Related papers: On the genericity of Whitehead minimality

We show how to count and randomly generate finitely generated subgroups of the modular group $\textsf{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$ of a given isomorphism type. We also prove that almost malnormality and non-parabolicity are negligible properties for…

We introduce a combinatorial characterization of simpliciality for arrangements of hyperplanes. We then give a sharp upper bound for the number of hyperplanes of such an arrangement in the projective plane over a finite field, and present…

Dixon's famous theorem states that the group generated by two random permutations of a finite set is generically either the whole symmetric group or the alternating group. In the context of random generation of finite groups this means that…

We provide an elementary proof that subgroups of free groups are free via group actions.

In this paper, we study algorithmic problems for automaton semigroups and automaton groups related to freeness and finiteness. In the course of this study, we also exhibit some connections between the algebraic structure of automaton…

A group has normal rank (or weight) greater than one if no single element normally generates the group. The Wiegold problem from 1976 asks about the existence of a finitely generated perfect group of normal rank greater than one. We show…

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…

A group is SimpHAtic if it acts geometrically on a simply connected simplicially hereditarily aspherical (SimpHAtic) complex. We show that finitely presented normal subgroups of the SimpHAtic groups are either: finite, or of finite index,…

We prove the decidability of the elementary theory of a free group.

Let $W,W'\subseteq G$ be nonempty subsets in an arbitrary group $G$. The set $W'$ is said to be a complement to $W$ if $WW'=G$ and it is minimal if no proper subset of $W'$ is a complement to $W$. We show that, if $W$ is finite then every…

We investigate the average-case complexity of decision problems for finitely generated groups, in particular the word and membership problems. Using our recent results on ``generic-case complexity'' we show that if a finitely generated…

One of the better-known independence results in general mathematics is Shelah's solution to Whitehead's problem of whether $\mathrm{Ext}^1(A,\mathbb{Z})=0$ implies that an abelian group $A$ is free. The point of departure for the present…

The commuting probability of a finite group is defined to be the probability that two randomly chosen group elements commute. Let P \subset (0,1] be the set of commuting probabilities of all finite groups. We prove that every point of P is…

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…

For a group acting on a hyperbolic space, we set up an algorithm in the group algebra showing that ideals generated by few elements are free, where few is a function of the minimal displacement of the action, and derive algebraic,…

For a commutative finite $\mathbb{Z}$-algebra, i.e., for a commutative ring $R$ whose additive group is finitely generated, it is known that the group of units of $R$ is finitely generated, as well. Our main results are algorithms to…

It is a well-known open problem since the 1970s whether a finitely generated perfect group can be normally generated by a single element or not. We prove that the topological version of this problem has an affirmative answer as long as we…

We consider the subgroup of points of finite orbit through the action of an endomorphism of a virtually free group, with particular emphasis on the subgroup of eventually fixed points, EvFix($\varphi$): points whose orbit contains a fixed…

We establish a general criterion for the finite presentability of subdirect products of groups and use this to characterize finitely presented residually free groups. We prove that, for all $n\in\mathbb{N}$, a residually free group is of…

The paper describes the algebraic structure of the graded algebra of differentially homogeneous polynomials of fixed finite order. We show that it is a finitely generated algebra, and we exhibit a minimal set of generators. Along the way,…