No label defined (Q4946065)

An element of a free group \(F\) is called primitive if there is a free basis which contains it and it is called almost primitive element (APE) if it is primitive in any proper subgroup containing it. Furthermore an almost primitive element \(\omega\) is called tame APE if whenever \(\omega^\alpha\in H<F\) with \(\alpha\geq 1\) minimal with respect to this property, then either \(\omega^\alpha\) is primitive in \(H\) or the index \(|F:H|\) is \(\alpha\). In this paper the authors first describe the solutions of the equations of the form \(\prod_{k=1}^q x_{i_k}^{\varepsilon_k}=\omega\) in the group \(F\) free on \(a\) and \(b\) where \(\omega\) is either \(a^\alpha b^\beta a^\gamma b^\delta\) or \(a^\alpha b^\beta a^\gamma b^\delta a^\nu b^\mu\) and \(\varepsilon_k=\pm 1\). More precisely they prove that if \(H\) is a finitely generated subgroup of \(F\) generated by \(X=\{x_1,\dots,x_k\}\), \(k\geq 1\), and \(H\) contains \(\omega\), then \(\{x_1,\dots,x_k\}\) can be carried by Nielsen transformations into a free basis \(\{y_1,y_2,\dots,y_r\}\), \(1\leq r\leq k\), and give explicitly the form of the first few of the \(y_1,y_2,\dots,y_r\). Their other main result states that if \(F=\langle a,b\rangle\) is free on \(a,b\) and the element \(a^\alpha b^\beta\), with \(\alpha,\beta\geq 2\), is a tame APE in \(F\), then \(\alpha=2\) or \(\beta=2\). The proofs are combinatorial. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0933.00033].