``Easy'' representations and the QSF property for groups (Q690845)

The authors consider so--called \textit{easily representable} finitely presented groups. Consider a group \(\Gamma\) with a finite generating set \(S\) and a finite set of relators \(R\). One takes a handlebody \(H\) of genus \(g=|S|\). Loops on \(H\) representing the relations are chosen, which can be assumed to be simple without loss of generality. Then, one attaches handles of index two along these loops in order to obtain a singular \(3\)--manifold \(M\). The authors study \textit{inverse representations} for \(\Gamma\), which are maps from a \(2\)--complex \(X\) to the universal cover of \(M\), satisfying certain technical topological properties. If the set of double points of such a representation is closed then the representation is called \textit{easy}. The main theorem of the paper is that a group admitting such an easy representation is quasi--simply filtered. The authors conjecture that all finitely presented groups admit easy representations. They assert that Gromov hyperbolic groups admit easy representations, and that all \(3\)--manifold groups admit easy representations (though they do not provide a proof or reference for this latter claim).