English

Subgroup of interval exchanges generated by torsion elements and rotations

Dynamical Systems 2012-08-07 v1 Group Theory

Abstract

Denote by GG the group of interval exchange transformations (IETs) on the unit interval. Let GperGG_{per}\subset G be the subgroup generated by torsion elements in GG (periodic IETs), and let GrotGG_{rot}\subset G be the subset of 2-IETs (rotations). The elements of the subgroup G1=<Gper,Grot>GG_1=< G_{per},G_{rot}>\subset G (generated by the sets GperG_{per} and GrotG_{rot}) are characterized constructively in terms of their Sah-Arnoux-Fathi (SAF) invariant. The characterization implies that a non-rotation type 3-IET lies in G1G_1 if and only if the lengths of its exchanged intervals are linearly dependent over \Q\Q. In particular, G1GG_1\subsetneq G. The main tools used in the paper are the SAF invariant and a recent result by Y. Vorobets that GperG_{per} coincides with the commutator subgroup of GG.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1208.1023,
  title  = {Subgroup of interval exchanges generated by torsion elements and rotations},
  author = {Michael Boshernitzan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1208.1023},
  year   = {2012}
}

Comments

8 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T21:46:30.284Z