Class-preserving automorphisms and inner automorphisms of certain tree products of groups. (Q661861)

An automorphism \(\alpha\) of a group \(G\) is called class-preserving if, for each \(g\in G\), \(\alpha(g)\) and \(g\) are conjugate in \(G\). A group is said to have Property~A if all its class-preserving automorphisms are inner. Non-trivial free products are known to have Property~A; however, examples here show that there are generalized free products of finite (or infinite) nilpotent groups that do not have Property~A. The paper's first main theorem provides a criterion under which a generalized free product has Property~A. This is used to give a short proof of the known result that tree products of groups, amalgamating central subgroups, have Property~A. It is also used to show that tree products of finitely generated nilpotent or free groups, amalgamating infinite cyclic subgroups, have Property~A; it follows that their outer automorphism groups are residually finite.