Generalized torsion elements in the fundamental groups of 3-manifolds obtained by 0-surgeries along some double twist knots (Q6177064)

The double twist knot \(K_{p,q}\) is the \(2\)-bridge knot with Conway's notation \(C[2p,2q]\). For example, \(K_{1,1}\) is the figure eight knot and \(K_{1,-1}\) is the right handed trefoil. When \(pq<0\), the knot group of \(K_{p,q}\) is known to be non-bi-orderable. That is, the group does not admit a total ordering which is invariant under multiplication from left and right. An element is a group is called a generalized torsion element if some non-empty finite product of its conjugates yields the identity. This is a natural extension of usual torsion elements. It is known that the existence of generalized torsion element in a group is an obstruction against the existence of bi-ordering. The paper under review first proves that the fundamental group of \(0\)-surgery on \(K_{p,q}\) contains a generalized torsion element if \(pq<0\). This implies that the fundamental group is not bi-orderable. Also, for any pair of non-zero integers \((p,q)\), it is shown that the fundamental group of \(0\)-surgery on \(K_{p,q}\) is bi-orderable if and only if it does not admit a generalized torsion element. The analogous statement is expected to hold for any \(3\)-manifold group in [\textit{K. Motegi} and \textit{M. Teragaito}, Can. Math. Bull. 60, No. 4, 830--844 (2017; Zbl 1390.57005)]. Thus the result gives a new supporting evidence of this conjecture.