Right-angled Artin groups and a generalized isomorphism problem for finitely generated subgroups of mapping class groups

Consider the mapping class group Mod _g,p of a surface ?? _g,p of genus g with p punctures, and a finite collection {f₁, . . . , f_k} of mapping classes, each of which is either a Dehn twist about a simple closed curve or a pseudo-Anosov homeomorphism supported on a connected subsurface. In this paper we prove that for all sufficiently large N, the mapping classes ${{f_1^N,ldots,f_k^N}}$ generate a right-angled Artin group. The right-angled Artin group which they generate can be determined from the combinatorial topology of the mapping classes themselves. When {f₁, . . . , f_k} are arbitrary mapping classes, we show that sufficiently large powers of these mapping classes generate a group which embeds in a right-angled Artin group in a controlled way. We establish some analogous results for real and complex hyperbolic manifolds. We also discuss the unsolvability of the isomorphism problem for finitely generated subgroups of Mod _g,p , and recover the fact that the isomorphism problem for right-angled Artin groups is solvable. We thus characterize the isomorphism type of many naturally occurring subgroups of Mod _g,p .