Palindromic automorphisms of free groups and rigidity of automorphism groups of right-angled Artin groups

Fullarton, Neil James (2014) Palindromic automorphisms of free groups and rigidity of automorphism groups of right-angled Artin groups. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Let F_n denote the free group of rank n with free basis X. The palindromic automorphism group PiA_n of F_n consists of automorphisms taking each member of X to a palindrome: that is, a word on X that reads the same backwards as forwards. We obtain finite generating sets for certain stabiliser subgroups of PiA_n. We use these generating sets to find an infinite generating set for the so-called palindromic Torelli group PI_n, the subgroup of PiA_n consisting of palindromic automorphisms inducing the identity on the
abelianisation of F_n. Two crucial tools for finding this generating set are a new simplicial complex, the so-called complex of partial pi-bases, on which PiA_n acts, and a Birman exact sequence for PiA_n, which allows us to induct on n.

We also obtain a rigidity result for automorphism groups of right-angled Artin groups. Let G be a finite simplicial graph, defining the right-angled Artin group A_G. We show that as A_G ranges over all right-angled Artin groups, the order of Out(Aut(A_G)) does not have a uniform upper bound. This is in contrast with extremal cases when A_G is free or free abelian: in these cases, |Out(Aut(A_G))| < 5. We prove that no uniform upper bound exists in general by placing constraints on the graph G that yield tractable decompositions of Aut(A_G). These decompositions allow us to construct explicit members of Out(Aut(A_G)).

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: Q Science > QA Mathematics
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Mathematics and Statistics > Mathematics
• Supervisor's Name: Brendle, Dr Tara
• Date of Award: 2014
• Depositing User: Mr Neil Fullarton
• Unique ID: glathesis:2014-5323
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 14 Jul 2014 10:49
• Last Modified: 05 Dec 2016 15:50
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/5323