Orbit problems for free-abelian times free groups and related families (Q6877130)

The Brinkmann problem \(\mathsf{BrP}\) for a group \(G\) and a family \(T \subseteq \mathrm{End}(G)\) asks, given an endomorphism \(\varphi \in T\) and two elements \(x,y \in G\), whether there exists an integer \(k \ge 0\) such that \((x)\varphi^{k}=y\) [\textit{P. Brinkmann}, J. Algebra 324, No. 5, 1083--1097 (2010; Zbl 1209.20023)]. Its conjugacy variant (\(\mathsf{BrCP}\)) replaces equality by conjugacy in \(G\), asking whether \((x)\varphi^{k}\) and \(y\) are conjugate for some \(k \ge 0\). The two-sided versions ask whether there exist integers \(r,s \ge 0\) such that \(x\varphi^{r}=y\varphi^{s}\), or that \(x\varphi^{r}\) and \(y\varphi^{s}\) are conjugate in \(G\).\N\NIn the paper under review, the authors study algorithmic orbit problems for free-abelian times free groups \(F_n \times \mathbb Z^m\), focusing on the Brinkmann problem and its conjugacy and two-sided variants for endomorphisms and monomorphisms of these groups.\N\NAfter recalling the classification of endomorphisms of \(F_n \times \mathbb Z^m\) into type I and type II maps (Proposition~1.1) and describing explicitly their composition and powers (Propositions 1.4, 1.6 and 1.7), the authors address the decidability of the Brinkmann problem. Theorem 2.7 proves that the Brinkmann problem \(\mathsf{BrP}_E(F_n \times \mathbb Z^m)\) is decidable for arbitrary endomorphisms, combining known results for free and free-abelian groups with the explicit description of powers of type II endomorphisms.\N\NThe paper then studies the Brinkmann Conjugacy Problem. Theorem~2.9 establishes the decidability of \(\mathsf{BrCP}_E(F_n \times \mathbb Z^m)\) by separating the analysis into the cases of type~I and type~II endomorphisms and reducing the problem to decidable instances of orbit problems for free or free-abelian groups. In Section~3, the twisted conjugacy problem is considered and Theorem~3.6 shows that \(\mathrm{TCP}_E(F_n \times \mathbb Z^m)\) is decidable.