On the mod-\(p\) cohomology of \(\text{Out}(F_{2(p-1)})\). (Q847681)

The authors study the mod \(p\) cohomology of the outer automorphism group \(\text{Out}(F_n)\) of the free group \(F_n\) of rank \(n\). The integer cohomology of \(\text{Out}(F_3)\) has been computed by \textit{T. Brady} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 87, No. 2, 123-167 (1993; Zbl 0798.20042)], and there are also several papers on the Farrell cohomology of \(\text{Out}(F_n)\) but only for cases where the \(p\)-rank of \(\text{Out}(F_n)\) is one (i.e., the maximal rank \(k\) of an elementary Abelian \(p\)-subgroup \((Z/p)^k\), equal to \([n/(p-1)]\) for \(\text{Out}(F_n)\)). In the present paper, the mod \(p\) cohomology of \(\text{Out}(F_n)\) is computed for the first case \(n=2(p-1)\) of \(p\)-rank two. The computation for \(\text{Out}(F_4)\) (i.e., \(p=3\)) is explicit, at least above the virtual cohomological dimension \(2n-3=5\) of \(\text{Out}(F_4)\), in terms of the cohomology of certain finite subgroups of \(\text{Out}(F_4)\). For \(p>3\) instead, a recursive description is given in terms of the cohomology of automorphism groups of free groups of lower rank, taking advantage also of the computation of the cohomology of the closely related automorphism groups \(\Aut (F_{2(p-1)})\) due to \textit{C. A. Jensen} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 158, No. 1, 41-81 (2001; Zbl 0977.20042)]. Specifically, for \(p=3\) the equivariant cohomology of the \(p\)-singular part of outer space is computed; since the analysis of the \(p\)-singular part becomes difficult in higher dimensions, for \(p>3\) instead the \(\text{Out}(F_{2(p-1)})\)-equivariant cohomology of the poset of elementary Abelian \(p\)-subgroups is considered.