Mapping tori of endomorphisms of free groups (Q4487361)

If \(\varphi\) is an injective endomorphism of a free group \(F(X)\), then the mapping torus of \(\varphi\) is the group \(M_\varphi=\langle t,X\mid t^{-1}xt=\varphi(x)\) for every \(x\in X\rangle\). The group \(M_\varphi\) is an ascending HNN-extension of \(F(X)\) with associated subgroups \(F(X)\) and \(\varphi(F(X))\). The author studies the word hyperbolicity of \(M_\varphi\) in the case where the endomorphism \(\varphi\) is an immersion. Now an endomorphism \(\varphi\colon F(X)\to F(X)\) is an immersion if for every \(x,y\in X\cup X^{-1}\) such that \(x\neq y^{-1}\) the word \(\varphi(x)\varphi(y)\) is freely reduced as written. The main result of this paper goes as follows: Let \(F(X)\) be a free group of finite rank on \(X\). Let \(\varphi\colon F(X)\to F(X)\) be an immersion of \(F(X)\). Then the following are equivalent: 1. The group \(M_\varphi\) is word-hyperbolic. 2. The group \(M_\varphi\) does not contain subgroups isomorphic to \(B(1,p)\), \(p>0\). 3. The automorphism \(\varphi\) has no periodic conjugacy classes, that is there are no \(f\in F(X)\), \(f\neq 1\), \(p>0\), \(k>0\) such that \(\varphi^k(f)\) is conjugate to \(f^p\) in the group \(F(X)\). The Baumslag-Solitar group \(B(1,p)\) has a presentation \(\langle t,x\mid t^{-1}xt=x^p\rangle\). He gets as a corollary that there is an algorithm which, for an immersion \(\varphi\) of a finitely generated free group \(F(X)\), decides whether or not the mapping class group \(M_\varphi\) is hyperbolic. The paper contains much more information than the above theorem and ends up with a list of ten open problems on mapping tori of injective endomorphisms of free groups and a list of references containing 35 items. (Also submitted to MR).