English

Nielsen equivalence in small cancellation groups

Group Theory 2015-03-17 v3 Geometric Topology

Abstract

Let GG be a group given by the presentation [<a_1,...,a_k,b_1,... b_k\,| a_i=u_i(\bar b), b_i=v_i(\bar a) \hbox{for} 1\le i\le k>,] where k2k\ge 2 and where the uiF(b1,...,bk)u_i\in F(b_1,..., b_k) and wiF(a1,...,ak)w_i\in F(a_1,..., a_k) are random words. Generically such a group is a small cancellation group and it is clear that (a1,...,ak)(a_1,...,a_k) and (b1,...,bk)(b_1,...,b_k) are generating nn-tuples for GG. We prove that for generic choices of u1,...,uku_1,..., u_k and v1,...,vkv_1,..., v_k the "once-stabilized" tuples (a1,...,ak,1)(a_1,..., a_k,1) and (b1,...,bk,1)(b_1,...,b_k,1) are not Nielsen equivalent in GG. This provides a counter-example for a Wiegold-type conjecture in the setting of word-hyperbolic groups. We conjecture that in the above construction at least kk stabilizations are needed to make the tuples (a1,...,ak)(a_1,..., a_k) and (b1,...,bk)(b_1,...,b_k) Nielsen equivalent.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1011.5862,
  title  = {Nielsen equivalence in small cancellation groups},
  author = {Ilya Kapovich and Richard Weidmann},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1011.5862},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

revised version; 31 pages, 16 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-21T16:49:32.142Z