Invariable generation of certain branch groups (Q6971078)

A group \(G\) is \textit{invariably generated (IG)} if \(G\) has a subset \(S\) such that for any choice of elements \(g_s \in G\), where \(s \in S\), the set \(\{g_s^{-1} s g_s \mid s \in S\}\) generates \(G\). If \(G\) has finite subset \(S\) with this property, then \(G\) is said to be \textit{finitely invariably generated (FIG)}. Invariable generation originally arose with the question of determining when the Galois group of a polynomial in \(\mathbb{Z}[X]\) is the full symmetric group [\textit{J. D. Dixon}, Discrete Math. 105, No. 1--3, 25--39 (1992; Zbl 0756.60010)].\N\NThe authors investigate invariable generation among key examples of branch groups. They first prove Proposition 2.1, which applies to all their examples but one: Let \(\mathcal{MN}\) be the class of groups for which every maximal subgroup is normal. Let \(G\) be a group where every proper subgroup lies in a maximal subgroup (e.g., \(G\) is finitely generated). Then \(G \in \mathcal{MN}\) if and only if every generating subset of \(G\) generates \(G\) invariably. (Proposition 2.1 generalizes Proposition 2.4 of [\textit{W. M. Kantor} et al., J. Algebra 348, No. 1, 302--314 (2011; Zbl 1248.20036)] which is stated for a finite nilpotent group \(G\).)\N\NIn Theorem 1.1.(1), the authors observe that the torsion Grigorchuk groups, the torsion and the branch Grigorchuk-Gupta-Sidki groups (GGS groups), the torsion multi-EGS groups (EGS groups stand for extended Gupta-Sidki groups) and the non-torsion Šuniḱ groups that act on the binary rooted tree, are all known to be in \(\mathcal{MN}\). They infer from Proposition 2.1 that every such group is invariably generated by any of its generating sets. In particular, every such group is FIG.\N\NIn addition, the authors use \textit{ad hoc} arguments to prove the following three results (Theorem 1.1, assertions (2) to (4)): If \(G\) is the first Grigorchuk group or a torsion GGS-group, then every finitely generated subgroup of \(G\) is FIG. If \(G\) is a torsion multi-EGS groups, then every finite-index subgroup of \(G\) is FIG. If \(G\) is a non-torsion Šuniḱ group that acts on the binary rooted tree, then \(G\) is FIG but \(G \notin \mathcal{MN}\).\N\NThe paper also contains results on the generating graphs of the \(2\)-generated groups in \(\mathcal{MN}\) (Theorem 4.4 and Corollary 4.5).\N\NThe paper is a pleasant read. It mentions several stimulating open questions, among which the question as to whether every branch group is IG.