English

Stable commutator length on free $\mathbb{Q}$-groups

Group Theory 2025-12-02 v3

Abstract

We study stable commutator length on free Q\mathbb{Q}-groups. We prove that every non-identity element has positive stable commutator length, and that the corresponding free group embeds isometrically. We deduce that a non-abelian free Q\mathbb{Q}-group has an infinite-dimensional space of homogeneous quasimorphisms modulo homomorphisms, answering a question of Casals-Ruiz, Garreta, and de la Nuez Gonz{\'a}lez. We conjecture that stable commutator length is rational on free Q\mathbb{Q}-groups. This is connected to the long-standing problem of rationality on surface groups: indeed, we show that free Q\mathbb{Q}-groups contain isometrically embedded copies of non-orientable surface groups.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2507.14009,
  title  = {Stable commutator length on free $\mathbb{Q}$-groups},
  author = {Francesco Fournier-Facio},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.14009},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

14 pages. v2: removed Remark 3.4, which had a mistake, and added Corollary 4.4. v3: final version, to appear in Bulletin of the LMS

R2 v1 2026-07-01T04:08:01.563Z