In this note, we adapt the procedure of the Long-Moody procedure to construct linear representations of welded braid groups. We exhibit the natural setting in this context and compute the first examples of representations we obtain thanks to this method. We take this way also the opportunity to review the few known linear representations of welded braid groups.
The non-abelian groups with abelian group of automorphisms are widely studied. Following Earnley, such groups are called Miller groups, since the first example of such a group was given by Miller in 1913. Many other examples of Miller $p$-groups have been constructed by several authors. Recently, A. Caranti [{it Israel J. Mathematics {bf 205} (2015), 235-246}] provided module theoretic methods for constructing non-special Miller $p$-groups from special Miller $p$-groups. By constructing examples, we show that these methods do not always work. We also provide a sufficient condition on special Miller $p$-group for which the methods of Caranti work.
Let $Gamma$ be a torsion-free hyperbolic group. We study $Gamma$--limit groups which, unlike the fundamental case in which $Gamma$ is free, may not be finitely presentable or geometrically tractable. We define model $Gamma$--limit groups, which always have good geometric properties (in particular, they are always relatively hyperbolic). Given a strict resolution of an arbitrary $Gamma$--limit group $L$, we canonically construct a strict resolution of a model $Gamma$--limit group, which encodes all homomorphisms $Lto Gamma$ that factor through the given resolution. We propose this as the correct framework in which to study $Gamma$--limit groups algorithmically. We enumerate all $Gamma$--limit groups in this framework.
We prove that the set of limit groups is recursive, answering a question of Delzant. One ingredient of the proof is the observation that a finitely presented group with local retractions (a la Long and Reid) is coherent and, furthermore, there exists an algorithm that computes presentations for finitely generated subgroups. The other main ingredient is the ability to algorithmically calculate centralizers in relatively hyperbolic groups. Applications include the existence of recognition algorithms for limit groups and free groups.
Let $Gamma_d(q)$ denote the group whose Cayley graph with respect to a particular generating set is the Diestel-Leader graph $DL_d(q)$, as described by Bartholdi, Neuhauser and Woess. We compute both $Aut(Gamma_d(q))$ and $Out(Gamma_d(q))$ for $d geq 2$, and apply our results to count twisted conjugacy classes in these groups when $d geq 3$. Specifically, we show that when $d geq 3$, the groups $Gamma_d(q)$ have property $R_{infty}$, that is, every automorphism has an infinite number of twisted conjugacy classes. In contrast, when $d=2$ the lamplighter groups $Gamma_2(q)=L_q = {mathbb Z}_q wr {mathbb Z}$ have property $R_{infty}$ if and only if $(q,6) eq 1$.