Related papers: On an algorithm to decide whether a free group is …

We show that there is no algorithm deciding whether the maximal residually free quotient of a given finitely presented group is finitely presentable or not. Given a finitely generated subgroup G of a finite product of limit groups, we…

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…

Let F_2 be a free group of rank 2. We prove that there is an algorithm that decides whether or not, for given two elements u, v of F_2, u and v are translation equivalent in F_2, that is, whether or not u and v have the property that the…

We give an efficient algorithm to randomly generate finitely generated subgroups of a given size, in a finite rank free group. Here, the size of a subgroup is the number of vertices of its representation by a reduced graph such as can be…

We show that the conjugacy problem is solvable in [finitely generated free]-by-cyclic groups, by using a result of O. Maslakova that one can algorithmically find generating sets for the fixed subgroups of free group automorphisms, and one…

We call a group $G$ {\it algorithmically finite} if no algorithm can produce an infinite set of pairwise distinct elements of $G$. We construct examples of recursively presented infinite algorithmically finite groups and study their…

This paper deals with the decidability of semigroup freeness. More precisely, the freeness problem over a semigroup S is defined as: given a finite subset X of S, decide whether each element of S has at most one factorization over X. To…

Let $H, K$ be two finitely generated subgroups of a free group, let $\langle H, K \rangle$ denote the subgroup generated by $H, K$, called the join of $H, K$, and let neither of $H$, $K$ have finite index in $\langle H, K \rangle$. We prove…

We show that the free group of rank 2 is a limit of 2-markings of Thompson's group F in the space of all 2-marked groups. More specifically, we find a sequence of generating pairs for F so that as one goes out the sequence, the length of…

We give a description of elementary subgroups (in the sense of first-order logic) of finitely generated virtually free groups. In particular, we recover the fact that elementary subgroups of finitely generated free groups are free factors.…

In "Subgroups of free profinite groups and large subfields of Q" (Israel J. Math. 39 (1981), no. 1-2, pages 25-45; MR 617288) A. Lubotzky and L. van den Dries raise the question whether a finitely generated, residually finite group is…

We investigate accessible subgroups of a profinite group $G$, i.e. subgroups $H$ appearing as vertex groups in a graph of profinite groups decomposition of $G$ with finite edge groups. We prove that any accessible subgroup $H \leq G$ arises…

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 problem of finding a nontrivial factor of a polynomial f(x) over a finite field F_q has many known efficient, but randomized, algorithms. The deterministic complexity of this problem is a famous open question even assuming the…

A fully irreducible outer automorphism phi of the free group F_n of rank n has an expansion factor which often differs from the expansion factor of the inverse of phi. Nevertheless, we prove that the ratio between the logarithms of the…

We prove that for arbitrary two finitely generated subgroups A and B having infinite index in a free group F, there is a subgroup H of finite index in B such that the subgroup generated by A and H has infinite index in F. The main corollary…

We prove that the word problem of a finitely generated group $G$ is in NP (solvable in polynomial time by a non-deterministic Turing machine) if and only if this group is a subgroup of a finitely presented group $H$ with polynomial…

We use Gersten's generalization of Whitehead's algorithm to determine whether a given finitely generated subgroup of a free group $F$ is elliptic in an elementary cyclic splitting of $F$. We provide a similar result for all elementary…

We study a family of finitely generated residually finite groups. These groups are doubles $F_2*_H F_2$ of a rank-$2$ free group $F_2$ along an infinitely generated subgroup $H$. Varying $H$ yields uncountably many groups up to isomorphism.

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…