Combinatorial Structure of Inert and Ambiguous Classes in Modular Group
Geometric Topology
2026-02-24 v1
Abstract
We study inert, and ambiguous conjugacy classes in the modular group from a purely combinatorial perspective. Using word length in the free product representation of the modular group, we obtain exact counting formulas and asymptotic growth rates for inert and ambiguous classes. Our results provide the first counting formulas for inert classes obtained independently of Sarnak's analytic trace-based methods, while also establishing a combinatorial framework for ambiguous classes.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2602.19176,
title = {Combinatorial Structure of Inert and Ambiguous Classes in Modular Group},
author = {Debattam Das and Krishnendu Gongopadhyay and Khushi Mishra},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2602.19176},
year = {2026}
}
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24 pages