Topology & Geometric Group Theory Seminar

Spring 2009

1:30 – 2:30, Malott 207

Tuesday, April 28

Claire Wladis, CUNY


Subgroups and distortion in the generalized Thompson groups

Thompson's group F can be generalized so that the slopes and breakpoints depend upon more than one integer. These generalizations are also groups of piecewise linear homeomorphisms of the real line, and like F, can be represented using tree-pair diagrams. However, the metric of the generalized Thompson groups on more than one integer is a bit different from the metric of F and its single integer generalizations, and in fact, F itself is distorted inside many of the generalized Thompson groups. However, all cyclic subgroups, or copies of Z, are quasi-isometrically embedded in the generalized Thompson groups.

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