Virtually geometric words and Whitehead's algorithm.

DOI10.4310/MRL.2010.V17.N5.A9MaRDI QIDQ2275744zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Jason Fox Manning

Publication date 9 August 2011

Published in Mathematical Research Letters (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/0904.0724

zbMATH Keywords

conjugacy classes in free groupsgeometric presentationsWhitehead graphs

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Free nonabelian groups (20E05) Free products of groups, free products with amalgamation, Higman-Neumann-Neumann extensions, and generalizations (20E06) Conjugacy classes for groups (20E45) Generators, relations, and presentations of groups (20F05) Geometric group theory (20F65) Topological methods in group theory (57M07)

Abstract: Motivated by a question of Gordon and Wilton, we consider the question of which collections of words are "virtually geometric". In particular, we prove that some words (e.g. bbaaccabc) are not virtually geometric.

Review text

Let \(F_n\) be the free group of rank \(n\), \(\underline w=\{[w_1],\dots,[w_r]\}\) a collection of conjugacy classes in \(F_n\). If \(H\) is a 3-dimensional handlebody of genus \(n\), any homomorphism \(\varphi\colon F_n\to\pi_1(X)\) induces a map \(\varphi_{\underline w}\colon\coprod_{i=1}^rS_i^1\to H\), which sends the circle \(S^1_i\) to a loop in \(H\) freely homotopic to the element \(\varphi(w_i)\). The collection \(\underline w\) of conjugacy classes is called `geometric' if for any isomorphism \(\varphi\colon F_n\to\pi_1(X)\) the induced map \(\varphi_{\underline w}\) is homotopic in \(H\) to an embedding \(\varphi_{\underline w}'\colon\coprod_{i=1}^rS_i^1\to\partial H\). For the collection \(\underline w=\{[w_1],\dots,[w_r]\}\) of conjugacy classes in the free group \(F_n\) and for a finite index subgroup \(K\leq F_n\) are defined the `lifts' of \(\underline w\) to be the following set of \(K\)-conjugacy classes: \(\underline w_K=\{[gw^{n(g)}g^{-1}]\mid g\in F,\;w\in \underline w\), and \(n(g)\in\mathbb Z_{>0}\) minimal so that \(gw^{n(g)}g^{-1}\in K\}\). The collection \(\underline w\) is `virtually geometric' if \(\underline w_K\) is geometric for the finite index subgroup \(K\leq F_n\). In [J. Lond. Math. Soc., II. Ser. 82, No. 1, 17-31 (2010; Zbl 1205.20049)], \textit{C. Gordon} and \textit{H. Wilton} asked the following: Question. Let \(F\) be a free group of rank \(n\geq 2\). Is \(\{[w]\}\) virtually geometric for every \(w\in F\)? In the paper under consideration the author gives conditions under which a collection \(\underline w\) of conjugacy classes in the free group \(F_n\) is not virtually geometric (Theorem 4.1 in the paper). As a corollary it is proved that the word \(w=bbaaccabc\in F_3=\langle a,b,c\rangle\) is not virtually geometric.

Recommendations

• Virtual geometricity is rare
• A characterisation of virtually free groups.
• Clusters, Currents, and Whitehead's Algorithm
• A Whitehead algorithm for surface groups
• A Whitehead algorithm for toral relatively hyperbolic groups.

Cited in

(14)

• Measure free factors of free groups.
• Hyperbolic surface subgroups of one-ended doubles of free groups.
• Virtual geometricity is rare
• A geometric proof of the structure theorem for cyclic splittings of free groups
• Geometricity and polygonality in free groups.
• Certaines Relations D'Équivalence Sur L'Ensemble Des Bouts D'Un Groupe Libre
• One-ended subgroups of graphs of free groups with cyclic edge groups.
• Essential surfaces in graph pairs
• Uniform negative immersions and the coherence of one-relator groups
• Line patterns in free groups.
• Nonpositive towers in Bing's neighborhood
• Bounded projections to the \(\mathcal{Z} \)-factor graph
• Rational curvature invariants for 2-complexes
• Immersed cycles and the JSJ decomposition

This page was built for publication: Virtually geometric words and Whitehead's algorithm.

Report a bug (only for logged in users!)Click here to report a bug for this page (MaRDI item Q2275744)