English

Automorphisms of Bestvina-Brady Groups: IA Rigidity, Arithmetic Commensurability, and Finiteness

Group Theory 2026-07-25 v1

Abstract

Let HΓH_\Gamma be the Bestvina-Brady group associated to a finite connected graph Γ\Gamma. For a biconnected defining graph, we prove two structure theorems. First, restriction induces an isomorphism IAut(AΓ)IAut(HΓ)\mathrm{IAut}(A_\Gamma)\cong \mathrm{IAut}(H_\Gamma) compatible with the Andreadakis-Johnson filtrations. Second, the quadratic and cubic lower-central relation spaces, together with the separator arrangement detected by the Bieri-Neumann-Strebel invariant, determine a rational associative algebra CΓ\mathscr{C}_\Gamma. Every integral rank-one square-zero element of this algebra is realized by an automorphism of HΓH_\Gamma, and the subgroup generated by these roots has finite index both in the cohomological image of Aut(HΓ)\mathrm{Aut}(H_\Gamma) and in the unit group of an integral order in CΓ\mathscr{C}_\Gamma. For an arbitrary connected graph, the graph-block decomposition gives the Grushko decomposition of HΓH_\Gamma. Relative free-product automorphism theory then implies that Aut(HΓ)\mathrm{Aut}(H_\Gamma) and Out(HΓ)\mathrm{Out}(H_\Gamma) are finitely generated and satisfy the Tits alternative relative to virtually polycyclic groups. We prove that Aut(HΓ)\mathrm{Aut}(H_\Gamma) is finitely presented if and only if Out(HΓ)\mathrm{Out}(H_\Gamma) is finitely presented. This equivalence fails for higher finiteness properties without additional hypotheses: for Γm=CmK3\Gamma_m=C_m\vee K_3 with m5m\geq 5, Out(HΓm)\mathrm{Out}(H_{\Gamma_m}) is of type FF_\infty, whereas Aut(HΓm)\mathrm{Aut}(H_{\Gamma_m}) is of type F3F_3 but not F4F_4. We also construct a type-FF_\infty Bestvina-Brady group whose automorphism and outer automorphism groups are finitely generated but not finitely presented, and show that HCnH_{C_n} is not finitely presented for n5n\geq 5, whereas Out(HCn)\mathrm{Out}(H_{C_n}) is virtually infinite cyclic.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.23380,
  title  = {Automorphisms of Bestvina-Brady Groups: IA Rigidity, Arithmetic Commensurability, and Finiteness},
  author = {Jialin Lei},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.23380},
  year   = {2026}
}

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