arXiv research

Study conjugacy classes of parabolic diffeomorphisms fixing the origin.

We show that there is a family of pseudo-Anosov braids independently parameterized by the braid index and the (canonical) length whose smallest conjugacy invariant sets grow exponentially in the braid index and linearly in the length and conclude that the conjugacy problem remains exponential in the braid index under t…

We investigate two "categorified" braid conjugacy class invariants, one coming from Khovanov homology and the other from Heegaard Floer homology. We prove that each yields a solution to the word problem but not the conjugacy problem in the braid group.

Turaev-Viro invariants match for certain surface bundles.

We show that every non-decreasing function $f\colon \mathbb N\to \mathbb N$ bounded from above by $a^n$ for some $a\ge 1$ can be realized (up to a natural equivalence) as the conjugacy growth function of a finitely generated group. We also construct a finitely generated group $G$ and a subgroup $H\le G$ of index 2 such…

Study approximates delocalized eta invariants of covering spaces.

Study Agol cycles for pseudo-Anosov 3-braids.

We discuss how to apply work of L. Rudolph to braid conjugacy class invariants to obtain potentially effective obstructions to a slice knot being ribbon. We then apply these ideas to a family of braid conjugacy class invariants coming from Khovanov-Lee theory and explain why we do not obtain effective ribbon obstructio…

Given a knot $K$ inside an integer homology sphere $Y$, the Casson-Lin-Herald invariant can be interpreted as a signed count of conjugacy classes of irreducible representations of the knot complement into $SU(2)$ which map the meridian of the knot to a fixed conjugacy class. It has the interesting feature that it deter…

Starting from considering deeper relationship between conjugacy classes and irreducible representations of a finite group $G$, we find some quite simple $R-$matrice defined by using finite groups. This construction produces many sets (or topological spaces) admitting braid group actions. We introduce conceptions "exten…

The conjugacy problem for the pseudo-Anosov automorphisms of a compact surface is studied. To each pseudo-Anosov automorphism f, we assign an AF-algebra A(f) (an operator algebra). It is proved that the assignment is functorial, i.e. every f', conjugate to f, maps to an AF-algebra A(f'), which is stably isomorphic to A…

Study Agol cycles in pseudo-Anosov 3-braids.

We introduce and study the space of \emph{subset currents} on the free group $F_N$. A subset current on $F_N$ is a positive $F_N$-invariant locally finite Borel measure on the space $\mathfrak C_N$ of all closed subsets of $\partial F_N$ consisting of at least two points. While ordinary geodesic currents generalize con…

The conformal module of conjugacy classes of braids implicitly appeared in a paper of Lin and Gorin in connection with their interest in the 13. Hilbert Problem. This invariant is the supremum of conformal modules (in the sense of Ahlfors) of certain annuli related to the conjugacy class. This note states that the conf…

This thesis consists of three self-contained chapters. The first two concern quantum invariants of links and three manifolds and the third contains results on the word problem for link groups. In chapter 1 we relate the tree part of the Aarhus integral to the mu-invariants of string-links in homology balls thus general…

Given an automorphism of a free group $F_n$, we consider the following invariants: $e$ is the number of exponential strata (an upper bound for the number of different exponential growth rates of conjugacy classes); $d$ is the maximal degree of polynomial growth of conjugacy classes; $R$ is the rank of the fixed subgrou…

Let G be a real compact connected simple Lie group, and g its Lie algebra. We study the problem of determining, from root data, when a sum of adjoint orbits in g, or a product of conjugacy classes in G, contains an open set. Our general methods allow us to determine exactly which sums of adjoint orbits in su(m) and pro…

Algorithmic solutions to the conjugacy problem in the braid groups B_n were given by Elrifai-Morton in 1994 and by the authors in 1998. Both solutions yield two conjugacy class invariants which are known as `inf' and `sup'. A problem which was left unsolved in both papers was the number m of times one must `cycle' (res…

We introduce topological invariants of knots and braid conjugacy classes, in the form of differential graded algebras, and present an explicit combinatorial formulation for these invariants. The algebras conjecturally give the relative contact homology of certain Legendrian tori in five-dimensional contact manifolds. W…

In this paper we define and present a simple combinatorial formula for a 3-variable Laurent polynomial invariant of conjugacy classes in Artin braid group $B_m$. We show that this Laurent polynomial satisfies the Conway skein relation and its coefficients are Vassiliev invariants of braids.

We consider general Morse-Smale diffeomorphisms on a closed orientable two-dimentional surface. In this paper it is proved that the complete topological invariant of Morse-Smale diffeomorphisms is finite, the algorithm of the construction of the complete topological invariant in explicit form is given and necessary and…

We say that a group has property $R_{\infty}$ if any group automorphism has an infinite number of twisted conjugacy classes. Fel'shtyn and Goncalves prove that the solvable Baumslag-Solitar groups BS(1,m) have property $R_{\infty}$. We define a solvable generalization $Γ(S)$ of these groups which we show to have proper…

We define extensions of the $L^2$-analytic invariants of closed manifolds, called delocalized $L^2$-invariants. These delocalized invariants are constructed in terms of a nontrivial conjugacy class of the fundamental group. We show that in many cases, they are topological in nature. We show that the marked length spect…

Study knot invariants using automorphism groups of free nilpotent groups.

