PREGARSIDE MONOIDS AND GROUPS, PARABOLICITY, AMALGAMATION, AND FC PROPERTY

We define the notion of preGarside group slightly lightening the definition of Garside group so that all Artin–Tits groups are preGarside groups. This paper intends to give a first basic study on these groups. Firstly, we introduce the notion of parabolic subgroup, we prove that any preGarside group has a (partial) complemented presentation, and we characterize the parabolic subgroups in terms of these presentations. Afterwards we prove that the amalgamated product of two preGarside groups along a common parabolic subgroup is again a preGarside group. This enables us to define the family of preGarside groups of FC type as the smallest family of preGarside groups that contains the Garside groups and that is closed by amalgamation along parabolic subgroups. Finally, we make an algebraic and combinatorial study on FC type preGarside groups and their parabolic subgroups.

MULTILINEAR EQUATIONS IN AMALGAMS OF FINITE INVERSE SEMIGROUPS

Let S = S1 *U S2 = Inv〈X; R〉 be the free amalgamated product of the finite inverse semigroups S1, S2 and let Ξ be a finite set of unknowns. We consider the satisfiability problem for multilinear equations over S, i.e. equations wL ≡ wR with wL, wR ∈ (X ∪ X-1 ∪ Ξ ∪ Ξ-1)+ such that each x ∈ Ξ labels at most one edge in the Schützenberger automaton of either wL or wR relative to the presentation 〈X ∪ Ξ|R〉. We prove that the satisfiability problem for such equations is decidable using a normal form of the words wL, wR and the fact that the language recognized by the Schützenberger automaton of any word in (X ∪ X-1)+) relative to the presentation 〈X|R〉 is context-free.

INCLUSION SYSTEMS AND AMALGAMATED PRODUCTS OF PRODUCT SYSTEMS

Here we generalize the concept of Skeide product, introduced by Skeide, of two product systems via a pair of normalized units. This new notion is called amalgamated product of product systems, and now the amalgamation can be done using contractive morphisms. Index of amalgamation product (when done through units) adds up for normalized units but for non-normalized units, the index is one more than the sum. We define inclusion systems and use it as a tool for index computations. It is expected that this notion will have other uses.

VIRTUAL PROPERTIES OF CYCLICALLY PINCHED ONE-RELATOR GROUPS

We prove that the amalgamated product of free groups with cyclic amalgamations satisfying certain conditions are virtually free-by-cyclic. In case the cyclic amalgamated subgroups lie outside the derived group such groups are free-by-cyclic. Similarly a one-relator HNN-extension in which the conjugated elements either coincide or are independent modulo the derived group is shown to be free-by-cyclic. In general, the amalgamated product of free groups with cyclic amalgamations is free-by-(torsion-free nilpotent). The special case of the double of a free group amalgamating a cyclic subgroup is shown to be virtually free-by-abelian. Analagous results are obtained for certain one-relator HNN-extensions.

Free Extensions of Chiral Polytopes

Abstract polytopes are discrete geometric structures which generalize the classical notion of a convex polytope. Chiral polytopes are those abstract polytopes which have maximal symmetry by rotation, in contrast to the abstract regular polytopes which have maximal symmetry by reflection. Chirality is a fascinating phenomenon which does not occur in the classical theory. The paper proves the following general extension result for chiral polytopes. If 𝒦 is a chiral polytope with regular facets 𝓕 then among all chiral polytopes with facets 𝒦 there is a universal such polytope 𝓟, whose group is a certain amalgamated product of the groups of 𝒦 and 𝓕. Finite extensions are also discussed.