Isomorphism of the Baumslag-Solitar groups

Necessary and sufficient conditions for the isomorphism of two groups, each defined by a single relation of the type a^–1b^ma=bⁿ, are obtained.Translated from Ukrainskii Matematicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 43, No. 12, pp. 1684–1686, December, 1991.     

Embedding of baumslag-solitar groups into the generalized Baumslag-Solitar groups

A finitely generated group G that acts on a tree so that all vertex and edge stabilizers are infinite cyclic groups is called a generalized Baumslag-Solitar group or GBS-group. Let p and q be coprime integers other than 0, 1, and ?1. We prove that the Baumslag-Solitar group BS(p, q) embeds into G if and only if the equation x ^?1 y ^p x = y ^q is solvable in G for y ≠ 1; i.e., $\tfrac{p} {q} $ ∈ Δ(G), where Δ is the modular homomorphism.     

Representation varieties of the fundamental groups of compact orientable surfaces

We show that the representation variety for the surface group in characteristic zero is (absolutely) irreducible and rational over ℚ. This work was supported in part by the International Science Foundation (Grant No. MWQ000). Visiting the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA) in 1992–94.     

The topology of parabolic character varieties of free groups

Let $G$ be a complex affine algebraic reductive group, and let $K\,\subset \, G$ be a maximal compact subgroup. Fix h $\,:=\,(h_{1}\,,\ldots \,,h_{m})\,\in \, K^{m}$ . For $n\, \ge \, 0$ , let $\mathsf X _{\mathbf{{h}},n}^{G}$ (respectively, $\mathsf X _{\mathbf{{h}},n}^{K}$ ) be the space of equivalence classes of representations of the free group on $m+n$ generators in $G$ (respectively, $K$ ) such that for each $1\le i\le m$ , the image of the $i$ -th free generator is conjugate to $h_{i}$ . These spaces are parabolic analogues of character varieties of free groups. We prove that $\mathsf X _{\mathbf{{h}},n}^{K}$ is a strong deformation retraction of $\mathsf X _{\mathbf{{h}},n}^{G}$ . In particular, $\mathsf X _{\mathbf{{h}},n}^{G}$ and $\mathsf X _{\mathbf{{h}},n}^{K}$ are homotopy equivalent. We also describe explicit examples relating $\mathsf X _{\mathbf{{h}},n}^{G}$ to relative character varieties.     

Algebraic entropy and the action of mapping class groups on character varieties

We extend the definition of algebraic entropy to endomorphisms of affine varieties. We then calculate the algebraic entropy of the action of elements of mapping class groups on various character varieties, and show that it is equal to a quantity we call the spectral radius, a generalization of the dilatation of a pseudo-Anosov mapping class. Our calculations are compatible with all known calculations of the topological entropy of this action.     

Representation varieties of arithmetic groups and polynomial periodicity of Betti numbers

We give a method of studying character varieties of arithmetic groups with an application to polynomial periodicity of Betti numbers of manifolds in congruence towers.     

Two remarks on the first-order theories of Baumslag-Solitar groups

We characterize all finitely generated groups elementarily equivalent to a solvable Baumslag-Solitar group BS(m, 1). It turns out that a finitely generated group G is elementarily equivalent to BS(m, 1) if and only if G is isomorphic to BS(m, 1). Furthermore, we show that two Baumslag-Solitar groups are existentially (universally) equivalent if and only if they are elementarily equivalent if and only if they are isomorphic.     

Representation and character theory in 2-categories

We develop a (2-)categorical generalization of the theory of group representations and characters. We categorify the concept of the trace of a linear transformation, associating to any endofunctor of any small category a set called its categorical trace. In a linear situation, the categorical trace is a vector space and we associate to any two commuting self-equivalences a number called their joint trace. For a group acting on a linear category V we define an analog of the character which is the function on commuting pairs of group elements given by the joint traces of the corresponding functors. We call this function the 2-character of V. Such functions of commuting pairs (and more generally, n-tuples) appear in the work of Hopkins, Kuhn and Ravenel [Michael J. Hopkins, Nicholas J. Kuhn, Douglas C. Ravenel, Generalized group characters and complex oriented cohomology theories, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 13 (3) (2000) 553-594 (electronic)] on equivariant Morava E-theories. We define the concept of induced categorical representation and show that the corresponding 2-character is given by the same formula as was obtained in [Michael J. Hopkins, Nicholas J. Kuhn, Douglas C. Ravenel, Generalized group characters and complex oriented cohomology theories, J. Amer. Math. Soc. 13 (3) (2000) 553-594 (electronic)] for the transfer map in the second equivariant Morava E-theory.     

Representation of varieties in combinatory algebras

It is shown that the set of completions of algebras in a variety can be represented as the set of solutions of a single equation of the formA · X=B · X in the author's model of combinatory algebra.A andB are determined directly from the equations which present the variety. Conversely, the individual structures are realized as retracts and the algebraic operations as combinatory objects; these are reclaimable by fixed combinators from the individual solutionsX. These results can be extended to universal classes and to algorithmic classes.Presented by Walter Taylor.