The Tits alternative for two-dimensional Artin groups and Wise's power alternative (Q6568820)

The Tits alternative was first introduced by \textit{J. Tits} [J. Algebra 20, 250--270 (1972; Zbl 0236.20032)] where he proved that a finitely generated subgroup of a linear group over a field either contains a non-abelian free group or is virtually solvable. This striking dichotomy has since been established for a large class of groups.\N\NThe first main result of this paper is Theorem A: Let \(A_{\Gamma}\) be a two-dimensional Artin group. Then every subgroup of \(A_{\Gamma}\) either contains a non-abelian free group or is virtually free abelian of rank at most \(2\).\N\NWhen in addition the associated Coxeter group is hyperbolic, the author answers in the affirmative a question of D. T. Wise on the subgroups generated by large powers of two elements. Theorem B: Two-dimensional Artin groups of hyperbolic type satisfy Wise's power alternative. That is given any two elements \(a\), \(b\) of a two-dimensional Artin group of hyperbolic type, there exists an integer \(n \geq 1\) such that \(a^{n}\) and \(b^{n}\) either commute or generate a non-abelian free subgroup.