Related papers: Growth and Language Complexity of Potentially Posi…
Let $F_n$ be a free group of rank $n$. In this paper we discuss three algorithmic problems related to automorphisms of $F_2$. A word $u$ of $F_n$ is called positive if $u$ does not have negative exponents. A word $u$ in $F_n$ is called…
In the free group $F_k$, an element is said to be primitive if it belongs to a free generating set. In this paper, we describe what a generic primitive element looks like. We prove that up to conjugation, a random primitive word of length…
It is shown that the big free group (the set of countably-long words over a countable alphabet) is almost free, in the sense that any function from the alphabet to a compact topological group factors through a homomorphism. This statement…
We show that the following problems are decidable in a rank 2 free group F_2: does a given finitely generated subgroup H contain primitive elements? and does H meet the orbit of a given word u under the action of G, the group of…
Let $F(p)$, $p\ge2$ be the family of generalized Thompson's groups. Here F(2) is the famous Richard Thompson's group usually denoted by $F$. We find the growth rate of the monoid of positive words in $F(p)$ and show that it does not exceed…
In this survey, we describe recent progress on asymptotic properties of various automorphic orbits in free groups. In particular, we address the problem of counting potentially positive elements of a given length. We also discuss complexity…
A subset of a group is characteristic if it is invariant under every automorphism of the group. We study word length in fundamental groups of closed hyperbolic surfaces with respect to characteristic generating sets consisting of a finite…
A longstanding question of Gromov asks whether every one-ended word-hyperbolic group contains a subgroup isomorphic to the fundamental group of a closed hyperbolic surface. An infinite family of word-hyperbolic groups can be obtained by…
In this paper we study the generic, i.e., typical, behavior of finitely generated subgroups of hyperbolic groups and also the generic behavior of the word problem for amenable groups. We show that a random set of elements of a nonelementary…
The group of automorphisms of a symbolic dynamical system is countable, but often very large. For example, for a mixing subshift of finite type, the automorphism group contains isomorphic copies of the free group on two generators and the…
We show that a large class of languages in the standard finite generating set X = {$x_0, x_1, x_0^{-1}, x_1^{-1}$} cannot be part of an automatic structure for Thompson's Group F. These languages are ones that accept at least one…
We define a word in two positive definite (complex Hermitian) matrices $A$ and $B$ as a finite product of real powers of $A$ and $B$. The question of which words have only positive eigenvalues is addressed. This question was raised some…
Suppose $(X,\sigma)$ is a subshift, $P_X(n)$ is the word complexity function of $X$, and ${\rm Aut}(X)$ is the group of automorphisms of $X$. We show that if $P_X(n)=o(n^2/\log^2 n)$, then ${\rm Aut}(X)$ is amenable (as a countable,…
This paper is concerned with minimal-length representatives of equivalence classes of words in F_2 under Aut F_2. We give a simple inequality characterizing words of minimal length in their equivalence class. We consider an operation that…
We give sufficient conditions for when groups generated by automata in a class $\mathcal{C}$ of transducers, which contains the class of reset automata transducers, have infinite order. As a consequence we also demonstrate that if a group…
Automatic groups admitting prefix closed automatic structures with uniqueness are characterized as the quotients of free groups by normal subgroups possessing sets of free generators satisfying certain language-theoretic conditions.
A finitary automaton group is a group generated by an invertible, deterministic finite-state letter-to-letter transducer whose only cycles are self-loops at an identity state. We show that, for this presentation of finite groups, the…
We study how much injective morphisms can increase the repetitiveness of a given word. This question has a few possible variations depending on the meaning of ``repetitiveness''. We concentrate on fractional exponents of finite words and…
A group presentation is said to have rational growth if the generating series associated to its growth function represents a rational function. A long-standing open question asks whether the Heisenberg group has rational growth for all…
We are now witnessing a rapid growth of a new part of group theory which has become known as "statistical group theory". A typical result in this area would say something like ``a random element (or a tuple of elements) of a group G has a…