Rescuing the Whitehead method for free products. I: Peak reduction (Q792452)

For a free group F of finite rank J. H. C. Whitehead proved in 1936 a theorem which gives an algorithm which enables one to decide for any two given elements of F whether or not there is an automorphism of F that carries one element to the other. In the present paper the authors consider the analogous problem in a free product of a finite number of (freely indecomposable) groups. For a given free product G they define a set of generators \(\Omega\) for the automorphism group of G which plays the role of the set of Whitehead automorphisms for the free group. Despite the fact that \(\Omega\) is now an infinite set they can decide for a given cyclic word u whether there exists \(p\in \Omega\) such that up is shorter than u. They complete the procedure of deciding when two elements of G lie in the same automorphism class under the hypothesis that the factors of G which are not infinite cyclic are finite and deal with the general case in a subsequent paper [Part II, ibid. 186, 335-361 (1984)].