Torsion Subgroups of Groups with Quadratic Dehn Function

We construct and study finitely presented groups with quadratic Dehn function (QD-groups) and present the following applications of the method developed in our recent papers. (1) The isomorphism problem is undecidable in the class of QD-groups. (2) For every recursive function f , there is a QD-group G containing a finitely presented subgroup H whose Dehn function grows faster than f . (3) There exists a group with undecidable conjugacy problem but decidable power conjugacy problem; this group is QD.

We construct a finitely presented group with quadratic Dehn function and undecidable conjugacy problem. This solves Rips’ problem formulated in 1994.

We introduce a new invariant of bipartite chord diagrams and use it to construct the first examples of groups with Dehn function n2log n. Some of these groups have undecidable conjugacy problem. Our groups are multiple HNN extensions of free groups. We show that n2log n is the smallest Dehn function of a multiple HNN extension of a free group with undecidable conjugacy problem.

We give examples of CAT(0), biautomatic, free-by-cyclic, one-relator groups which have finite-rank free subgroups of huge (Ackermannian) distortion. This leads to elementary examples of groups whose Dehn functions are similarly extravagant. This behaviour originates in manifestations of Hercules-versus-the-hydra battles in string-rewriting.

Coherence, subgroup separability, and metacyclic structures for a class of cyclically presented groups

Writing certain commutators as products of cubes in free groups

We present a metric condition $\TTMetric$ which describes the geometry of classical small cancellation groups and applies also to other known classes of groups such as two-dimensional Artin groups. We prove that presentations satisfying condition $\TTMetric$ are diagrammatically reducible in the sense of Sieradski and Gersten. In particular, we deduce that the standard presentation of an Artin group is aspherical if and only if it is diagrammatically reducible. We show that, under some extra hypotheses, $\TTMetric$-groups have quadratic Dehn functions and solvable conjugacy problem. In the spirit of Greendlinger's lemma, we prove that if a presentation P = 〈X| R〉 of group G satisfies conditions $\TTMetric -C'(\frac {1}{2})$, the length of any nontrivial word in the free group generated by X representing the trivial element in G is at least that of the shortest relator. We also introduce a strict metric condition $\TTMetricStrict$, which implies hyperbolicity.

The simplest example of an infinite Burnside group arises in the class of automaton groups. However there is no known example of such a group generated by a reversible Mealy automaton. It has been proved that, for a connected automaton of size at most 3, or when the automaton is not bireversible, the generated group cannot be Burnside infinite. In this paper, we extend these results to automata with bigger stateset, proving that, if a connected reversible automaton has a prime number of states, it cannot generate an infinite Burnside group.

Systematization of dimensionless quantities by group theory

A group G is S-universal if every countable group can be embedded in a quotient of G.In this paper we give conditions under which HNN groups are S-universal.These are then applied to showing the S-universality of certain classes of Kleinian groups (discontinuous subgroups of PSL^C)).Finally some connections are mentioned between Sg-universality and the theory of ends.Introduction.A group G is So-universal if every countable group can be embedded in a quotient of G. Thus all nonabelian free groups are Suniversal [4], while it is known that all nontrivial free products except the infinite dihedral group [10], and large classes of amalgamated free products are also , [11].Sacerdote and Schupp have extended these to certain HNN and one-relator groups [9].In this paper we give a series of results which complement those of Sacerdote and Schupp but are somewhat less technical and more directly applicable to geometrically and arithmetically defined groups [2], [3].This will be applied in 3 to showing the S?-universality of a class of Kleinian groups.Finally we make some observations on the relationship between SG;-universality and the theory of ends.1. Recall that an HNN group is a group of the form G = </" ...,t",K; rel K, t^tr1 = <P,(A)>where {L,} are subgroups of K, and {<p,} are isomorphisms L, - <p,(jL,) < K. K is called the base, {L, <p(L)} associated subgroups and </" . .., i") the free part.Groups of this type were used by Higman, Neumann and Neumann to show the S-universality of free groups of rank 2 [4].The base K can be embedded isomorphically in G, and a subgroup structure theory for HNN groups, paralleling that for amalgamated free products, has been developedby Karrass and Solitar [5].Now G has a free quotient of rank n if the free part has rank n, and since clearly a group with an S-universal quotient is itself S-universal we getLemma.An HNN group with free part of rank > 1 is SQ-universal.

