Combinatorial and metric properties of Thompson’s group 𝑇

Abstract

We discuss metric and combinatorial properties of Thompson’s group <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper T"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">T</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula>, including normal forms for elements and unique tree pair diagram representatives. We relate these properties to those of Thompson’s group <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper F"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>F</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">F</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> when possible, and highlight combinatorial differences between the two groups. We define a set of unique normal forms for elements of <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper T"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">T</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> arising from minimal factorizations of elements into natural pieces. We show that the number of carets in a reduced representative of an element of <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper T"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">T</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> estimates the word length, that <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper F"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>F</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">F</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> is undistorted in <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper T"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">T</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula>, and we describe how to recognize torsion elements in <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper T"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>T</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">T</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula>.