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Given a multi-EGS-group $K$ acting on the $p$-adic rooted tree, where $p$ is any prime number, we compute the exponent of the congruence quotient $K_n= K/ \St_K(n)$ for all $n\ge 1$. The formula that we obtain for $\exp(K_n)$ only depends on $p$, $n$ and the periodicity of $K$.

In this paper we revisit the description of all verbal subgroups of the group of automorphisms of a regular rooted tree $\mathcal{T}_d$, for $d>2$ and odd.

We provide a class of non-contracting groups containing an infinite family of fractal and weakly regular branch groups, and study certain properties including abelianization, just infiniteness, and word problem. We present an example of a branch group in this class and show that it is of exponential growth. It seems this is the first example of a non-contracting branch group constructed explicitly.

The primary tool for analysing groups acting on trees is Bass--Serre Theory. It is comprised of two parts: a decomposition result, in which an action is decomposed via a graph of groups, and a construction result, in which graphs of groups are used to build examples of groups acting on trees. The usefulness of the latter for constructing new examples of `large' (e.g. nondiscrete) groups acting on trees is severely limited. There is a pressing need for new examples of such groups as they play an important role in the theory of locally compact groups. An alternative `local-to-global' approach to the study of groups acting on trees has recently emerged, inspired by a paper of Marc Burger and Shahar Mozes, based on groups that are `universal' with respect to some specified `local' action. In recent work, the authors of this survey article have developed a general theory of universal groups of local actions, that behaves, in many respects, like Bass--Serre Theory. We call this the theory of local action diagrams. The theory is powerful enough to completely describe all closed groups of automorphisms of trees that enjoy Tits' Independence Property (P). This article is an introductory survey of the local-to-global behaviour of groups acting on trees and the theory of local action diagrams. The article contains many ideas for future research projects., Comment: Survey article based on Simon M Smith's lecture at Groups St Andrews 2022

We present an algorithm to decide whether or not a finitely generated subgroup of the isometry group of a locally finite simplicial tree is both discrete and free. The correctness of this algorithm relies on the following conjecture: every `minimal' $n$-tuple of isometries of a simplicial tree either contains an elliptic element or satisfies the hypotheses of the Ping Pong Lemma. We prove this conjecture for $n=2,3$, and show that it implies a generalisation of Ihara's Theorem., Comment: 29 pages, 11 figures and 1 table. v2: Further background material added, to appear in the Journal of Algebra

Grigorchuk's Overgroup $\tilde{\mathcal{G}}$, is a branch group of intermediate growth. It contains the first Grigorchuk's torsion group $\mathcal{G}$ of intermediate growth constructed in 1980, but also has elements of infinite order. It's growth is substantially greater than the growth of $\mathcal{G}$. The group $\mathcal{G}$, corresponding to the sequence $(012)^\infty = 012012 ...$, is a member of the family $\{ G_\omega | \omega \in \Omega = \{ 0, 1, 2 \}^\mathbb{N} \}$ consisting of groups of intermediate growth when sequence $\omega$ is not virtually constant. Following this construction we define the family $\{ \tilde{G}_\omega, \omega \in \Omega \}$ of generalized overgroups. Then $\tilde{\mathcal{G}} = \tilde{G}_{(012)^\infty}$ and $G_\omega$ is a subgroup of $\tilde{G}_\omega$ for each $\omega \in \Omega$. We prove, if $\omega$ is eventually constant, then $\tilde{G}_\omega$ is of polynomial growth and if $\omega$ is not eventually constant, then $\tilde{G}_\omega$ is of intermediate growth., Comment: Edited reference info

We present a practical algorithm which, given a non-archimedean local field $K$ and any two elements $A,B\in {\rm SL_2}(K)$, determines after finitely many steps whether or not the subgroup $\langle A, B \rangle\le {\rm SL_2}(K)$ is discrete and free of rank two. This makes use of the Ping Pong Lemma applied to the action of ${\rm SL_2}(K)$ by isometries on its Bruhat-Tits tree. The algorithm itself can also be used for two-generated subgroups of the isometry group of any locally finite simplicial tree, and has applications to the constructive membership problem. In an appendix joint with Fr\'ed\'eric Paulin, we give an erratum to his 1989 paper `The Gromov topology on $\mathbb{R}$-trees', which details some translation length formulae that are fundamental to the algorithm., Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. Final version, to appear in Journal of Algebra

