Embedding finitely presented self-similar groups into finitely presented simple groups (Q6994813)

In this paper, the author proves that every finitely presented self-similar group embeds into a finitely presented simple group, thus satisfying the conjecture by \textit{W. W. Boone} and \textit{G. Higman} [J. Aust. Math. Soc. 18, 41--53 (1974; Zbl 0303.20028)]. The main tool is the Röver-Nekrashevych group \(V_d(G)\) associated to a self-similar group \(G \leq \operatorname{Aut}(\mathcal{T}_d)\). When \(G\) is finitely presented and acts by finite-state automorphisms, \(V_d(G)\) is often finitely presented; however, its commutator subgroup \([V_d(G), V_d(G)]\) may not be. The author shows that by carefully modifying the self-similarity structure of \(G\), one can force \(V_d(G)\) to have finite abelianization, ensuring that \([V_d(G), V_d(G)]\) is finitely presented and simple.\N\NA general construction is also provided for building suitable self-similar groups from virtual endomorphisms, under properness and finite-state conditions. As an application, it is shown that every finitely generated subgroup of \(\mathrm{GL}_n(\mathbb{Q})\) embeds into a finitely presented simple group, thus solving the Boone-Higman conjecture for these linear groups.