Deciding if the angle is zero inside free groups (Q5928496)

The angle between subgroups of a group was defined by Gersten and Stallings and used to investigate relation properties of finitely generated subgroups of free groups. If \(A\) and \(B\) are subgroups of a group \(G\), then the angle is defined via the generalized free product \(A*_{A\cap B}B\) amalgamating \(A\cap B\). The inclusions of \(A\) and \(B\) in \(G\) induce a homomorphism of \(A*_{A\cap B}B\) into \(G\), which is inclusion if restricted to \(A\cap B\). The angle is defined here to be \(0\) if the kernel \(K\) of this homomorphism is trivial and \(2\pi/N\) if the minimum alternating length of non-trivial elements of \(K\), as elements of \(A*_{A\cap B}B\), is \(N\). This paper deals with an algorithm to decide if the angle between two finitely generated subgroups of a free group is zero. This is equivalent to the following question: Is there an algorithm to determine, given two finitely generated subgroups \(A\), \(B\), of a finitely generated free group \(F\), whether or not the natural homomorphism \(A*_{A\cap B}B\to F\) is injective? One of the main results of this paper answers in the affirmative this question, namely: Let \(F\) be a free group with finite subsets \(X,Y\subset F\); let \(A=\langle X\rangle\), \(B=\langle Y\rangle\). There is an algorithm to determine whether or not the homomorphism \(A*_{A\cap B}B\to F\) is injective. Equivalently, there is an algorithm to determine whether or not the angle between \(A\) and \(B\) is zero. When the angle is non-zero, the algorithm immediately produces a number \(N\) such that the angle between \(A\) and \(B\) is greater than or equal to \(\pi/N\). The treatment is topological and graph theoretic, but there are also many examples illustrating special cases.