Related papers: Two-generator subgroups of the pure braid group
J.H.C. Whitehead's second free-group algorithm determines whether or not two given elements of a free group lie in the same orbit of the automorphism group of the free group. The algorithm involves certain connected graphs, and Whitehead…
This article is an exposition of certain connections between the braid groups, classical homotopy groups of the 2-sphere, as well as Lie algebras attached to the descending central series of pure braid groups arising as Vassiliev invariants…
This work is the first step towards a description of the Gromov boundary of the free factor graph of a free product, with applications to subgroup classification for outer automorphisms. We extend the theory of algebraic laminations dual to…
The purpose of this article is to describe connections between the loop space of the 2-sphere, Artin's braid groups, a choice of simplicial group whose homotopy groups are given by modules called Lie(n), as well as work of Milnor, and…
We examine the Moore complex of the Delta-group structure related to the pure braid groups and introduced by Berrick, Cohen, Wong, and Wu. We prove that the cycle and the boundary groups are invariant under all automorphisms of the pure…
We show that, for any number of components, the group of braids up to link-homotopy is torsion-free. This generalizes a result of Humphries up to six components, and provides an explicit solution to a question posed by Lin and addressed by…
Let T be a d-regular tree (d > 2) and A=Aut(T), its automorphism group. Let G be a group generated by n independent Haar-random elements of A. We show that almost surely, every nontrivial element of G has finitely many fixed points on T.
In his seminal paper on complex reflection arrangements, Bessis introduces a Garside structure for the braid group of a well-generated irreducible complex reflection group. Using this Garside structure, he establishes a strong connection…
We provide an elementary proof that subgroups of free groups are free via group actions.
This is the second part of a series of three articles which introduce laminations for free groups (see math.GR/0609416 for the first part). Several definition of the dual lamination of a very small action of a free group on an $\R$-tree are…
It is well known that every finite simple group can be generated by two elements and this leads to a wide range of problems that have been the focus of intensive research in recent years. In this survey article we discuss some of the…
We provide an explicit construction that allows one to easily decompose a graph braid group as a graph of groups. This allows us to compute the braid groups of a wide range of graphs, as well as providing two general criteria for a graph…
It is shown that particles with braid group statistics (Plektons) in three-dimensional space-time cannot be free, in a quite elementary sense: They must exhibit elastic two-particle scattering into every solid angle, and at every energy.…
Using suitable deformations of simplicial trees and the duality theory for median sets, we show that every free action on a median set can be extended to a free and transitive one. We also prove that the category of median groups is a…
An elementary proof that certain pairs of $2\times 2$ matrices with nonnegative real coordinates generate free monoids.
The group of planar (or flat) pure braids on $n$ strands, also known as the pure twin group, is the fundamental group of the configuration space $F_{n,3}(\mathbb{R})$ of $n$ labelled points in $\mathbb{R}$ no three of which coincide. The…
We study geometric presentations of braid groups for particles that are constrained to move on a graph, i.e. a network consisting of nodes and edges. Our proposed set of generators consists of exchanges of pairs of particles on junctions of…
A beautifully simple free generating set for the commutator subgroup of a free group was constructed by Tomaszewski. We give a new geometric proof of his theorem, and show how to give a similar free generating set for the commutator…
We give an easily checkable algebraic condition which implies that two elements of a finitely generated free group are members of distinct doubly-twisted conjugacy classes with respect to a pair of homomorphisms. We further show that this…
It is known that the Burau representation of the 4-strand braid group is faithful if and only if certain matrices f and k generate a (non-abelian) free group. Regarding f and k as isometries of a euclidean building we show that f^3 and k^3…