In 1989, Dicks and Dunwoody proved the Almost Stability Theorem, which has among its corollaries the Stallings-Swan theorem that groups of cohomological dimension one are free. In this article, we use a nestedness result of Bergman, Bowditch, and Dunwoody to simplify somewhat the proof of the finitely generable case of the Almost Stability Theorem. We also simplify the proof of the non finitely generable case. The proof we give here of the Almost Stability Theorem is essentially self contained, except that in the non finitely generable case we refer the reader to the original argument for the proofs of two technical lemmas about groups acting on trees., Comment: 31 pages, 0 figures, dedicated to Martin Dunwoody on the occasion of his 80th birthday

We address a question of Grigorchuk by providing both a system of recursive formulas and an asymptotic result for the portrait growth of the first Grigorchuk group. The results are obtained through analysis of some features of the branching subgroup structure of the group. More generally, we provide recursive formulas for the portrait growth of any finitely generated, contracting, regular branch group, based on the coset decomposition of the groups that are higher in the branching subgroup structure in terms of the lower subgroups. Using the same general approach we fully describe the portrait growth for all non-symmetric GGS-groups and for the Apollonian group.

We propose a generalisation of the congruence subgroup problem for groups acting on rooted trees. Instead of only comparing the profinite completion to that given by level stabilizers, we also compare pro-$\mathcal{C}$ completions of the group, where $\mathcal{C}$ is a pseudo-variety of finite groups. A group acting on a rooted, locally finite tree has the $\mathcal{C}$-congruence subgroup property ($\mathcal{C}$-CSP) if its pro-$\mathcal{C}$ completion coincides with the completion with respect to level stabilizers. We give a sufficient condition for a weakly regular branch group to have the $\mathcal{C}$-CSP. In the case where $\mathcal{C}$ is also closed under extensions (for instance the class of all finite $p$-groups for some prime $p$), our sufficient condition is also necessary. We apply the criterion to show that the Basilica group and the GGS-groups with constant defining vector (odd prime relatives of the Basilica group) have the $p$-CSP., Comment: 12 pages; v2: corrected calculations for Basilica group, based on correcting previously published results for this group that turned out to be inaccurate; version for publication

Let $G$ be a finitely generated group. Given two length functions $\ell$ and $m$ of irreducible $G$ actions on real trees $A$ and $B$, when is the point-wise sum $\ell + m$ again the length function of an irreducible $G$ action on a real tree? Guirardel and Levitt showed that additivity is equivalent to the existence of a common refinement of $A$ and $B$, this equivalence is established using Guirardel's core. Moreover, in this case the sum $\ell + m$ is the length function of the common refinement of $A$ and $B$ given explicitly by the Guirardel core. The core can be difficult to compute in general. Behrstock, Bestvina, and Clay give an algorithm for computing the core for free group actions on simplicial trees. In this article we give a geometric characterization of existence of a common refinement that generalizes the criterion underlying Behrstock, Bestvina, and Clay's algorithm, as well as two equivalent characterizations in terms of the associated translation length functions., Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, results part of the author's Ph. D. thesis. Revised version containing only the results that are not found in the appendix to arXiv:1602.05139

We generalize the result about the congruence subgroup property for GGS-groups to the family of multi-GGS-groups; that is, all multi-GGS-groups except the one defined by the constant vector have the congruence subgroup property. Even if the result remains, new ideas are needed in order to generalize the proof.

The aim of this article is to discuss and clarify the notion of fractality for subgroups of the group of automorphisms of a regular rooted tree. For this purpose we define three types of fractality. We show that they are not equivalent, by giving explicit examples. Furthermore we present some tools that are helpful in order to determine the fractality of a given group.

