Folding free-group automorphisms
Group Theory
2014-06-27 v2
Abstract
We describe an algorithm that uses Stallings' folding technique to decompose an element of as a product of Whitehead automorphisms (and hence as a product of Nielsen transformations.) We use this to give an alternative method of finding a finite generating set for the subgroup of that fixes a subset of the basis elements, and the subgroup that fixes each element of up to conjugacy. We show that the intersection of this latter subgroup with is also finitely generated.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1111.6794,
title = {Folding free-group automorphisms},
author = {Richard D. Wade},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1111.6794},
year = {2014}
}
Comments
12 pages, 4 figures. Final draft. To appear in The Quarterly Journal of Mathematics