Intersection-saturated groups without free subgroups (Q6924848)

In the 1950s, \textit{A. G. Howson} [J. Lond. Math. Soc. 29, 428--434 (1954, Zbl 0056.02106)] proved that the intersection of two finitely generated subgroups of a free group is again finitely generated and he provided a bound for the rank of this intersection. A group is said to have the Howson property if the intersection of any two finitely generated subgroups is finitely generated. \textit{B. Baumslag} [J. Lond. Math. Soc. 41, 673--679 (1966, Zbl 0145.02402)] proved that the free product of groups satisfying the Howson property also satisfies the Howson property. However, the analogous result does not hold for direct products.\N\NFor example, let \(F_2=\langle x,y\rangle\) be the free group of rank \(2\). Let \(Z=\langle t\rangle\) be an infinite cyclic group and \(G=F_2\times Z\). Define the subgroups \(H=\langle x,y\rangle\) and \(L=\langle tx,y\rangle\). Then the intersection\N\[\NH\cap L=\langle x^{-k}yx^k\mid\ k\in\mathbb{Z}\rangle\N\]\Nis not finitely generated.\N\NA group \(G\) is called intersection-saturated if for every \(n\in\mathbb{N}\) and every family \(\mathcal{F}\subseteq 2^{[n]}\) there exist subgroups \(H_1,\ldots,H_n\) of \(G\) such that for every non-empty \(I\subseteq [n]\), the intersection \(\cap_{i\in I}H_i\) is finitely generated if and only if \(I\in\mathcal F\). This notion was introduced by [\textit{J. Delgado} et al., Proc. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh Sect. A, 154, 1552--1582(2024, Zbl 1552.20127)]. There, the authors constructed examples of intersection-saturated groups, all of which contain a subgroup isomorphic to \(F_{2}\times\mathbb{Z}^{m}\) for some \(m\in\mathbb{N}\) and they asked whether there exists a finitely presented intersection-saturated group that does not contain such a subgroup.\N\NThe reviewed paper proposes a new method for constructing intersection-saturated groups, based on the following theorem.\N\NTheorem A. Let, for each integer \(n \geq 1\), a finitely generated group \(K_n\) and an automorphism \(f_n\in \operatorname{Aut}(K_n)\) be chosen such that the subgroup of fixed points of \(f_n\) is not finitely generated. If a group \(G\) contains, for every \(n\), a subgroup isomorphic to \(K_n^n\), then \(G\) is intersection-saturated.\N\NUsing this criterion, several new examples of intersection-saturated groups have been obtained, including Thompson's group and the Grigorchuk group. These examples allow one to prove the existence of finitely presented intersection-saturated groups without non-abelian free subgroups, as well as finitely presented amenable intersection-saturated groups.