Related papers: On the complexity of the Whitehead minimization pr…
The Whitehead Minimization problem is a problem of finding elements of the minimal length in the automorphic orbit of a given element of a free group. The classical algorithm of Whitehead that solves the problem depends exponentially on the…
The worst-case complexity of group-theoretic algorithms has been studied for a long time. Generic-case complexity, or complexity on random inputs, was introduced and studied relatively recently. In this paper, we address the average-case…
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…
By strengthening known results about primitivity-blocking words in free groups, we prove that for any nontrivial element w of a free group of finite rank, there are words that cannot be subwords of any cyclically reduced automorphic image…
In this paper we discuss several heuristic strategies which allow one to solve the Whitehead's minimization problem much faster (on most inputs) than the classical Whitehead algorithm. The mere fact that these strategies work in practice…
We show that a finitely generated subgroup of a free group, chosen uniformly at random, is strictly Whitehead minimal with overwhelming probability. Whitehead minimality is one of the key elements of the solution of the orbit problem in…
We develop a refinement of Whitehead's algorithm for primitive words in a free group. We generalize to subgroups, establishing a strengthened version of Whitehead's algorithm for free factors. We make use of these refinements in proving new…
Let F_2 denote the free group of rank 2. Our main technical result of independent interest is: for any element u of F_2, there is g in F_2 such that no cyclically reduced image of u under an automorphism of F_2 contains g as a subword. We…
Let u be a cyclic word in a free group F_n of finite rank n that has the minimum length over all cyclic words in its automorphic orbit, and let N(u) be the cardinality of the set {v: |v|=|u| and v= \phi(u) for some \phi \in \text {Aut}F_n}.…
We find polynomial-time solutions to the word problem for free-by-cyclic groups, the word problem for automorphism groups of free groups, and the membership problem for the handlebody subgroup of the mapping class group. All of these…
In this survey, we address the worst-case, average-case, and generic-case time complexity of the word problem and some other algorithmic problems in several classes of groups and show that it is often the case that the average-case…
One of the most interesting questions about a group is if its word problem can be solved and how. The word problem in the braid group is of particular interest to topologists, algebraists and geometers, and is the target of intensive…
We study the complexity of computation in finitely generated free left, right and two-sided adequate semigroups and monoids. We present polynomial time (quadratic in the RAM model of computation) algorithms to solve the word problem and…
The orbit problem is at the heart of symmetry reduction methods for model checking concurrent systems. It asks whether two given configurations in a concurrent system (represented as finite strings over some finite alphabet) are in the same…
We review some basic methodologies from pattern recognition that can be applied to helping solve combinatorial problems in free group theory. We illustrate how this works with recognizing Whitehead minimal words in free groups of rank 2.…
In analogy with the free factors of a free group we define special factors of Generalized Baumslag-Solitar (GBS) groups as non-cyclic subgroups which appear in splittings over infinite cyclic groups. We give an algorithm which, given a GBS…
We describe a solution of the word problem in free fields (coming from non-commutative polynomials over a commutative field) using elementary linear algebra, provided that the elements are given by minimal linear representations. It relies…
We develop a combinatorial approach to the study of semigroups and monoids with finite presentations satisfying small overlap conditions. In contrast to existing geometric methods, our approach facilitates a sequential left-right analysis…
The word problem of a group is a very important question. The word problem in the braid group is of particular interest for topologists, algebraists and geometers. In previouse article we have looked at the braid group from a topological…
In this paper we discuss a genetic version (GWA) of the Whitehead's algorithm, which is one of the basic algorithms in combinatorial group theory. It turns out that GWA is surprisingly fast and outperforms the standard Whitehead's algorithm…