Related papers: Semi-free subgroups of a profinite surface group
We prove that the class of closed subgroups of free profinite monoids is precisely the class of projective profinite groups. In particular, the profinite groups associated to minimal symbolic dynamical systems by Almeida are projective. Our…
We present examples of closed subsets of a free group such that their product is not closed in the profinite topology. We discuss how to characterize a subset of a free group which is closed in the profinite topology and its product with…
We prove that there exist finitely presented, residually finite groups that are profinitely rigid in the class of all finitely presented groups but not in the class of all finitely generated groups. These groups are of the form $\Gamma…
We construct the first example of a finitely-presented, residually-finite group that contains an infinite sequence of non-isomorphic finitely-presented subgroups such that each of the inclusion maps induces an isomorphism of profinite…
Let $S$ be either a free group or the fundamental group of a closed hyperbolic surface. We show that if $G$ is a finitely generated residually-$p$ group with the same pro-$p$ completion as $S$, then two-generated subgroups of $G$ are free.…
We obtain some general restrictions on the continuous endomorphisms of a profinite group G under the assumption that G has only finitely many open subgroups of each index (an assumption which automatically holds, for instance, if G is…
The set of all closed subgroups of a profinite carries a natural profinite topology. This space of subgroups can be classified up to homeomorphism in many cases, and tight bounds placed on its complexity as expressed by its scattered…
Using graph-theoretic techniques for f.g. subgroups of $F^{\mathbb{Z}[t]}$ we provide a criterion for a f.g. subgroup of a f.g. fully residually free group to be of finite index. Moreover, we show that this criterion can be checked…
We address two questions of Simon Thomas. First, we show that for any n>2 one can find a four generated free subgroup of SLn(Z) which is profinitely dense. More generally, we show that an arithmetic group \Gamma which admits the congruence…
We give a description of finitely generated prosoluble subgroups of the profinite completion of $3$-manifold groups and virtually compact special groups.
For profinite branch groups, we first demonstrate the equivalence of the Bergman property, uncountable cofinality, Cayley boundedness, the countable index property, and the condition that every non-trivial normal subgroup is open; compact…
For a formation $\mathfrak{F}$ of finite groups, tight connections are established between the pro-$\mathfrak{F}$-topology of a finitely generated free group $F$ and the geometry of the Cayley graph $\Gamma(\hat{F_{\mathfrak{F}}})$ of the…
Surface groups are determined among limit groups by their profinite completions. As a corollary, the set of surface words in a free group is closed in the profinite topology.
Can one detect free products of groups via their profinite completions? We answer positively among virtually free groups. More precisely, we prove that a subgroup of a finitely generated virtually free group $G$ is a free factor if and only…
In this two part work we prove that for every finitely generated subgroup $\Gamma < \text{Out}(F_n)$, either $\Gamma$ is virtually abelian or $H^2_b(\Gamma;\mathbb{R})$ contains an embedding of $\ell^1$. The method uses actions on…
We initiate the study of profinite groups of non-negative deficiency. The principal focus of the paper is to show that the existence of a finitely generated normal subgroup of infinite index in a profinite group $G$ of non-negative…
A free-by-cyclic group $F_N\rtimes_\phi\mathbb{Z}$ has non-trivial centre if and only if $[\phi]$ has finite order in ${\rm{Out}}(F_N)$. We establish a profinite ridigity result for such groups: if $\Gamma_1$ is a free-by-cyclic group with…
Examples are given of profinite groups that are not strongly complete, and have other `bad' properties, yet have only finitely many open subgroups of each finite index. It is shown that a profinite group with the latter property must be…
Let $G$ be the semidirect product $\Gamma \rtimes F_2$ where $\Gamma$ is either the free group $F_n$, $n > 1$ or the fundamental group $S_g$ of a closed surface of genus $g > 1$. We prove that $G$ is incoherent, solving two problems posed…
We present a construction that yields infinite families of non-isomorphic semidirect products $N \rtimes F_m$ sharing a specified profinite completion. Within each family, $m \ge 2$ is constant and $N$ is a fixed group. For $m=2$ we can…