroup of fixed points under \(\varphi\) then it was proved by \textit{D. J. Collins} and \textit{E. C. Turner} [Mich. Math. J. 41, No. 3, 443-464 (1994; Zbl 0820.20035)] that \[ \text{K-rank}(G,\text{Fix }\varphi)\leq\text{K-rank}(G). \] Using the relative train tracks for free products developed in the above paper, the author generalizes a theorem of D. Gaboriau, A. Jaeger, G. Levitt and M. Lustig contained in a preprint, which concerns free groups, to free products. At first, the author considers a topology on \(G\) by the metric defined by the length of the common initial part of two words, possibly infinite, where an infinite word is defined as a sequence of reduced words. If \(\varphi\) is an automorphism of \(G\), then a fixed infinite word is defined in terms of this topology. Also, he defines conveniently an equivalence on the set of fixed infinite words and calls \(\alpha(\varphi)\) the number of equivalence classes. The main theorem of the paper (the Index Theorem) for the free product \(G=*^m_{i=1}G_i\) of indecomposable groups with \(m\) finite and \(\varphi\in\Aut G\) states then that \[ \text{K-rank}(G,\text{Fix }\varphi)+\tfrac 12\alpha(\varphi)\leq m. \]