arXiv research

Given a free factor A of the rank n free group F_n, we characterize when the subgroup of Out(F_n) that stabilizes the conjugacy class of A is distorted in Out(F_n). We also prove that the image of the natural embedding of Aut(F_{n-1}) in Aut(F_n) is nondistorted, that the stabilizer in Out(F_n) of the conjugacy class o…

Let $A_1,...,A_k$ be a system of free factors of $F_n$. The group of relative automorphisms $Aut(F_n;A_1,...,A_k)$ is the group given by the automorphisms of $F_n$ that restricted to each $A_i$ are conjugations by elements in $F_n$. The group of relative outer automorphisms is defined as $Out(F_n;A_1,...,A_k) = Aut(F_n…

For any atoroidal iwip $φ\in Out(F_N)$ the mapping torus group $G_φ=F_N\rtimes_φ<t>e$ is hyperbolic, and the embedding $ι: F_N \overset{\lhd}{\longrightarrow} G_φ$ induces a continuous, $F_N$-equivariant and surjective {\em Cannon-Thurston map} $\hat ι: \partial F_N \to \partial G_φ$. We prove that for any $φ$ as above…

Let $\mathcal{A} = {A_1, ..., A_k}$ be a system of free factors of $F_n$. The group of relative automorphisms $\mathrm{Aut}(F_n; \mathcal{A})$ is the group given by the automorphisms of $F_n$ that restricted to each $A_i$ are conjugations by elements in $F_n$. The group of relative outer automorphisms is defined as $\m…

Normal closures of certain finite subgroups in automorphism and outer automorphism groups of free groups are determined.

For the free group $F_{N}$ of finite rank $N \geq 2$ we construct a canonical Bonahon-type continuous and $Out(F_N)$-invariant \emph{geometric intersection form} \[ <, >: \bar{cv}(F_N)\times Curr(F_N)\to \mathbb R_{\ge 0}. \] Here $\bar{cv}(F_N)$ is the closure of unprojectivized Culler-Vogtmann's Outer space $cv(F_N)$…

We study the behaviour of quasi-geodesics in Out(F_n). Given an element f in Out(F_n) there are several natural paths connecting the origin to f in Out(F_n); for example, paths associated to sequences of Stallings folds and paths induced by the shadow of greedy folding paths in Outer Space. We show that none of these p…

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…

We study a new class of square Sierpiński carpets $F_{n,p}$ ($5\leq n, 1\leq p<\frac{n}{2}-1$) on $\mathbb{S}^2$, which are not quasisymmetrically equivalent to the standard Sierpiński carpets. We prove that the group of quasisymmetric self-maps of each $F_{n,p}$ is the Euclidean isometry group. We also establish that …

The paper studies a semigroup generated by finite intervals and characterizes its properties.

Abstract commensurators of ${ m{Aut}}(F_N)$ and ${ m{IA}}_N$ are the same.

We prove that if $T$ is an $\mathbb R$-tree with a minimal free isometric action of $F_N$, then the $Out(F_N)$-stabilizer of the projective class $[T]$ is virtually cyclic. For the special case where $T=T_+(φ)$ is the forward limit tree of an atoroidal iwip element $φ\in Out(F_N)$ this is a consequence of the results o…

Given a free group $F_n$, a fully irreducible automorphism $f \in \aut$, and a generic element $x \in F_n$, the elements $f^k(x)$ converge in the appropriate sense to an object called an attracting lamination of $f$. When the action of $f$ on $\frac{F_n}{[F_n, F_n]}$ has finite order, we introduce a homological version…

Free group automorphisms group rigidity proven.

A companion result of the the Tits alternative for $Out(F_n)$ is proved: Every solvable subgroup of $Out(F_n)$ is finitely generated and virtually abelian.

