arXiv research

H. Masur and J. Smillie proved precisely which singularity index lists arise from pseudo-Anosov mapping classes. In search of an analogous theorem for outer automorphisms of free groups, Handel and Mosher ask: Is each connected, simplicial, (2r-1)-vertex graph the ideal Whitehead graph of a fully irreducible outer auto…

Study reveals uniform difference in stretch factors between genus two handlebody group and outer automorphism group.

Study shows Morse elements are common in acylindrically hyperbolic groups.

We define lines of minima in the thick part of Outer space for the free group Fn with n>2 generators. We show that these lines of minima are contracting for the Lipschitz metric. Every fully irreducible outer automorphism of Fn defines such a line a minima. Now let G be a subgroup of the outer automorphism group of Fn …

We prove that a "random" free group outer automorphism is an ageometric fully irreducible outer automorphism whose ideal Whitehead graph is a union of triangles. In particular, we show that its attracting (and repelling) tree is a nongeometric $\mathbb R$-tree all of whose branch points are trivalent

Decomposes axis bundles into cubist structures for fully irreducible outer automorphisms.

In this paper we prove that a fully irreducible outer automorphism relative to a non-exceptional free factor system acts loxodromically on the relative free factor complex as defined by Handel and Mosher. We also prove a north-south dynamic result for the action of such outer automorphisms on the closure of relative ou…

We study the Lipschitz metric on Outer Space and prove that fully irreducible elements of Out(F_n) act by hyperbolic isometries with axes which are strongly contracting. As a corollary, we prove that the axes of fully irreducible automorphisms in the Cayley graph of Out(F_n) are stable, meaning that a quasi-geodesic wi…

Study connects group invariants through outer automorphisms and polynomial relations.

We let $\varphi$ be an ageometric fully irreducible outer automorphism so that its Handel-Mosher axis bundle consists of a single unique axis. We show that the centralizer $Cen(\langle\varphi\rangle)$ of the cyclic subgroup generated by $\varphi$ equals the stabilizer $\text{Stab}(Λ^+_\varphi)$ of the attracting lamina…

By using a notion of a geometric Dehn twist in $\sharp_k(S^2 \times S^1)$, we prove that when projections of two $\mathbb{Z}$-splittings to the free factor complex are far enough from each other in the free factor complex, Dehn twist automorphisms corresponding to the $\mathbb{Z}$-splittings generate a free group of ra…

We provide an example in each rank of an ageometric fully irreducible outer automorphism whose ideal Whitehead graph has a cut vertex. Consequently, we show that there exist examples in each rank of Handel-Mosher axis bundles that are not just a single axis, as well as of "nongeneric" behavior in the sense of the "trai…

We provide an effective algorithm for determining whether an element of the outer automorphism group of a free group is fully irreducible. Our method produces a finite list which can be checked for periodic proper free factors.

We define and discuss a notion called fibered commensurability of outer automorphisms of free groups. This notion lets us study symmetry of outer automorphisms. The notion of fibered commensurability is first defined by Calegari-Sun-Wang on mapping class groups. The Nielsen-Thurston type of mapping classes is a commens…

Given a countable group $G$ splitting as a free product $G=G_1\ast\dots\ast G_k\ast F_N$, we establish classification results for subgroups of the group $Out(G,\mathcal{F})$ of all outer automorphisms of $G$ that preserve the conjugacy classes of each $G_i$. We show that every finitely generated subgroup $H\subseteq Ou…

Subsurface projection has become indispensable in studying the geometry of the mapping class group and the curve complex of a surface. When the subsurface is an annulus, this projection is sometimes called relative twisting. We give two alternate versions of relative twisting for the outer automorphism group of a free …

In this paper we define currents relative to a free factor system. We prove that a fully irreducible outer automorphism relative to a free factor system acts with uniform north-south dynamics on a subspace of the space of projective relative currents.

For a fully irreducible automorphism φof the free group F_k we compute the asymptotics of the intersection number n \mapsto i(T,T'φ^n) for trees T,T' in Outer space. We also obtain qualitative information about the geometry of the Guirardel core for the trees T and T'φ^n for n large.

Study on Hausdorff dimension of lamination endpoints for fully irreducible automorphisms.

The study examines the stretch factors of outer automorphisms and their latent symmetry.

Train track automata for fully irreducible elements in Out(F_r).

