No label defined (Q4952571)

Let \(A*B\) denote the free product of two groups \(A\) and \(B\). The author proves that some groups do not have quotient groups of the form \(A*B\) with \(|A|\geq 2\) and \(|B|\geq 2\). These groups include the linear groups \(\text{GL}(n,\mathbb{Z})\) (\(n\geq 2\)), \(\text{PGL}(n,\mathbb{Z})\) (\(n\geq 2\)), \(\text{SL}(n,\mathbb{Z})\) (\(n\geq 3\)), \(\text{PSL}(n,\mathbb{Z})\) (\(n\geq 3\)), and the braid groups \(B(n)\) (\(n\geq 5\)). Moreover, if \(A*B\) with \(|A|\geq|B|\geq 2\) is a homomorphic image of \(B(4)\), \(B(3)\), \(\text{SL}(2,\mathbb{Z})\), or \(\text{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})\), then \(|A|=3\) and \(|B|=2\). For the entire collection see [Zbl 0919.00012].