In \cite{KSS06} it was shown that with respect to the simple non-backtracking random walk on the free group $F_N=F(a_1,\dots,a_N)$ the Whitehead algorithm has strongly linear time generic-case complexity and that "generic" elements of $F_N$ are "strictly minimal" in their $Out(F_N)$-orbits. Here we generalize these res…

We study the complex of partial bases of a free group, which is an analogue for $\Aut(F_n)$ of the curve complex for the mapping class group. We prove that it is connected and simply connected, and we also prove that its quotient by the Torelli subgroup of $\Aut(F_n)$ is highly connected. Using these results, we give a…

We say that a subset $S\subseteq F_N$ is \emph{spectrally rigid} if whenever $T_1, T_2\in cv_N$ are points of the (unprojectivized) Outer space such that $||g||_{T_1}=||g||_{T_2}$ for every $g\in S$ then $T_1=T_2$ in $\cvn$. It is well-known that $F_N$ itself is spectrally rigid; it also follows from the result of Smil…

Detects free group automorphisms using homology of covers.

We show that for any subgroup $H$ of Out($F_N$), either $H$ contains an atoroidal element or a finite index subgroup $H'$ of $H$ fixes a nontrivial conjugacy class in $F_N$. This result is an analog of Ivanov's subgroup theorem for mapping class groups and Handel-Mosher's subgroup theorem for Out($F_N$) in the setting …

For any finite collection $f_i$ of fully irreducible automorphisms of the free group $F_n$ we construct a connected $δ$-hyperbolic $Out(F_n)$-complex in which each $f_i$ has positive translation length.

We give a short proof of a theorem of Handel and Mosher stating that any finitely generated subgroup of $\text{Out}(F_N)$ either contains a fully irreducible automorphism, or virtually fixes the conjugacy class of a proper free factor of $F_N$, and we extend their result to non finitely generated subgroups of $\text{Ou…

A theorem of Farb and Handel asserts that for $N\ge 4$, the natural inclusion from $\mathrm{Out}(F_N)$ into its abstract commensurator is an isomorphism. We give a new proof of their result, which enables us to generalize it to the case where $N=3$. More generally, we give sufficient conditions on a subgroup $Γ$ of $\m…

We construct examples of finite covers of punctured surfaces where the first rational homology is not spanned by lifts of simple closed curves. More generally, for any set $\mathcal{O} \subset F_n$ which is contained in the union of finitely many $Aut(F_n)$-orbits, we construct finite-index normal subgroups of $F_n$ wh…

Cochran, Orr, and Teichner developed a filtration of the knot concordance group indexed by half integers called the solvable filtration. Its terms are denoted by $\mathcal{F}_n$. It has been shown that $\mathcal{F}_n/\mathcal{F}_{n.5}$ is a very large group for $n\ge 0$. For a generalization to the setting of links the…

We prove uniform north-south dynamics type results for the action of $\varphi\in Out(F_{N})$ on the space of projectivized geodesic currents $\mathbb{P}Curr(S)=\mathbb{P}Curr(F_{N})$, where $\varphi$ is induced by a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism on a compact surface S with boundary such that $π_{1}(S)=F_{N}$. As an appli…

The virtually cyclic dimension of Out(F_N) is finite and related properties are established.

Kapovich and Nagnibeda introduced the space $\mathcal{S} {\rm Curr}(F_N)$ of subset currents on a free group $F_N$ of rank $N\geq 2$, which can be thought of as a measure-theoretic completion of the set of all conjugacy classes of finitely generated subgroups of $F_N$. We define a product $\mathcal{N} (H,K)$ of two fin…

Let $T$ be an $\mathbb{R}$-tree, equipped with a very small action of the rank $n$ free group $F_n$, and let $H \leq F_n$ be finitely generated. We consider the case where the action $F_n \curvearrowright T$ is indecomposable--this is a strong mixing property introduced by Guirardel. In this case, we show that the acti…

Certain subgroups of the groups $Aut(F_n)$ of automorphisms of a free group $F_n$ are considered. Comparing Alexander polynomials of two poly-free groups $Cb_4^+$ and $P_4$ we prove that these groups are not isomorphic, despite the fact that they have a lot of common properties. This answers the question of Cohen-Pakia…

Let $μ$ be a probability measure on $\text{Out}(F_N)$ with finite first logarithmic moment with respect to the word metric, finite entropy, and whose support generates a nonelementary subgroup of $\text{Out}(F_N)$. We show that almost every sample path of the random walk on $(\text{Out}(F_N),μ)$, when realized in Culle…

For n > 2, the Dehn functions of Aut(F_n) and Out(F_n) are exponential. Hatcher and Vogtmann proved that they are at most exponential, and the complementary lower bound in the case n=3 was established by Bridson and Vogtmann. Handel and Mosher completed the proof by reducing the lower bound for n>4 to the case n=3. In …

New space of currents defined for nonabelian free groups and malnormal subgroups.

