Related papers: A Criterion For Kolchin Subgroups Of Out(Fr)
This is the second in a series of four papers (with research announcement posted on this arXiv) that together develop a decomposition theory for subgroups of Out(F_n). In this paper we relativize the "Kolchin-type theorem" from the work of…
We classify groups generated by powers of 2 Dehn twists which are 1) free or 2) have no ``unexpected'' reducible elements. We give some sufficient conditions in the case of groups generated by powers of more than two twists.
A criterion for quadratic or higher growth of group automorphisms is established which are represented by graph-of-groups automorphisms with certain well specified properties. As a consequence, it is derived (using results of a previous…
We study Dehn twists in the outer automorphism group of a finitely generated non-abelian free group. Our main result states that, under certain compatibility conditions, sufficiently large powers of finitely many Dehn twists generate a…
This paper, which is the last of a series of three papers, studies dynamical properties of elements of $\mathrm{Out}(F_{\tt n})$, the outer automorphism group of a nonabelian free group $F_{\tt n}$. We prove that, for every subgroup $H$ of…
Let Gamma be a group generated by two positive multi-twists. We give some sufficient conditions for Gamma to be free or have no `unexpectedly reducible' elements. For a group Gamma generated by two Dehn twists, we classify the elements in…
We study subgroups of the mapping class group of the torus generated by powers generated by powers of Dehn twists. We give a criterion to show when a collection of powers Dehn twists generates a free group using the ping pong lemma. We show…
By using a notion of a geometric Dehn twist in $\sharp_k(S^2 \times S^1)$, we prove that when projections of two $\mathbb{Z}$-splittings to the free factor complex are far enough from each other in the free factor complex, Dehn twist…
The proof of the Tits alternative for $Out(F_n)$ is completed. The main tool is a Kolchin type theorem, proved in this paper. It states that a finitely generated subgroup of $Out(F_n)$ consisting of unipotent automorphisms can be conjugated…
We give a bound for the exponents of powers of Dehn twists to generate a right-angled Artin group. Precisely, if $\mathcal{F}$ is a finite collection of pairwise distinct simple closed curves on a finite type surface and if $N$ denotes the…
For a nonorientable surface, the twist subgroup is an index 2 subgroup of the mapping class group. It is generated by Dehn twists about two-sided simple closed curves. In this paper, we study involution generators of the twist subgroup. We…
Group cohomology of polynomial growth is defined for any finitely generated discrete group, using cochains that have polynomial growth with respect to the word length function. We give a geometric condition that guarantees that it agrees…
We give a small generating set for the twist subgroup of the mapping class group of a non-orientable surface by Dehn twists. The difference between the number of the generators and a lower bound of numbers of generators for the twist…
On the one hand, it is well known that the only subquadratic Dehn function of finitely presented groups is the linear one. On the other hand there is a huge class of Dehn functions $d(n)$ with growth at least $n^4$ (essentially all possible…
Wajnryb proved that the mapping class group of an orientable surface is generated by two elements. We prove that one of these generators can be taken as a Dehn twist. We also prove that the extended mapping class group is generated by two…
By a theorem of Thurston, in the subgroup of the mapping class group generated by Dehn twists around two curves that fill, every element not conjugate to a power of one of the twist is pseudo-Anosov. We prove an analogue of this theorem for…
We study a notion of indecomposability in differential algebraic groups which is inspired by both model theory and differential algebra. After establishing some basic definitions and results, we prove an indecomposability theorem for…
Let $G$ be a (compact) special group in the sense of Haglund and Wise. We show that ${\rm Out}(G)$ is finitely generated, and provide a virtual generating set consisting of Dehn twists and ``pseudo-twists''. We exhibit instances where Dehn…
The main result of this paper is an algorithmic answer to the question raised in the title, up to replacing the given $\hat{\phi} \in Out(F_n)$ by a positive power. In order to provide this algorithm, it is shown that every polynomially…
In this note we investigate the centraliser of a linearly growing element of $\mathrm{Out}(F_n)$ (that is, a root of a Dehn twist automorphism), and show that it has a finite index subgroup mapping onto a direct product of certain…