Aspects of the theory of free groups (Q4942269)

This paper contains a detailed survey of various aspects of the theory of free groups as related to algebra, geometry, topology, logic, and computer science. The study covers results from the second half of the last century, also containing several recent results. The authors start with a review of the classical results on free groups including Schreier's theorem that subgroups of free groups are free. They describe ties to topology and group actions, presenting the basic idea that a free group is the fundamental group of a wedge of circles; the Bass-Serre theory; group actions on \(\mathbb{R}\)-trees and on more general \(\Lambda\)-trees; properties of \(n\)-freeness, local freeness and para-freeness. The authors also discuss the ties between free groups and certain questions in logic and present Tarski's conjectures. Finally, they look at connections with computing and rewriting systems via automatic groups. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0931.00032].