Solvable systems of equations modeled on some spines of 3-manifolds.
It is not known whether or not the stable rational cohomology groups H*(Aut(F∞);Q) always vanish (see Hatcher in [5] and Hatcher and Vogtmann in [7] where they pose the question and show that it does vanish in the first 6 dimensions). We show that either the rational cohomology does not vanish in certain dimensions, or the integral cohomology of a moduli space of pointed graphs does not stabilize in certain other dimensions. Similar results are stated for groups of outer automorphisms. This yields...
Let (W,S) be a Coxeter system such that no two generators in S commute. Assume that the Cayley graph of (W,S) does not contain adjacent hexagons. Then for any two vertices x and y in the Cayley graph of W and any number k ≤ d = dist(x,y) there are at most two vertices z such that dist(x,z) = k and dist(z,y) = d - k. Allowing adjacent hexagons, but assuming that no three hexagons can be adjacent to each other, we show that the number of such intermediate vertices at a given distance from x and y...
We prove that the first complex homology of the Johnson subgroup of the Torelli group is a non-trivial, unipotent -module for all and give an explicit presentation of it as a -module when . We do this by proving that, for a finitely generated group satisfying an assumption close to formality, the triviality of the restricted characteristic variety implies that the first homology of its Johnson kernel is a nilpotent module over the corresponding Laurent polynomial ring, isomorphic to the...
We describe a sufficient condition for a finitely generated group to have infinite asymptotic dimension. As an application, we conclude that the first Grigorchuk group has infinite asymptotic dimension.
A survey of splitting theorems for abstract groups and their applications. Topics covered include preliminaries, early results, Bass-Serre theory, the structure of G-trees, Serre's applications to SL2 and length functions. Stallings' theorem, results about accessibility and bounds for splittability. Duality groups and pairs; results of Eckmann and collaborators on PD2 groups. Relative ends, the JSJ theorems and the splitting results of Kropholler and Roller on PDn groups. Notions of quasi-isometry,...
We provide a solution to the isomorphism problem for torsion-free relatively hyperbolic groups with abelian parabolics. As special cases we recover solutions to the isomorphism problem for: (i) torsion-free hyperbolic groups (Sela, [60] and unpublished); and (ii) finitely generated fully residually free groups (Bumagin, Kharlampovich and Miasnikov [14]). We also give a solution to the homeomorphism problem for finite volume hyperbolic -manifolds, for . In the course of the proof of the main result,...