The simultaneous conjugacy problem in groups of piecewise linear functions.

Conjugacy classes for groups (20E45) Word problems, other decision problems, connections with logic and automata (group-theoretic aspects) (20F10) Dynamical systems involving maps of the interval (37E05)

Abstract: Guba and Sapir asked if the simultaneous conjugacy problem was solvable in Diagram Groups or, at least, for Thompson's group F. We give a solution to the latter question using elementary techniques which rely purely on the description of F as the group of piecewise linear orientation-preserving homeomorphisms of the unit interval. The techniques we develop extend the ones used by Brin and Squier allowing us to compute roots and centralizers as well. Moreover, these techniques can be generalized to solve the same question in larger groups of piecewise-linear homeomorphisms.

Review text

The ordinary conjugacy problem in groups asks if there is an algorithm that decides if two elements in the group are conjugate or not and determines the elements that conjugate one element to the other. The \(k\)-simultaneous conjugacy problem asks if there is an algorithm that determines if two ordered \(k\)-tuples in a group are simultaneously conjugate. An effective algorithm determines if the two ordered \(k\)-tuples are conjugate or not and, in the case of a positive answer, determines the conjugator element.NEWLINENEWLINE In the paper under review the authors answer the question of simultaneous conjugacy for Thompson's group \(F\). The algorithm that they provide finds all the conjugators. Actually, the authors work with more general groups than \(F\). They consider the group \(\mathrm{PL}_+(I)\) of the piecewise linear self-homeomorphisms of the unit interval with finitely many breakpoints and positive derivatives. Even more general, they study the subgroup \(\mathrm{PL}_{S,G}(J)\), where \(J\) is a closed subinterval of \(I\), \(S\) and an additive subgroup of \(\mathbb R\) containing \(1\), and \(G\) a subgroup of the multiplicative group \(\mathbb R^*\) that fixes \(S\) (under the multiplicative action). The subgroup consists of the restriction to \(J\) of the piecewise linear functions on \(I\), that fix the endpoints of \(J\), with breakpoints in \(S\) and slopes in \(G\). The requirement is a standard data structure \(M\) that allows us to decide the group and order structures of \(S\) and \(G\) and the action of \(G\) on \(S\). Furthermore \(M\) determines when elements are of the form \((g-1)s\), \(g\in G\), \(s\in S\) and solve certain basic congruence equations over the subgroup of \(S\) generated by those elements. Furthermore, in \(M\) we can solve or prove that there are no solutions to certain root equations over \(G\). For the conjugacy problem for two elements \(y\) and \(z\), first find an element \(g_*\) so that the elements \(g^{-1}_*yg_*\) and \(z\) have the same fixed point sets. This is done by generalizing the result that is already known for \(\mathrm{PL}_+(J)\). In the second step, the conjugacy problem is studied for two elements with the same fixed points. The problem is reduced to the subintervals determined by consecutive fixed points. The algorithm used is the stair algorithm. The third step is on the description of the centralizers of the elements because two different conjugators differ by an element in a centralizer. In the fourth step we combine all the above steps to study the \(k\)-simultaneous conjugacy problem. As corollaries, the authors deduce simple proofs on the structure of the centralizers of the elements in \(\mathrm{PL}_{S,G}(J)\) and \(F\). At the end, specific examples are given for some choices of \(S\) and \(G\).

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