Related papers: Rigidity of the Torelli subgroup in $Out(F_N)$

A theorem of Farb and Handel asserts that for $N\ge 4$, the natural inclusion from $\mathrm{Out}(F_N)$ into its abstract commensurator is an isomorphism. We give a new proof of their result, which enables us to generalize it to the case…

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…

We show that for any subgroup $H$ of Out($F_N$), either $H$ contains an atoroidal element or a finite index subgroup $H'$ of $H$ fixes a nontrivial conjugacy class in $F_N$. This result is an analog of Ivanov's subgroup theorem for mapping…

Let $\Out(F_n)$ denote the outer automorphism group of the free group $F_n$ with $n>3$. We prove that for any finite index subgroup $\Gamma<\Out(F_n)$, the group $\Aut(\Gamma)$ is isomorphic to the normalizer of $\Gamma$ in $\Out(F_n)$. We…

For all but finitely many compact orientable surfaces, we show that any superinjective map from the complex of separating curves into itself is induced by an element of the extended mapping class group. We apply this result to proving that…

Let K be the subgroup of the extended mapping class group, Mod(S), generated by Dehn twists about separating curves. Assuming that S is a closed, orientable surface of genus at least 4, we confirm a conjecture of Farb that Comm(K), Aut(K)…

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…

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 prove that for every $N\ge 3$, the group $\mathrm{Out}(F_N)$ of outer automorphisms of a free group of rank $N$ is superrigid from the point of view of measure equivalence: any countable group that is measure equivalent to…

Let $N \geq 2$ and let $\mathrm{Out}(F_N)$ be the outer automorphism group of a nonabelian free group of rank $N$. Let $\mathrm{IA}_N(\mathbb{Z}/3\mathbb{Z})$ be the finite index subgroup of $\mathrm{Out}(F_N)$ which is the kernel of the…

A graphs of rank n (homotopy equivalent to a wedge of n circles) without ``separating edges'' has a canonical n-dimensional compact C^1 manifold thickening. This implies that the canonical homomorphism f:Out(F_n)-> GL(n,Z) is trivial in…

We show that if H is a cocommutative Hopf algebra, then there is a natural action of Aut(F_n) on the nth tensor power of H which induces an Out(F_n) action on a quotient \overline{H^{\otimes n}}. In the case when H=T(V) is the tensor…

Let $G=G_1 \ast \ldots \ast G_k \ast F_N$ be a free product of finitely presented groups, where $F_N$ is a free group of rank $N \in \mathbb{N}$. Let $\mathrm{Out}(G,\mathcal{G})$ be the subgroup of $\mathrm{Out}(G)$ preserving the set of…

For any subgroup H of Out(F_n), either H has a finite index subgroup that fixes the conjugacy class of some proper, nontrivial free factor of F_n, or H contains a fully irreducible element phi, meaning that no positive power of phi fixes…

Infinite presentations are given for all of the higher Torelli groups of once-punctured surfaces. In the case of the classical Torelli group, a finite presentation of the corresponding groupoid is also given, and finite presentations of the…

We prove a rigidity result for cocycles from higher rank lattices to $\mathrm{Out}(F_N)$ and more generally to the outer automorphism group of a torsion-free hyperbolic group. More precisely, let $G$ be either a product of connected higher…

This is the fourth and last in a series of four papers (with research announcement posted on this arXiv) that develop a decomposition theory for subgroups of $\text{Out}(F_n)$. In this paper we develop general ping-pong techniques for the…

It is well-known that a point $T\in cv_N$ in the (unprojectivized) Culler-Vogtmann Outer space $cv_N$ is uniquely determined by its \emph{translation length function} $||.||_T:F_N\to\mathbb R$. A subset $S$ of a free group $F_N$ is called…

This is the third in a series of four papers (with research announcement posted on this arXiv) that develop a decomposition theory for subgroups of $\text{Out}(F_n)$. In this paper, given an outer automorphism of $F_n$ and an…

We explore the existence of homomorphisms between outer automorphism groups of free groups Out(F_n) \to Out(F_m). We prove that if n > 8 is even and n \neq m \leq 2n, or n is odd and n \neq m \leq 2n - 2, then all such homomorphisms have…