Related papers: Detecting Free Group Automorphisms via Virtual Hom…

Let $F_n$ be the free group on $n\ge 2$ elements and $\A(F_n)$ its group of automorphisms. In this paper we present a rich collection of linear representations of $\A(F_n)$ arising through the action of finite index subgroups of it on…

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…

The automorphism group of a finitely generated free group is the normal closure of a single element of order 2. If $m$ is less than $n$ then a homomorphism $Aut(F_n)\to Aut(F_m)$ can have cardinality at most 2. More generally, this is true…

We calculate the homology of automorphism groups of free groups in various cases. The author would like to thank his thesis advisor Karen Vogtmann.

We study the existence of homomorphisms between Out(F_n) and Out(F_m) for n > 5 and m < n(n-1)/2, and conclude that if m is not equal to n then each such homomorphism factors through the finite group of order 2. In particular this provides…

Given a free product $G$, we investigate the existence of faithful free representations of the outer automorphism group $\text{Out}(G)$, or in other words of embeddings of $\text{Out}(G)$ into $\text{Out}\left(F_m\right)$ for some $m$. This…

We study the action of the mapping class group on the real homology of finite covers of a topological surface. We use the homological representation of the mapping class to construct a faithful infinite-dimensional representation of the…

We prove that any isometry of the graph of cyclic splittings of a finitely generated free group $F_N$ of rank $N\ge 3$ is induced by an outer automorphism of $F_N$. The same statement also applies to the graphs of maximally-cyclic…

Let $G$ be a group acting freely, properly discontinuously and cellularly on a finite dimensional $C$W-complex $\Sigma(2n)$ which has the homotopy type of the $2n$- sphere $\mathbb{S}^{2n}$. Then, this action induces an action of the group…

Let $F_n$ be the free group of a finite rank $n$. We study orbits $Orb_{\phi}(u)$, where $u$ is an element of the group $F_n$, under the action of an automorphism $\phi$. If an orbit like that is finite, we determine precisely what its…

The BNSR-invariants of a group $G$ are a sequence $\Sigma^1(G)\supseteq \Sigma^2(G) \supseteq \cdots$ of geometric invariants that reveal important information about finiteness properties of certain subgroups of $G$. We consider the…

For a finitely generated free group F_n, of rank at least 2, any finite subgroup of Out(F_n) can be realized as a group of automorphisms of a graph with fundamental group F_n. This result, known as Out(F_n) realization, was proved by…

Let $\phi$ be an automorphism of a free group $F_n$ of rank $n$, and let $M_{\phi}=F_n \rtimes_{\phi} \mathbb{Z}$ be the corresponding mapping torus of $\phi$. We study the group $Out(M_{\phi})$ under certain technical conditions on $\phi$.…

We consider homogeneous varieties of linear algebras over an associative-commutative ring K with 1, i.e., the varieties in which free algebras are graded. Let F be a free algebra of some variety A of linear algebras over K freely generated…

The holomorph of a free group $F_n$ is the semidirect product $F_n \rtimes Aut(F_n)$. Using the methods of Hatcher and Vogtmann, we derive stability results and calculate the mod-$p$ homology of these holomorphs for odd primes $p$ in…

We prove that in dimensions not equal to 4, 5, or 7, the homology and homotopy groups of the classifying space of the topological group of diffeomorphisms of a disk fixing the boundary are finitely generated in each degree. The proof uses…

We consider an action of the automorphism group $\mathrm{Aut}(F_n)$ of the free group $F_n$ of rank $n$ on the filtered vector space $A_d(n)$ of Jacobi diagrams of degree $d$ on $n$ oriented arcs. This action induces on the associated…

Let F_n be the free group of rank n, with generating set S=\{x_1,...,x_n\}. An automorphism \phi of F_n is called symmetric if for each 1\leq i\leq n, \phi(x_i) is conjugate to x_j or x_j^{-1} for some 1\leq j\leq n. Let \Sigma Aut(F_n) be…

We prove that the quotient map from Aut(F_n) to Out(F_n) induces an isomorphism on homology in dimension i for n at least 2i+4. This corrects an earlier proof by the first author and significantly improves the stability range. In the course…

The automorphisms of free groups with boundaries form a family of groups A_{n,k} closely related to mapping class groups, with the standard automorphisms of free groups as A_{n,0} and (essentially) the symmetric automorphisms of free groups…