Related papers: Spheres and Projections for $\mathrm{Out}(F_n)$
We describe the outer automorphism group of a one-ended fundamental group of a graph of groups, when edge groups are cyclic, and vertex groups are torsion-free with cyclic centralizers. We show that in this case the outer automorphism group…
The group $\Out$ of outer automorphisms of the free group has been an object of active study for many years, yet its geometry is not well understood. Recently, effort has been focused on finding a hyperbolic complex on which $\Out$ acts, in…
We show that certain classes of graphs of free groups contain surface subgroups, including groups with positive $b_2$ obtained by doubling free groups along collections of subgroups, and groups obtained by "random" ascending HNN extensions…
We introduce the concept of a pants decomposition for a finitely generated free group and construct the corresponding pants graph. A pants decomposition of a free group leads to the formation of a simplicial graph, referred to as the pants…
The group of 2-by-2 matrices with integer entries and determinant $\pm > 1$ can be identified either with the group of outer automorphisms of a rank two free group or with the group of isotopy classes of homeomorphisms of a 2-dimensional…
Let f be a Z/2Z-spin structureon a closed surface S of genus g>3. We determine a generating set of the stabilizer of f in the mapping class group of S consisting of Dehn twists about an explicit collection of 2g+1 curves in S. If g=3 then…
Given a countable group $G$ splitting as a free product $G=G_1\ast\dots\ast G_k\ast F_N$, we establish classification results for subgroups of the group $Out(G,\mathcal{F})$ of all outer automorphisms of $G$ that preserve the conjugacy…
We give a short proof of a theorem of Handel and Mosher stating that any finitely generated subgroup of $\text{Out}(F_N)$ either contains a fully irreducible automorphism, or virtually fixes the conjugacy class of a proper free factor of…
Suppose $G$ is a free product $G = A_1 * A_2* \cdots * A_k * F_N$, where each of the groups $A_i$ is torsion-free and $F_N$ is a free group of rank $N$. Let $\mathcal{O}$ be the deformation space associated to this free product…
In this article, we study the outer automorphism group of a group G decomposed as a finite graph of group with finite edge groups and finitely generated vertex groups with at most one end. We show that Out(G) is essentially obtained by…
We consider smooth plane curves $\mathcal{X}$ of degree $d\geq4$, defined over an algebraically closed field of characteristic $0$, that possess a unique outer Galois point. This geometric condition forces the curve to be a cyclic covering…
This paper studies the rigidity properties of the abstract commensurator of the outer automorphism group of a universal Coxeter group of rank $n$, which is the free product $W_n$ of $n$ copies of $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$. We prove that for…
Given a free product $G$, we investigate the existence of faithful free representations of the outer automorphism group $\text{Out}(G)$, or in other words of embeddings of $\text{Out}(G)$ into $\text{Out}\left(F_m\right)$ for some $m$. This…
We study the existence of homomorphisms between Out(F_n) and Out(F_m) for n > 5 and m < n(n-1)/2, and conclude that if m is not equal to n then each such homomorphism factors through the finite group of order 2. In particular this provides…
We will survey the work on the topology of $Out(F_n)$ in the last 20 years or so. Much of the development is driven by the tantalizing analogy with mapping class groups. Unfortunately, $Out(F_n)$ is more complicated and less well-behaved.…
Given the algebra $T$ of ternions (upper triangular $2\times 2$ matrices) over a commutative field $F$ we consider as set of points of a projective line over $T$ the set of all free cyclic submodules of $T^2$. This set of points can be…
Let $S$ be a closed oriented surface and $G$ a finite group of orientation preserving automorphisms of $S$ whose orbit space has genus at least $2$. There is a natural group homomorphism from the $G$-centralizer in $Diff^+(S)$ to the…
We prove that any isometry of the graph of cyclic splittings of a finitely generated free group $F_N$ of rank $N\ge 3$ is induced by an outer automorphism of $F_N$. The same statement also applies to the graphs of maximally-cyclic…
We discuss the possibility of lifting finite subgroups, and in particular finite cyclic subgroups, with respect to the canonical projections between automorphism and outer automorphism groups of free groups, surface groups and their…
We study the cohomology of Aut(F_n) and Out(F_n) with coefficients in the modules \wedge^q H, \wedge H^*, Sym^q H or Sym^q H^*, where H is the Out(F_n)-module obtained by abelianising the free group F_n. For reasons which are not…