Related papers: Commutator length of powers in free products of gr…
Given a free product of groups $G = {\large *}_{j \in J} A_j$ and a natural number $n$, what is the minimal possible commutator length of an element $g^n \in G$ not conjugate to elements of the free factors? We give an exhaustive answer to…
The commutator length $cl_G(g)$ of an element $g \in [G,G]$ in the commutator subgroup of a group $G$ is the least number of commutators needed to express $g$ as their product. If $G$ is a non-abelian free groups, then given an integer $n…
Each element of the commutator subgroup of a group can be represented as a product of commutators. The minimal number of factors in such a product is called the commutator length of the element. The commutator length of a group is defined…
An element $x$ of a group $G$ is a commutator if it can be expressed in the form $x = a^{-1}b^{-1}ab$ for some $a, b \in G$. In 2010 MacHale posed the following problem in the Kourovka notebook: does there exist a finite group $G$, with…
Let $F$ be a free group. We present for arbitrary $g\in\mathbb{N}$ a LogSpace (and thus polynomial time) algorithm that determines whether a given $w\in F$ is a product of at most $g$ commutators; and more generally an algorithm that…
It is well known that a nontrivial commutator in a free group is never a proper power. We prove a theorem that generalizes this fact and has several worthwhile corollaries. For example, an equation $[ x_1, y_1] \ldots [ x_k, y_k] = z^n$,…
The ways in which a nontrivial commutator can be a proper power in a free product of groups are identified.
We give an algorithm to compute stable commutator length in free products of cyclic groups which is polynomial time in the length of the input, the number of factors, and the orders of the finite factors. We also describe some experimental…
We give an upper and lower estimate for the maximal commutator length of a noncentral element of the elementary subgroup of the general linear group over a skew-field based on the maximal commutator length of an element of the…
For the free group $F_r$ on $r>1$ generators (respectively, the free product $G_1 * G_2$ of two nontrivial finite groups $G_1$ and $G_2$), we obtain the asymptotic for the number of conjugacy classes of commutators in $F_r$ (respectively,…
We prove Thompson's group $F$ has quadratic conjugator length function. That is, for any two conjugate elements of $F$ of length $n$ or less, there exists an element of $F$ of length $O(n^2)$ that conjugates one to the other. Moreover,…
Let $G$ be the first Grigorchuk group. We show that the commutator width of $G$ is $2$: every element $g\in [G,G]$ is a product of two commutators, and also of six conjugates of $a$. Furthermore, we show that every finitely generated…
A classification of the ways in which an element of a free group can be expressed as a product of commutators or as a product of squares is given. This is then applied to some particular classes of elements. Finally, a question about…
Every finite group $G$ has a normal series each of whose factors is either a solvable group or a direct product of non-abelian simple groups. The minimum number of nonsolvable factors, attained on all possible such series in $G$, is called…
This paper is an attempt to find out which properties of a finite group G can be expressed in terms of commutators of elements of coprime orders. A criterion of solubility of G in terms of such commutators is obtained. We also conjecture…
Let G be a group of the form G_1* ... *G_n, the free product of n subgroups, and let M be a ZG-module of the form $\bigoplus_{i=1}^n M_i \otimes_{\mathbb{Z}G_i} \mathbb{Z}G$. We shall give formulae in various situations for $d_{ZG}(M)$, the…
The coprime commutators $\gamma_j^*$ and $\delta_j^*$ were recently introduced as a tool to study properties of finite groups that can be expressed in terms of commutators of elements of coprime orders. They are defined as follows. Let $G$…
In this paper, we establish upper bounds on the length of the shortest conjugator between pairs of infinite order elements in a wide class of groups. We obtain a general result which applies to all hierarchically hyperbolic groups, a class…
The palindromic length of a finite word $w$ is defined as the minimal number of palindromes such that their product is $w$. Clearly, this function may take different values depending on if we consider $w$ as an element a free semigroup or…
We show that stable commutator length is rational on free products of free Abelian groups amalgamated over $\mathbb{Z}^k$, a class of groups containing the fundamental groups of all torus knot complements. We consider a geometric model for…