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Martin R. Bridson

Publications and source records attributed to Martin R. Bridson.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2023

Weak commutativity, virtually nilpotent groups, and Dehn functions

The group $\mathfrak{X}(G)$ is obtained from $G\ast G$ by forcing each element $g$ in the first free factor to commute with the copy of $g$ in the second free factor. We make significant additions to the list of properties that the functor $\mathfrak{X}$ is known to preserve. We also investigate the geometry and complexity of the word problem for $\mathfrak{X}(G)$. Subtle features of $\mathfrak{X}$ are encoded in a normal abelian subgroup $W<\mathfrak{X}(G)$ that is a module over $\mathbb{Z} Q$, where $Q= H_1(G,\mathbb{Z})$. We establish a structural result for this module and illustrate its utility by proving that $\mathfrak{X}$ preserves virtual nilpotence, the Engel condition, and growth type -- polynomial, exponential, or intermediate. We also use it to establish isoperimetric inequalities for $\mathfrak{X}(G)$ when $G$ lies in a class that includes Thompson's group $F$ and all non-fibered Kähler groups. The word problem is solvable in $\mathfrak{X}(G)$ if and only if it is solvable in $G$. The Dehn function of $\mathfrak{X}(G)$ is bounded below by a cubic polynomial if $G$ maps onto a non-abelian free group.

math.GR↗
arXiv2023

Profinite isomorphisms and fixed-point properties

We describe a flexible construction that produces triples of finitely generated, residually finite groups $M\hookrightarrow P \hookrightarrow Γ$, where the maps induce isomorphisms of profinite completions $\widehat{M}\cong\widehat{P}\cong\widehatΓ$, but $M$ and $Γ$ have Serre's property FA while $P$ does not. In this construction, $P$ is finitely presented and $Γ$ is of type ${\rm{F}}_\infty$. More generally, given any positive integer $d$, one can demand that $M$ and $Γ$ have a fixed point whenever they act by semisimple isometries on a complete CAT$(0)$ space of dimension at most $d$, while $P$ acts without a fixed point on a tree.

math.GR↗
arXiv2022

Direct products of free groups in ${\rm{Aut}}(F_N)$

We give a complete description of the embeddings of direct products of nonabelian free groups into ${\rm{Aut}}(F_N)$ and ${\rm{Out}}(F_N)$ when the number of direct factors is maximal. To achieve this, we prove that the image of each such embedding has a canonical fixed point of a particular type in the boundary of Outer space.

math.GR↗
arXiv2022

Binary Subgroups of Direct Products

We explore an elementary construction that produces finitely presented groups with diverse homological finiteness properties -- the {\em binary subgroups}, $B(Σ,μ)<G_1\times\dots\times G_m$. These full subdirect products require strikingly few generators. If each $G_i$ is finitely presented, $B(Σ,μ)$ is finitely presented. When the $G_i$ are non-abelian limit groups (e.g. free or surface groups), the $B(Σ,μ)$ provide new examples of finitely presented, residually-free groups that do not have finite classifying spaces and are not of Stallings-Bieri type. These examples settle a question of Minasyan relating different notions of rank for residually-free groups. Using binary subgroups, we prove that if $G_1,\dots,G_m$ are perfect groups, each requiring at most $r$ generators, then $G_1\times\dots\times G_m$ requires at most $r \lfloor \log_2 m+1 \rfloor$ generators.

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arXiv2021

Profinite rigidity, Kleinian groups, and the cofinite Hopf property

Let $Γ$ be a non-elementary Kleinian group and $H<Γ$ a finitely generated, proper subgroup. We prove that if $Γ$ has finite co-volume, then the profinite completions of $H$ and $Γ$ are not isomorphic. If $H$ has finite index in $Γ$, then there is a finite group onto which $H$ maps but $Γ$ does not. These results streamline the existing proofs that there exist full-sized groups that are profinitely rigid in the absolute sense. They build on a circleof ideas that can be used to distinguish among the profinite completions of subgroups of finite index in other contexts, e.g. limit groups. We construct new examples of profinitely rigid groups, including the fundamental group of the hyperbolic $3$-manifold ${\rm{Vol}}(3)$ and of the $4$-fold cyclic branched cover of the figure-eight knot. We also prove that if a lattice in ${\rm{PSL}}(2,\mathbb{C})$ is profinitely rigid, then so is its normalizer in ${\rm{PSL}}(2,\mathbb{C})$.

