A recursive presentation for Mihailova's subgroup. (Q990726)

Let \(n\geq 2\) and let \(F_n\) be the free group with basis \(\{x_1,\dots,x_n\}\) and let \(H=\langle x_1,\dots,x_n\mid R_1,\dots,R_m\rangle\) be a quotient of \(F_n\). The Mihailova subgroup of \(F_n\times F_n\) is the group \(M(H)=\{(w_1,w_2)\in F_n\times F_n\mid w_1=_Hw_2\}\leq F_n\times F_n\). Motivated, in part, by a question of R. I. Grigorchuk the authors look for recursive presentations of \(M(H)\) in terms of the original presentation for \(H\). The main theorem addresses the cases where the above presentation for \(H\) is finite, concise (that is, each \(R_i\) is non-trivial and no \(R_i\) is conjugate to \(R_j^{\pm 1}\) for any \(j\neq i\)) and is Peiffer aspherical (or combinatorially aspherical), giving an explicit recursive presentation for \(M(H)\) with finitely many generators and a one-parametric family of relations. The second theorem, a corollary of the main theorem, relates to the conjugacy problem for extensions of groups. For a group \(F\), a subgroup \(A\) of \(\Aut(F)\) is said to be `orbit decidable' if and only if there exists an algorithm that, given \(u,v\in F\), decides if \(v\) is conjugate to \(\alpha(u)\) for some \(\alpha\in A\). The authors and \textit{A. Martino} [in Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 362, No. 4, 2003-2036 (2010; Zbl 1234.20043)] ask if there exists a finitely presented orbit undecidable subgroup of \(\Aut(F_n)\) for \(n\geq 3\) (the answer being negative for \(n=2\)). As a step towards answering this question the authors apply the main theorem to prove that there exists a finitely generated (and not finitely presented) orbit undecidable subgroup of \(\Aut(F_3)\).