Several authors have studied the question of when the monoid ring \(DM\) of a monoid \(M\) over a ring \(D\) is a right and/or left fir (free ideal ring), a semifir, or a \(2\)-fir (definitions recalled in §1). It is known that for \(M\) nontrivial, a necessary condition for any of these properties to hold is that \(D\) be a division ring. Under that assumption, necessary and sufficient conditions on \(M\) are known for \(DM\) to be a right or left fir, and various conditions on \(M\) have been proved necessary or sufficient for \(DM\) to be a \(2\)-fir or semifir. A sufficient condition for \(DM\) to be a semifir is that \(M\) be a direct limit of monoids which are free products of free monoids and free groups. Warren Dicks has conjectured that this is also necessary. However F. Cedó has given an example of a monoid \(M\) which is not such a direct limit, but satisfies all the known necessary conditions for \(DM\) to be a semifir. It is an open question whether for this \(M,\) the rings \(DM\) are semifirs. We note here some reformulations of the known necessary conditions for a monoid ring \(DM\) to be a \(2\)-fir or a semifir, motivate Cedó’s construction and a variant thereof, and recover Cedó’s results for both constructions. Any homomorphism from a monoid \(M\) into \(\mathbb {Z}\) induces a \(\mathbb {Z}\)-grading on \(DM,\) and we show that for the two monoids just mentioned, the rings \(DM\) are “homogeneous semifirs” with respect to all such nontrivial \(\mathbb {Z}\)-gradings; i.e., have (roughly) the property that every finitely generated homogeneous one-sided ideal is free of unique rank. If \(M\) is a monoid such that \(DM\) is an \(n\)-fir, and \(N\) a “well-behaved” submonoid of \(M,\) we prove some properties of the ring \(DN.\) Using these, we show that for \(M\) a monoid such that \(DM\) is a \(2\)-fir, mutual commutativity is an equivalence relation on nonidentity elements of \(M,\) and each equivalence class, together with the identity element, is a directed union of infinite cyclic groups or of infinite cyclic monoids. Several open questions are noted.

Groups are often described as quotient groups of free groups: G ≅F(X)/N, where F(X) is a free group with basis X and N is the normal subgroup generated by a set R in F(X). Usually, this will then be written as G = , where R ⊂ X+ is a set of so-called relators, standing for the defining relations {r = 1∣r ∈ R}, where 1 is the neutral element of G. All defining relations can be presented in this form, since the relation u = υ can obviously be transformed into uυ-1 = 1. For a more detailed exposition and for group theory notation as used here and in Chap. 5 see [188, 193]. For example is a presentation of the infinite cyclic group ℤ, which we will write or just for short.

Introduction. In [7] and [8] we have determined the isomorphisms of the endomorphism rings of two special classes of torsion-free modules. In [7] the modules were free, over principal left ideal domains, and the isomorpnism was always induced by a semi-linear transformation of the modules. In [8] the ring of scalars was a complete discrete valuation ring, but no further restriction was placed on the modules. Except for the special case when both modules are divisible, the same result holds as in [7]. In each case a key point in the argument is that a certain indecomposable direct summand can be shown to be cyclic. Even for ordinary torsion-free abelian groups, the abundance of the indecomposable ones makes it impossible to prove that isomorphism of the endomorphism rings implies isomorphism of the underlying groups. We show first that for any cardinal number c, there exist homogeneous completely decomposable groups G and H of rank c which are not isomorphic, but have isomorphic rings of endomorphisms. This makes it clear that strong restrictions must be placed on the class of groups considered if it is hoped that the ring isomorphism is to be induced by a group isomorphism. In particular, homogeneity coupled with separability or complete decomposability is not sufficient. We are, however, able to generalize the results of [7] to a class of what we call locally free modules A over principal left ideal domains F. A locally free abelian group (F is the ring of integers) is just a homogeneous separable group of null type [6, p. 208]. This latter class of groups includes the complete direct sum of infinite cyclic groups, as well as all its subgroups [4, p. 176]. For example, the set of all bounded sequences of integers is such a group. We also determine (Theorem B) which semi-linear transformations induce the same ring isomorphisms. The results are similar to the vector space case considered in [2], and apply to the endomorphism rings of locally free modules as well as the torsion-free modules of [8].

The purpose of this paper is to study the following two questions.(1) When does the group algebra of a soluble group have infinite dimensional irreducible modules?(2) When is the group algebra of a torsion free soluble group primitive?In relation to the first question, Roseblade [13] has proved that if G is a polycyclic group and k an absolute field then all irreducible kG-modules are finite dimensional. Here we prove a converse.

This paper continues the examination of the structure of pseudocomplemented distributive lattices. First, the Congruence Extension Property is proved. This is then applied to examine properties of the equational classes B n , − 1 ≦ n ≦ ω {\mathcal {B}_n}, - 1 \leqq n \leqq \omega , which is a complete list of all the equational classes of pseudocomplemented distributive lattices (see Part I). The standard semigroups (i.e., the semigroup generated by the operators H, S, and P) are described. The Amalgamation Property is shown to hold iff n ≦ 2 n \leqq 2 or n = ω n = \omega . For 3 ≦ n &gt; ω , B n 3 \leqq n &gt; \omega ,{\mathcal {B}_n} does not satisfy the Amalgamation Property; the deviation is measured by a class Amal ( B n ) ( ⊆ B n ) ({\mathcal {B}_n})( \subseteq {\mathcal {B}_n}) . The finite algebras in Amal ( B n ) ({\mathcal {B}_n}) are determined.