We show that all GGS-groups with non-constant defining vector satisfy the congruence subgroup property. This provides, for every odd prime $p$, many examples of finitely generated, residually finite, non-torsion groups whose profinite completion is a pro-$p$ group, and among them we find torsion-free groups. This answers a question of Barnea. On the other hand, we prove that the GGS-group with constant defining vector has an infinite congruence kernel and is not a branch group., Comment: v2 incorporates referee suggestions (final version)

In this paper, we address the following question: when is a finite $p$-group $G$ self-similar, i.e. when can $G$ be faithfully represented as a self-similar group of automorphisms of the $p$-adic tree? We show that, if $G$ is a self-similar finite $p$-group of rank $r$, then its order is bounded by a function of $p$ and $r$. This applies in particular to finite $p$-groups of a given coclass. In the particular case of groups of maximal class, that is, of coclass $1$, we can fully answer the question above: a $p$-group of maximal class $G$ is self-similar if and only if it contains an elementary abelian maximal subgroup over which $G$ splits. Furthermore, in that case the order of $G$ is at most $p^p+1$, and this bound is sharp., Comment: 10 pages, submitted to Groups, Geometry, and Dynamics

We study non-nesting actions on R-trees. We prove that some natural conditions describing how the group is generated, imply that such an action involves an isometric action on an R-tree. This can be applied to permutation groups, linear groups and some Polish groups., Comment: 27 pages. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:math/0607358

Using suitable deformations of simplicial trees and the duality theory for median sets, we show that every free action on a median set can be extended to a free and transitive one. We also prove that the category of median groups is a reflective full subcategory of the category of free actions on pointed median sets., Comment: 32 pages; A more conceptual alternative proof of Theorem 3.1. is given, and two new results (Theorems 4.1. and 5.1.) are proved

This is a new and short proof of the main theorem of classical structure tree theory. Namely, we show the existence of certain automorphism-invariant tree-decompositions of graphs based on the principle of removing finitely many edges. This was first done in "Cutting up graphs" by M.J. Dunwoody. The main ideas are based on the paper "Vertex cuts" by M.J. Dunwoody and the author. We extend the theorem to a detailed combinatorial proof of J.R. Stallings' theorem on the structure of finitely generated groups with more than one end., Comment: 12 pages

For a group $H$ and a subset $X$ of $H$, we let ${}^HX$ denote the set $\{hxh^{-1} \mid h \in H, x \in X\}$, and when $X$ is a free-generating set of $H$, we say that the set ${}^HX$ is a Whitehead subset of $H$. For a group $F$ and an element $r$ of $F$, we say that $r$ is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical in $F$ if ${}^F\{r\}$ is a Whitehead subset of the subgroup of $F$ that is generated by ${}^F\{r\}$. In 1963, D. E. Cohen and R. C. Lyndon independently showed that in each free group each non-trivial element is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical. In 1987, M. Edjvet and J. Howie showed that if $A$ and $B$ are locally indicable groups, then each cyclically reduced element of $A \ast B$ that does not lie in $A \cup B$ is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical in $A \ast B$. Using Bass-Serre Theory and the Edjvet-Howie Theorem, one can deduce the local-indicability Cohen-Lyndon Theorem: if $F$ is a locally indicable group and $T$ is an $F$-tree with trivial edge stabilizers, then each element of $F$ that fixes no vertex of $T$ is Cohen-Lyndon aspherical in $F$. Conversely, the Cohen-Lyndon Theorem and the Edjvet-Howie Theorem are immediate consequences of the local-indicability Cohen-Lyndon Theorem. In this article, we give a detailed review of Howie induction and arrange the arguments of Edjvet and Howie into a Howie-inductive proof of the local-indicability Cohen-Lyndon Theorem that does not use Magnus induction or the Cohen-Lyndon Theorem. We conclude with a review of some standard applications of Cohen-Lyndon asphericity., Comment: 15 pages, no figures

Heinz Huber (1956) considered the following problem on the the hyperbolic plane H. Consider a strictly hyperbolic subgroup of automorphisms on H with compact quotient, and choose a conjugacy class in this group. Count the number of vertices inside an increasing ball, which are images of a fixed point x in H under automorphisms in the chosen conjugacy class, and describe the asymptotic behaviour of this number as the size of the ball goes to infinity. We use a well-known analogy between the hyperbolic plane and the regular tree to solve this problem on the regular tree., Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure

