The definition of graph automatic groups by Kharlampovich, Khoussainov and Miasnikov and its extension to C-graph automatic by Murray Elder and the first author raise the question of whether Thompsons group F is graph automatic. We define a language
of normal forms based on the combinatorial caret types which arise when elements of F are considered as pairs of finite rooted binary trees, which we show to be accepted by a finite state machine with 2 counters, and forms the basis of a 3-counter graph automatic structure for the group.
It is not known whether Thompsons group F is automatic. With the recent extensions of the notion of an automatic group to graph automatic by Kharlampovich, Khoussainov and Miasnikov and then to C-graph automatic by the authors, a compelling question
is whether F is graph automatic or C-graph automatic for an appropriate language class C. The extended definitions allow the use of a symbol alphabet for the normal form language, replacing the dependence on generating set. In this paper we construct a 1-counter graph automatic structure for F based on the standard infinite normal form for group elements.
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 $(q,6) eq 1$.
In this paper we investigate metric properties of the groups $Gamma_d(q)$ whose Cayley graphs are the Diestel-Leader graphs $DL_d(q)$ with respect to a given generating set $S_{d,q}$. These groups provide a geometric generalization of the family of l
amplighter groups, whose Cayley graphs with respect to a certain generating set are the Diestel-Leader graphs $DL_2(q)$. Bartholdi, Neuhauser and Woess in cite{BNW} show that for $d geq 3$, $Gamma_d(q)$ is of type $F_{d-1}$ but not $F_d$. We show below that these groups have dead end elements of arbitrary depth with respect to the generating set $S_{d,q}$, as well as infinitely many cone types and hence no regular language of geodesics. These results are proven using a combinatorial formula to compute the word length of group elements with respect to $S_{d,q}$ which is also proven in the paper and relies on the geometry of the Diestel-Leader graphs.
We produce a sequence of markings $S_k$ of Thompsons group $F$ within the space ${mathcal G}_n$ of all marked $n$-generator groups so that the sequence $(F,S_k)$ converges to the free group on $n$ generators, for $n geq 3$. In addition, we give prese
ntations for the limits of some other natural (convergent) sequences of markings to consider on $F$ within ${mathcal G}_3$, including $(F,{x_0,x_1,x_n})$ and $(F,{x_0,x_1,x_0^n})$.
We introduce a new method for computing the word length of an element of Thompsons group F with respect to a consecutive generating set of the form X_n={x_0,x_1,...,x_n}, which is a subset of the standard infinite generating set for F. We use this me
thod to show that (F,X_n) is not almost convex, and has pockets of increasing, though bounded, depth dependent on n.
