Fast Nielsen-Thurston classification of braids.

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Publication:2453736



Abstract: We prove the existence of an algorithm which solves the reducibility problem in braid groups and runs in quadratic time with respect to the braid length for any fixed braid index.


The paper provides an algorithm to decide when a braid is either reducible, periodic or pseudo-Anosov. The result relies on many previous works which also involve algorithms; notoriously the work by \textit{J. González-Meneses} and \textit{B. Wiest} [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 11, No. 5, 2971-3010 (2011; Zbl 1252.20035)]. The main result is the algorithm given as follows: Theorem 1. Let \(n\) be a positive integer. There exists an algorithm which decides the Nielsen-Thurston type of any braid \(x\) with \(n\) strands and runs in time \(O(|x|^2)\). The explicit description of the algorithm, which is provided in 4 steps, is too technical to be described here. Nevertheless a main step of the algorithm relies in the following relevant result which is Theorem 12. There exists a constant \(C(n)\) (depending only on \(n\)) such that for any pseudo-Anosov \(n\)-strand braid \(x\in SSS(x)\), the following holds: \(x\) has a rigid conjugate if and only if \(s^{C(n).|x|}(x)\) is rigid. As pointed out by the author, the algorithm rests on a linear bound, which is not explicitly known. Therefore the main result is an existence result.



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