Related papers: On several problems about automorphisms of the fre…

Let F_2 be a free group of rank 2. We prove that there is an algorithm that decides whether or not, for given two elements u, v of F_2, u and v are translation equivalent in F_2, that is, whether or not u and v have the property that the…

We show that the following problems are decidable in a rank 2 free group F_2: does a given finitely generated subgroup H contain primitive elements? and does H meet the orbit of a given word u under the action of G, the group of…

Let F_n be a free group of rank n>1. Two elements g, h in F_n are said to be translation equivalent in F_n if the cyclic length of \phi(g) equals the cyclic length of \phi(h) for every automorphism \phi of F_n. Let F(a, b) be the free group…

Let F_2 denote the free group of rank 2. Our main technical result of independent interest is: for any element u of F_2, there is g in F_2 such that no cyclically reduced image of u under an automorphism of F_2 contains g as a subword. We…

Let $F_n$ be the free group of a finite rank $n$. We study orbits $Orb_{\phi}(u)$, where $u$ is an element of the group $F_n$, under the action of an automorphism $\phi$. If an orbit like that is finite, we determine precisely what its…

Let $F$ be a free group of finite rank. We say that the monomorphism problem in $F$ is decidable if for any two elements $u$ and $v$ in $F$, there is an algorithm that determines whether there exists a monomorphism of $F$ that sends $u$ to…

A word in a free group is called ``potentially positive'' if it is automorphic to an element which is written with only positive exponents. We will develop automata to analyze properties of potentially positive words. We will use these to…

We discuss the following question of G. Makanin from ``Kourovka notebook'': does there exist an algorithm to determine is for an arbitrary pair of words $U$ and $V$ of a free group $F_n$ and an arbitrary automorphism $\phi \in Aut(F_n)$ the…

For any choice of a basis $\cal A$ the free group $F_N$ of finite rank $N \geq 2$ can be canonically identified with the set $F(\cal A)$ of reduced words in $\cal A\cup \cal A^{-1}$. However, such a word $w \in F(\cal A)$ admits a second…

Let $\phi$ be an automorphism of a free group $F_n$ of rank $n$, and let $M_{\phi}=F_n \rtimes_{\phi} \mathbb{Z}$ be the corresponding mapping torus of $\phi$. We study the group $Out(M_{\phi})$ under certain technical conditions on $\phi$.…

Let u be a cyclic word in a free group F_n of finite rank n that has the minimum length over all cyclic words in its automorphic orbit, and let N(u) be the cardinality of the set {v: |v|=|u| and v= \phi(u) for some \phi \in \text {Aut}F_n}.…

We show that the conjugacy problem is solvable in [finitely generated free]-by-cyclic groups, by using a result of O. Maslakova that one can algorithmically find generating sets for the fixed subgroups of free group automorphisms, and one…

We revisit the problem of deciding whether a finitely generated subgroup H is a free factor of a given free group F. Known algorithms solve this problem in time polynomial in the sum of the lengths of the generators of H and exponential in…

Let u be a cyclic word in a free group F_n of finite rank n that has the minimum length over all cyclic words in its automorphic orbit, and let N(u) be the cardinality of the set {v: |v|=|u| and v=\phi(u) for some \phi \in AutF_n}. In this…

We prove that, although it is undecidable if a subgroup fixed by an automorphism intersects nontrivially an arbitrary subgroup of $F_n\times F_m$, there is an algorithm that, taking as input a monomorphism and an endomorphism of $F_n\times…

Let F_n be the free group of rank n, with generating set S=\{x_1,...,x_n\}. An automorphism \phi of F_n is called symmetric if for each 1\leq i\leq n, \phi(x_i) is conjugate to x_j or x_j^{-1} for some 1\leq j\leq n. Let \Sigma Aut(F_n) be…

A concrete family of automorphisms alpha_n of the free group F_n is exhibited, for any n > 2, and the following properties are proved: alpha_n is irreducible with irreducible powers, has trivial fixed subgroup, and has 2n-1 attractive as…

Let F_m be a free group of a finite rank m > 1 and X_i, Y_j be elements in F_m. A non-empty word w(x_1,..., x_n) is called a C-test word in n letters for F_m if, whenever w(X_1,..., X_n)=w(Y_1,..., Y_n) not equal to 1, the two n-tuples…

We associate a finite directed graph with each equivalence class of words in $F_2$ under $\operatorname*{Aut} F_2$, and we completely classify these graphs, giving a structural classification of the automorphic conjugacy classes of $F_2$.…

Let $K$ be a field and $f:\mathbb{P}^N \to \mathbb{P}^N$ a morphism. There is a natural conjugation action on the space of such morphisms by elements of the projective linear group $\text{PGL}_{N+1}$. The group of automorphisms, or…