Let $φ\in \mbox{Out}(F_n)$ be a free group outer automorphism that can be represented by an expanding, irreducible train-track map. The automorphism $φ$ determines a free-by-cyclic group $Γ=F_n \rtimes_φ\mathbb Z,$ and a homomorphism $α\in H^1(Γ; \mathbb Z)$. By work of Neumann, Bieri-Neumann-Strebel and Dowdall-Kapovi…

By proving precisely which singularity index lists arise from the pair of invariant foliations for a pseudo-Anosov surface homeomorphism, Masur and Smillie determined a Teichmueller flow invariant stratification of the space of quadratic differentials. In this paper we determine an analog to the theorem for $Out(F_3)$.…

Let $φ$ be an atoroidal outer automorphism of the free group $F_n$. We study the Gromov boundary of the hyperbolic group $G_φ = F_n \rtimes_φ \mathbb{Z}$. We explicitly describe a family of embeddings of the complete bipartite graph $K_{3,3}$ into $\partial G_φ$. To do so, we define the directional Whitehead graph and …

We extend some results of [BF12] on subfactor projections to show that the projection of a free factor B to the free factor complex of the free factor A is well-defined with uniformly bound diameter, unless either A is contained in B or A and B are vertex stabilizers of a single splitting of F_n, i.e. they are disjoint…

The thesis shows how automorphisms of hyperbolic groups can be represented by train track maps.

If $G$ is a semisimple Lie group of real rank at least 2 and $Γ$ is an irreducible lattice in $G$, then every homomorphism from $Γ$ to the outer automorphism group of a finitely generated free group has finite image.

We study the asymmetry of the Lipschitz metric d on Outer space. We introduce an (asymmetric) Finsler norm that induces d. There is an Out(F_n)-invariant potential Ψon Outer space such that when the Lipschitz norm is corrected by the derivative of Ψ, the resulting norm is quasisymmetric. As an application, we give new …

We produce an algorithm that, given $φ\in Out(F_N)$, where $N\ge 2$, decides wether or not $φ$ is an iwip ("fully irreducible") automorphism.

By proving precisely which singularity index lists arise from the pair of invariant foliations for a pseudo-Anosov surface homeomorphism, Masur and Smillie determined a Teichmüller flow invariant stratification of the space of quadratic differentials. In this final paper of a three-paper series, we give a first step to…

Given a free-by-cyclic group $G = F_N \rtimes_\varphi \mathbb{Z}$ determined by any outer automorphism $\varphi \in \mathrm{Out}(F_N)$ which is represented by an expanding irreducible train-track map $f$, we construct a $K(G,1)$ $2$-complex $X$ called the folded mapping torus of $f$, and equip it with a semiflow. We sh…

In \cite{Ka14} we produced an algorithm for deciding whether or not an element $φ\in Out(F_N)$ is an iwip ("fully irreducible") automorphism. At several points that algorithm was rather inefficient as it involved some general enumeration procedures as well as running several abstract processes in parallel. In this pape…

Study shows RAAG automorphisms and outer automorphisms are not relatively hyperbolic.

Criterion for subgroup separability in outer automorphism groups.

Study on symmetric automorphisms of RAAGs, proving finiteness properties and contractibility.

Outer automorphisms of free products are represented by CTs.

For a finitely generated group $G$, we introduce an asymmetric pseudometric on projectivized deformation spaces of $G$-trees, using stretching factors of $G$-equivariant Lipschitz maps, that generalizes the Lipschitz metric on Outer space and is an analogue of the Thurston metric on Teichmüller space. We show that in t…

The paper studies the action of automorphisms on train tracks and finds that the set of minimally displaced points is co-compact.

Using the Guirardel-Levitt outer space of a free product, we prove that the outer automorphism group of the outer automorphism group of the universal Coxeter group of rank $n \geq 5$ is trivial, and that it is a cyclic group of order 2 if $n=4$. In addition we prove that the outer automorphism group of the automorphism…

Outer automorphism group of hyperbolic groups is HHG under certain conditions.

We show that every virtually torsion-free subgroup of the outer automorphism group of a conjugacy separable relatively hyperbolic group is residually finite. As a direct consequence, we obtain that the outer automorphism group of a limit group is residually finite.

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…

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 show that for k at least 3, given any matrix in GL(k,Z), there is a hyperbolic fully irreducible automorphism of the free group of rank k whose induced action on Z^k is the given matrix.

We show that every virtually torsion-free subgroup of the outer automorphism group of a conjugacy separable hyperbolic group is residually finite. As a result, we are able to prove that the group of outer automorphisms of every finitely generated Fuchsian group and of every free-by-finite group is resudually finite. We…

We discuss the possibility of lifting finite subgroups, and in particular finite cyclic subgroups, with respect to the canonical projections between automorphism and outer automorphism groups of free groups, surface groups and their abelianizations.

Random walks on free groups reveal asymmetric expansion factors.

We correct the proof of Theorem 5 of the paper Homology stability for outer automorphism groups of free groups, by the first two authors.