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arXiv2021

Leighton's Theorem: extensions, limitations, and quasitrees

Leighton's Theorem states that if there is a tree $T$ that covers two finite graphs $G_1$ and $G_2$, then there is a finite graph $\hat G$ that is covered by $T$ and covers both $G_1$ and $G_2$. We prove that this result does not extend to regular covers by graphs other than trees. Nor does it extend to non-regular covers by a quasitree, even if the automorphism group of the quasitree contains a uniform lattice. But it does extend to regular coverings by quasitrees.

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arXiv2018

Kodaira fibrations, Kähler groups, and finiteness properties

We construct classes of Kähler groups that do not have finite classifying spaces and are not commensurable to subdirect products of surface groups. Each of these groups is the fundamental group of the generic fibre of a holomorphic map from a product of Kodaira fibrations onto an elliptic curve.

math.GT↗
arXiv2017

Algorithms determining finite simple images of finitely presented groups

We address the question: for which collections of finite simple groups does there exist an algorithm that determines the images of an arbitrary finitely presented group that lie in the collection? We prove both positive and negative results. For a collection of finite simple groups that contains infinitely many alternating groups, or contains classical groups of unbounded dimensions, we prove that there is no such algorithm. On the other hand, for families of simple groups of Lie type of bounded rank, we obtain positive results. For example, given any fixed untwisted Lie type $X$ there is an algorithm that determines whether or not an arbitrary finitely presented group has infinitely many simple images isomorphic to $X(q)$ for some $q$, and if there are finitely many, the algorithm determines them.

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arXiv2017

Profinite rigidity and surface bundles over the circle

If $M$ is a compact 3-manifold whose first betti number is 1, and $N$ is a compact 3-manifold such that $π_1N$ and $π_1M$ have the same finite quotients, then $M$ fibres over the circle if and only if $N$ does. We prove that groups of the form $F_2\rtimes\mathbb{Z}$ are distinguished from one another by their profinite completions. Thus, regardless of betti number, if $M$ and $N$ are punctured torus bundles over the circle and $M$ is not homeomorphic to $N$, then there is a finite group $G$ such that one of $π_1M$ and $π_1N$ maps onto $G$ and the other does not.

math.GR↗
arXiv2017

On the recognition problem for virtually special cube complexes

We address the question of whether the property of being virtually special (in the sense of Haglund and Wise) is algorithmically decidable for finite, non-positively curved cube complexes. Our main theorem shows that it cannot be decided locally, i.e. by examining one hyperplane at a time. Specifically, we prove that there does not exist an algorithm that, given a compact non-positively squared 2-complex X and a hyperplane H in X can decide whether or not there is a finite-sheeted cover of X in which no lift of H self-osculates.

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arXiv2017

Undecidability and the developability of permutoids and rigid pseudogroups

A permutoid is a set of partial permutations that contains the identity and is such that partial compositions, when defined, have at most one extension in the set. In 2004 Peter Cameron conjectured that there can exist no algorithm that determines whether or not a finite permutoid based on a finite set can be completed to a finite permutation group, and he related this problem to the study of groups that have no non-trivial finite quotients. This note explains how our recent work on the profinite triviality problem for finitely presented groups can be used to prove Cameron's conjecture. We also prove that the existence problem for finite developments of rigid pseudogroups is unsolvable.

