The lower central and derived series of the braid groups of the projective plane. (Q716450)

A natural generalization of the Artin braid groups \(B_n\) of the plane \(\mathbb E^2\) on arbitrary topological space was made by \textit{R. Fox} and \textit{L. Neuwirth} [Math. Scand. 10, 119-126 (1962; Zbl 0117.41101)]. The braid groups of compact, connected surfaces have been widely studied and finite presentations were obtained. In this paper the authors study the lower central and derived series of the braid groups \(B_n(\mathbb RP^2)\) of the real projective plane \(\mathbb RP^2\). These groups have non-trivial center and torsion elements for all \(n\geq 1\). If \(n=1\) then \(B_1(\mathbb RP^2)\simeq\mathbb Z_2\). If \(n=2\) then \(B_2(\mathbb RP^2)\simeq\mathcal Q_{16}\), the generalized quaternion group of order 16 [\textit{J. van Buskirk}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 122, 81-97 (1966; Zbl 0138.19103)]. Therefore the lower central and derived series in these cases are known. For \(n\geq 3\) it is proved here that all the terms of the lower central series of \(B_n(\mathbb RP^2)\) coincide (\(\gamma_m(B_n(\mathbb RP^2))=\gamma_2(B_n(\mathbb RP^2))\) for \(m\geq 2\)). Moreover, a presentation of \(\gamma_2(B_n(\mathbb RP^2))\) is given for all \(n\geq 3\). In the case where \(n=3\) it is proved that \(\gamma_2(B_3(\mathbb RP^2))\) is isomorphic to the semidirect product \((\mathbb F_3\rtimes\mathcal Q_8)\rtimes\mathbb Z\), where \(\mathbb F_k\) is the free group of rank \(k\) and \(\mathcal Q_8\) is the quaternion group of order 8. As for the derived series of \(B_n(\mathbb RP^2)\), it is proved that: {\parindent=6mm\begin{itemize}\item[---] For \(n\geq 5\) all the terms coincide (\((B_n(\mathbb RP^2))^{(m)}=(B_n(\mathbb RP^2))^{(1)}=\gamma_2(B_n(\mathbb RP^2))\) for \(m\geq 2\)).\item[---] For \(n=3\) the subgroups \((B_3(\mathbb RP^2))^{(m)}\) are completely determined for \(m=1\), \(2\), \(3\) and it is proved that \((B_3(\mathbb RP^2))^{(m)}\simeq(\mathbb F_9)^{m-3}\) for \(m\geq 4\).\item[---] For \(n=4\) the derived series of \(B_4(\mathbb RP^2)\) and its quotients up to \((B_4(\mathbb RP^2))^{(4)}\) are analyzed.\item[---] For \(m\geq 4\) it is proved that \((B_4(\mathbb RP^2))^{(m)}\simeq(\mathbb F_{129}\rtimes\mathbb F_{17})^{m-4}\). \end{itemize}} From the result above it is derived that \(B_n(\mathbb RP^2)\) is residually nilpotent if and only if \(n<3\) and residually soluble if \(n<4\), but the case \(n=4\) is still open. The proofs are extensive and complicated and in some points it is difficult to ``keep the thread''. This paper is embodied in a long list of articles of the authors devoted to the study of braid groups \(B_n(\mathbb M)\) of some compact, connected surfaces \(\mathbb M\).