This paper shows that the Grassmann Manifolds $G_{\bf F}(n,N)$ can all be imbedded in an Euclidean space $M_{\bf F}(N)$ naturally and the imbedding can be realized by the eigenfunctions of Laplacian $\triangle$ on $G_{\bf F}(n,N)$. They are all minimal submanifolds in some spheres of $M_{\bf F}(N)$ respectively. Using …

New complex connects graph separability to group properties.

We prove that all elements of infinite order in $Out(F_n)$ have positive translation lengths; moreover, they are bounded away from zero. Consequences include a new proof that solvable subgroups of $Out(F_n)$ are finitely generated and virtually abelian and the new result that such subgroups are quasi-convex.

New hyperbolic graph constructed from projections of free splitting graph.

We prove that if $φ,ψ\in Out(F_N)$ are hyperbolic iwips (irreducible with irreducible powers) such that $<φ,ψ>\le Out(F_N)$ is not virtually cyclic then some high powers of $φ$ and $ψ$ generate a free subgroup of rank two, all of whose nontrivial elements are again hyperbolic iwips. Being a hyperbolic iwip element of $…

Study automorphism group actions on Jacobi diagrams spaces.

We solve the conjecture by R. Fenn, C. Rourke and B. Sanderson that the rack homology of dihedral quandles satisfies H_3^R(R_p) = Z \oplus Z_p for p odd prime. We also show that H_n^R(R_p) contains Z_p for n>2. Furthermore, we show that the torsion of H_n^R(R_3) is annihilated by 3. We also prove that the quandle homol…

Let $F_N$ be a free group of rank $N\ge 2$, let $μ$ be a geodesic current on $F_N$ and let $T$ be an $\mathbb R$-tree with a very small isometric action of $F_N$. We prove that the geometric intersection number $<T, μ>$ is equal to zero if and only if the support of $μ$ is contained in the dual algebraic lamination $L^…

The proof of the Tits alternative for $Out(F_n)$ is completed. The main tool is a Kolchin type theorem, proved in this paper. It states that a finitely generated subgroup of $Out(F_n)$ consisting of unipotent automorphisms can be conjugated into an upper-triangular subgroup (this is interpreted via train-tracks).

We obtain new families of (1,2)-symplectic invariant metrics on the full complex flag manifolds F(n). For n > 4, we characterize n-3 different n-dimensional families of (1,2)-symplectic invariant metrics on F(n). Any of these families corresponds to a different class of non-integrable invariant almost complex structure…

The automorphism group of a finitely generated free group is the normal closure of a single element of order 2. If $m$ is less than $n$ then a homomorphism $Aut(F_n)\to Aut(F_m)$ can have cardinality at most 2. More generally, this is true of homomorphisms from $\Aut(F_n)$ to any group that does not contain an isomorph…

We construct a covering of Culler-Vogtmann Outer space by the Teichmuller spaces of punctured surfaces. By considering the equivariant homology for the action of Out(F_n) on this covering, we construct a spectral sequence converging to the homology of Out(F_n) that has E^1 terms given by the homology of mapping class g…

Compact foliations preserve entropy if leaves are strictly convex projective.

The free factor graph for Aut(F_N) is not hyperbolic.

Two trees in the boundary of outer space are said to be \emph{primitive-equivalent} whenever their translation length functions are equal in restriction to the set of primitive elements of $F_N$. We give an explicit description of this equivalence relation, showing in particular that it is nontrivial. This question is …