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arXiv2015

The complexity of balanced presentations and the Andrews-Curtis conjecture

Motivated by problems in topology, we explore the complexity of balanced group presentations. We obtain large lower bounds on the complexity of Andrews-Curtis trivialisations, beginning in rank 4. Our results are based on a new understanding of how Dehn functions of groups behave under certain kinds of push-outs. We consider groups $S$ with presentations of deficiency 1 satisfying certain technical conditions and construct balanced group presentations $¶_w$ indexed by words $w$ in the generators of $S$. If $w=1$ in $S$ then $¶_w$ is Andrews-Curtis trivialisable and the number of Andrews-Curtis moves required to trivialise it can be bounded above and below in terms of how hard it is to prove that $w=1$ in $S$.

math.GR↗
arXiv2015

Determining Fuchsian groups by their finite quotients

Let $\C(Γ)$ be the set of isomorphism classes of the finite groups that are homomorphic images of $Γ$. We investigate the extent to which $\C(Γ)$ determines $Γ$ when $Γ$ is a group of geometric interest. If $Γ_1$ is a lattice in ${\rm{PSL}}(2,\R)$ and $Γ_2$ is a lattice in any connected Lie group, then $\C(Γ_1) = \C(Γ_2)$ implies that $Γ_1$ is isomorphic to $Γ_2$. If $F$ is a free group and $Γ$ is a right-angled Artin group or a residually free group (with one extra condition), then $\C(F)=\C(Γ)$ implies that $F\congΓ$. If $Γ_1<{\rm{PSL}}(2,\Bbb C)$ and $Γ_2< G$ are non-uniform arithmetic lattices, where $G$ is a semi-simple Lie group with trivial centre and no compact factors, then $\C(Γ_1)= \C(Γ_2)$ implies that $G \cong {\rm{PSL}}(2,\Bbb C)$ and that $Γ_2$ belongs to one of finitely many commensurability classes. These results are proved using the theory of profinite groups; we do not exhibit explicit finite quotients that distinguish among the groups in question. But in the special case of two non-isomorphic triangle groups, we give an explicit description of finite quotients that distinguish between them.

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arXiv2015

The triviality problem for profinite completions

We prove that there is no algorithm that can determine whether or not a finitely presented group has a non-trivial finite quotient; indeed, this remains undecidable among the fundamental groups of compact, non-positively curved square complexes. We deduce that many other properties of groups are undecidable. For hyperbolic groups, there cannot exist algorithms to determine largeness, the existence of a linear representation with infinite image (over any infinite field), or the rank of the profinite completion.

math.GR↗
arXiv2015

Nilpotent completions of groups, Grothendieck pairs, and four problems of Baumslag

Two groups are said to have the same nilpotent genus if they have the same nilpotent quotients. We answer four questions of Baumslag concerning nilpotent completions. (i) There exists a pair of finitely generated, residually torsion-free-nilpotent groups of the same nilpotent genus such that one is finitely presented and the other is not. (ii) There exists a pair of finitely presented, residually torsion-free-nilpotent groups of the same nilpotent genus such that one has a solvable conjugacy problem and the other does not. (iii) There exists a pair of finitely generated, residually torsion-free-nilpotent groups of the same nilpotent genus such that one has finitely generated second homology $H_2(-,\Z)$ and the other does not. (iv) A non-trivial normal subgroup of infinite index in a finitely generated parafree group cannot be finitely generated. In proving this last result, we establish that the first $L^2$ betti number of a finitely generated parafree group of rank $r$ is $r-1$. It follows that the reduced $C^*$-algebra of the group is simple if $r\ge 2$, and that a version of the Freiheitssatz holds for parafree groups.

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arXiv2014

The virtual first Betti number of soluble groups

We show that if a group G is finitely presented and nilpotent-by-abelian-by-finite, then there is an upper bound on the first betti number of M as M runs through all subgroups of finite index in G.

math.GR↗
arXiv2014

The isomorphism problem for profinite completions of residually finite groups

We consider pairs of finitely presented, residually finite groups $u:P\hookrightarrow Γ$. We prove that there is no algorithm that, given an arbitrary such pair, can determine whether or not the associated map of profinite completions $\hat{u}: \widehat{P} \to \widehatΓ$ is an isomorphism. Nor do there exist algorithms that can decide whether $\hat{u}$ is surjective, or whether $\widehat{P}$ is isomorphic to $\widehatΓ$.

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