Fix a finite group $G$ and a conjugacy invariant subset $C\subseteq G$. Let $Σ$ be an oriented surface, possibly with punctures. We consider the question of when two homomorphisms $π_1(Σ) \to G$ taking punctures into $C$ are equivalent up to an orientation preserving diffeomorphism of $Σ$. We provide an answer to this …

The article classifies 6D flat solvmanifolds by analyzing conjugacy classes of matrices.

Given any connected compact orientable surface, a pair of mapping classes are said to be procongruently conjugate if they induce a conjugate pair of outer automophisms on the profinite completion of the fundamental group of the surface. For example, this occurs if they induce conjugate outer automorphisms on every char…

We introduce a new invariant of bipartite chord diagrams and use it to construct the first examples of groups with Dehn function $n^2\log n$ and other small Dehn functions. Some of these groups have undecidable conjugacy problem.

This paper classifies links in 3D dynamical systems.

We analyze the structure of the \emph{frequency space} $Q(F)$ of a nonabelian free group $F=F(a_1,...,a_k)$ consisting of all shift-invariant Borel probability measures on $\partial F$ and construct a natural action of $Out(F)$ on $Q(F)$. In particular we prove that for any outer automorphism $φ$ of $F$ the \emph{conju…

In order to obtain a Markov theorem without stabilization, Birman and Menasco introduced the notion of exchange related braids. In this paper I study the way the Fiedler polynomial distinguishes conjugacy classes of some particular braided knots. I introduce the Kauffman bracket in the solid torus. Its Taylor expansion…

We prove that fundamental groups of non-orientable 3-manifolds have a solvable conjugacy problem, and construct an algorithm. Together with our earlier work on the conjugacy problem in groups on orientable geometrizable 3-manifolds, all $π_1$ of (geometrizable) 3-manifolds have a solvable conjugacy problem. In corollar…

The paper studies quandles from symmetric group automorphisms and finds a correspondence with conjugacy classes.

Study weak conjugacy in surface homeomorphisms.

Study of conjugacy classes in infinite-type surfaces' mapping class groups.

Recently the third named author defined a 2-parametric family of groups $G_n^k$ \cite{gnk}. Those groups may be regarded as a certain generalisation of braid groups. Study of the connection between the groups $G_n^k$ and dynamical systems led to the discovery of the following fundamental principle: `If dynamical system…

We show that the Lawrence--Krammer representation is unitary. We explicitly present the non-singular matrix representing the sesquilinear pairing invariant under the action. We show that reversing the orientation of a braid is equivalent to the transposition of its Lawrence--Krammer matrix followed by a certain conjuga…

Classifies manifolds with dense conjugacy classes in their mapping class groups.

We use the theory of group actions on profinite trees to prove that the fundamental group of a finite, 1-acylindrical graph of free groups with finitely generated edge groups is conjugacy separable. This has several applications: we prove that positive, $C'(1/6)$ one-relator groups are conjugacy separable; we provide a…

We study Wick-rotations of left-invariant metrics on Lie groups, using results from real GIT (\cite{1}, \cite{2}, \cite{3}). An invariant for Wick-rotation of Lie groups is given, and we describe when a pseudo-Riemannian Lie group can be Wick-rotated to a Riemannian Lie group. We also prove a general version (for gener…

Algebraic method reveals criterion for quaternionic Möbius group reversibility.

In this article, we study connections between representation theory and efficient solutions to the conjugacy problem on finitely generated groups. The main focus is on the conjugacy problem in conjugacy separable groups, where we measure efficiency in terms of the size of the quotients required to distinguish a distinc…

Criterion for stopping conjugacy class enumeration in triangle groups.

We show how to construct an ideal triangulation of a mapping torus of a pseudo-Anosov map punctured along the singular fibers. This gives rise to a new conjugacy invariant of mapping classes, and a new proof of a theorem of Farb-Leininger-Margalit. The approach in this paper is based on ideas of Hamenstadt.

Based on a recently introduced by the author notion of {\em parity}, in the present paper we construct a sequence of invariants (indexed by natural numbers $m$) of long virtual knots, valued in certain simply-defined group ${\tilde G}_{m}$ (the Cayley graphs of these groups are represented by grids in the $(m+1)$-space…

This paper explores links from Thompson's group conjugacy classes.

A homeomorphism of a compact metric space is {\em tight} provided every non-degenerate compact connected (not necessarily invariant) subset carries positive entropy. It is shown that every $C^{1+α}$ diffeomorphism of a closed surface factors to a tight homeomorphism of a generalized cactoid (roughly, a surface with nod…

Classifies pseudo-Anosov flows on 3-manifolds up to orbit equivalence.