English

The Diophantine problem in the Baumslag-Gersten group

Group Theory 2026-07-27 v1

Abstract

We show that, for every positive prime number pp, the Baumslag-Gersten group Gp=a,t(tat1)a(tat1)1=apG_p = \langle a, t \mid (tat^{-1}) a(tat^{-1})^{-1} = a^p \rangle has an undecidable Diophantine problem. This gives the first known examples of one-relator groups with undecidable Diophantine problems. Furthermore we apply this to show that the one-relator group GpZG_p \ast \mathbb{Z} has an undecidable single equation problem.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.24189,
  title  = {The Diophantine problem in the Baumslag-Gersten group},
  author = {Robert D. Gray and Alex Levine},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.24189},
  year   = {2026}
}

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16 pages