Related papers: Commutators and squares in free groups

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…

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 $[ x_1, y_1] \ldots [ x_k, y_k] = z^n$,…

In this expository note we provide a proof of Artin's theorem which states that the commutator subgroup of a free group on two generators is not finitely generated. The proof employs the infinite grid as in two other proofs in the…

A commutator of unipotent matrices of index 2 is a matrix of the form $XYX^{-1}Y^{-1}$, where $X$ and $Y$ are unipotent matrices of index 2, that is, $X\ne I_n$, $Y\ne I_n$, and $(X-I_n)^2=(Y-I_n)^2=0_n$. If $n>2$ and $\mathbb F$ is a field…

Let N be a normal subgroup of a finite group G. We prove that under certain (unavoidable) conditions the subgroup [N,G] is a product of commutators [N,y] (with prescribed values of y from a given set Y) of length bounded by a function of…

In this paper we first give a necessary and sufficient condition for a group $G$ generated by $n$ elements to be a square commutative group and prove $G$ is a square commutative group if and only if $\widehat{G}$ is an abelian group, then…

Elements of the commutator subgroup of a free group can be presented as values of canonical forms, called Wicks forms. We show that, starting from sufficiently high genus g, there is a sequence of words w(g) which can be presented by f(g)…

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,…

Let $R$ be a ring and let $n\ge 2$. We discuss the question of whether every element in the matrix ring $M_n(R)$ is a product of (additive) commutators $[x,y]=xy-yx$, for $x,y\in M_n(R)$. An example showing that this does not always hold,…

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…

Factors $\frac{X}{Y}$ in a free group $F$ with $Y$ normal in $X$ are considered. Precise results on the free structure of ${Y}$ relative to the free structure of ${X}$ when $\frac{X}{Y}$ is abelian are obtained. Some extensions and…

Given nontrivial finite groups $A$ and $B$, not both of order 2, we prove that every finite simple group of sufficiently large rank is an image of the free product $A \ast B$. To show this, we prove that every finite simple group of…

We prove two results. (1) There is an absolute constant $D$ such that for any finite quasisimple group $S$, given 2D arbitrary automorphisms of $S$, every element of $S$ is equal to a product of $D$ `twisted commutators' defined by the…

Let $F$ be a field and let $F \langle X \rangle$ be the free unital associative algebra over $F$ freely generated by an infinite countable set $X = \{x_1, x_2, \dots \}$. Define a left-normed commutator $[a_1, a_2, \dots, a_n]$ recursively…

The ways in which a nontrivial commutator can be a proper power in a free product of groups are identified.

We show that for any finitely generated group of matrices that is not virtually solvable, there is an integer m such that, given an arbitrary finite generating set for the group, one may find two elements a and b that are both products of…

Suppose a group $G$ is quasi-isometric to a free product of a finite set $S$ of finitely generated abelian groups; let $S'$ denote the set of ranks of the free abelian parts of the groups in $S$. Then $G$ is commensurable with the free…

We introduce $R$-diagonal and even operators of second order. We give a formula for the second order free cumulants of the square $x^2$ of a second order even element in terms of the second order free cumulants of $x$. Similar formulas are…

It is proved that all finitely generated subgroups of generalized free product of two groups are finitely separable provided that free factors have this property and amalgamated subgroups are normal in corresponding factors and satisfy the…

In this paper, we study the topological structure of a universal construction related to quasitopological groups: the free quasitopological group $F_q(X)$ on a space $X$. We show that free quasitopological groups may be constructed directly…