Related papers: Constructing presentations of subgroups of right-a…

Let $\Gamma$ be a finite graph and let $A(\Gamma)$ be the corresponding right-angled Artin group. From an arbitrary basis $\mathcal B$ of $H^1(A(\Gamma),\mathbb F)$ over an arbitrary field, we construct a natural graph $\Gamma_{\mathcal B}$…

The main results in this thesis deal with the representation growth of certain classes of groups. In chapter $1$ we present the required preliminary theory. In chapter $2$ we introduce the Congruence Subgroup Problem for an algebraic group…

We propose the systematic study of presentations that can be generalised over a continuous open group monomorphism. Presentations with this property can turn well-known presentations such as those for as orientable surface groups, Artin…

According to the Tits conjecture proved by Crisp and Paris, [CP], the subgroups of the braid group generated by proper powers of the Artin elements are presented by the commutators of generators which are powers of commuting elements. Hence…

We study fixed subgroups of automorphisms of any large-type Artin group $A_{\Gamma}$. We define a natural subgroup $\mathrm{Aut}_\Gamma(A_\Gamma)$ of $\mathrm{Aut}(A_{\Gamma})$, and for every $\gamma \in \mathrm{Aut}_\Gamma(A_\Gamma)$ we…

Direct powers of perfect groups admit more concise presentations than one might naively suppose. If $H_1G=H_2G=0$, then $G^n$ has a presentation with $O(\log n)$ generators and $O(\log n)^3$ relators. If, in addition, there is an element…

We prove that if a right-angled Artin group $A_\Gamma$ is abstractly commensurable to a group splitting non-trivially as an amalgam or HNN-extension over $\mathbb{Z}^n$, then $A_\Gamma$ must itself split non-trivially over $\mathbb{Z}^k$…

Bestvina-Brady groups arise as kernels of length homomorphisms from right-angled Artin groups G_\G to the integers. Under some connectivity assumptions on the flag complex \Delta_\G, we compute several algebraic invariants of such a group…

Let $Q_m$ be the HNN extension of $\Z/m \times \Z/m$ where the stable letter conjugates the first factor to the second. We explore small presentations of the groups $\Gamma_{m,n}=Q_m \ast Q_n$. We show that for certain choices of (m,n), for…

Let $N$ be a closed nonorientable surface with or without marked points. In this paper we prove that, for every finite full subgraph $\Gamma$ of $\mathcal{C}^{\mathrm{two}}(N)$, the right-angled Artin group on $\Gamma$ can be embedded in…

In this thesis we investigate the Dehn functions of two different classes of groups: subdirect products, in particular subdirect products of limit groups; and Bestvina-Brady groups. Let D = \Gamma_1 \times ... \times \Gamma_n be a direct…

This paper focuses on tools for constructing 4-manifolds that have fundamental group $G$ isomorphic to a right-angled Artin group and that are also minimal, in the sense that they minimize $b_2(M)$, the dimension of $H_2(M;\mathbb{Q})$. For…

We discuss the decomposability of torsion-free abelian groups. We show that among computable groups of finite rank this property is $\Sigma^0_3$-complete. However, when we consider groups of infinite rank, it becomes $\Sigma^1_1$-complete,…

In this note, we characterise when the kernel of a rational character of a right-anlged Artin group, also known as generalised Bestiva-Brady group, is finitely generated and finitely presented. In these cases, we exhibit a finite generating…

Every finitely generated self-similar group naturally produces an infinite sequence of finite $d$-regular graphs $\Gamma_n$. We construct self-similar groups, whose graphs $\Gamma_n$ can be represented as an iterated zig-zag product and…

Let K be a 2-dimensional finite flag complex. We study the CAT(0) dimension of the `Bestvina-Brady group', or `Artin kernel', Gamma_K. We show that Gamma_K has CAT(0) dimension 3 unless K admits a piecewise Euclidean metric of non-positive…

We prove three results about the graph product $G=\G(\Gamma;G_v, v \in V(\Gamma))$ of groups $G_v$ over a graph $\Gamma$. The first result generalises a result of Servatius, Droms and Servatius, proved by them for right-angled Artin groups;…

Fix a finite group $G$. We study the computational complexity of counting problems of the following flavor: given a group $\Gamma$, count the number of homomorphisms $\Gamma \to G$. Our first result establishes that this problem is…

Many important results in extremal graph theory can be roughly summarised as "if a triangle-free graph $G$ has certain properties, then it has a homomorphism to a triangle-free graph $\Gamma$ of bounded size". For example, bounds on…

Guralnick, Kantor, Kassabov and Lubotzky (J. Eur. Math. Soc. 13.2, 2011, 391-458) [GKKL] give 3-generator 7-relator presentations of $A_n$ and $S_n$ with bit-length $O(\log n)$ for $n\geq5$. This is the best possible bit-length, since…