We prove that the limits of Baumslag-Solitar groups which we previously studied are non-linear hopfian C*-simple groups with infinitely many twisted conjugacy classes. We exhibit infinite presentations for these groups, classify them up to group isomorphism, describe their automorphisms and discuss the word and conjugacy problems. Finally, we prove that the set of these groups has non-zero Hausforff dimension in the space of marked groups on two generators., Comment: 30 pages, no figures, english

We prove that if a Polish G with a comeagre conjugacy class has a non-nesting action on an R-tree, then every element of G fixes a point., Comment: 7 pages, to appear in J. Pure and Appl. Algebra

We study new asymptotic invariant of a pair consisting of a group and a subgroup, which we call Commensurizer Growth. We compute the commensurizer growth for several examples, concentrating mainly on the case of a locally compact topological group and a lattice inside it.

We introduce the $k$-peg Hanoi automorphisms and Hanoi self-similar groups, a generalization of the Hanoi Towers groups, and give conditions for them to be contractive. We analyze the limit spaces of a particular family of contracting Hanoi groups, $H_c^{(k)}$, and show that these are the unique maximal contracting Hanoi groups under a suitable symmetry condition. Finally, we provide partial results on the contraction of Hanoi groups with weaker symmetry., Comment: 28 Pages, 6 Figures

The following two results are shown. 1) Let $G$ be the $k$-rational points of a simple algebraic group over a local field $k$ and let $H$ be a lattice in $G.$ Then the regular representation of $G$ on $L^2(G/H)$ has a spectral gap (that is, there are no almost invariant unit vectors in the subspace of functions in $L^2(G/H)$ with zero mean). 2) There exist locally compact simple groups $G$ and lattices $H$ for which $L^2(G/H)$ has no spectral gap. This answers in the negative a question asked by Margulis. In fact, $G$ can be taken to be the group of orientation preserving automorphisms of a $k$-regular tree for $k>2.$, Comment: 17 pages; corrected typos

By a theorem of Thurston, in the subgroup of the mapping class group generated by Dehn twists around two curves that fill, every element not conjugate to a power of one of the twist is pseudo-Anosov. We prove an analogue of this theorem for the outer automorphism group of a free group., Comment: 32 pages, 7 figures; v2: includes referee's suggestions, additional references and removes the primitive hypothesis from several statements

We prove that torsion free subgroups of PGL(2,C) (abstractly) commensurable with the Euclidean Bianchi groups are conjugacy separable. As a consequence we deduce the result stated in the title.

Let T be a d-regular tree (d > 2) and A=Aut(T), its automorphism group. Let G be a group generated by n independent Haar-random elements of A. We show that almost surely, every nontrivial element of G has finitely many fixed points on T., Comment: 16 pages, one figure, to appear in GGD

We study superstable groups acting on trees. We prove that an action of an $\omega$-stable group on a simplicial tree is trivial. This shows that an HNN-extension or a nontrivial free product with amalgamation is not $\omega$-stable. It is also shown that if $G$ is a superstable group acting nontrivially on a $\Lambda$-tree, where $\Lambda=\mathbb Z$ or $\Lambda=\mathbb R$, and if $G$ is either $\alpha$-connected and $\Lambda=\mathbb Z$, or if the action is irreducible, then $G$ interprets a simple group having a nontrivial action on a $\Lambda$-tree. In particular if $G$ is superstable and splits as $G=G_1*_AG_2$, with the index of $A$ in $G_1$ different from 2, then $G$ interprets a simple superstable non $\omega$-stable group. We will deal with "minimal" superstable groups of finite Lascar rank acting nontrivially on $\Lambda$-trees, where $\Lambda=\mathbb Z$ or $\Lambda=\mathbb R$. We show that such groups $G$ have definable subgroups $H_1 \lhd H_2 \lhd G$, $H_2$ is of finite index in $G$, such that if $H_1$ is not nilpotent-by-finite then any action of $H_1$ on a $\Lambda$-tree is trivial, and $H_2/H_1$ is either soluble or simple and acts nontrivially on a $\Lambda$-tree. We are interested particularly in the case where $H_2/H_1$ is simple and we show that $H_2/H_1$ has some properties similar to those of bad groups., Comment: 2 figures