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The Congruence Subgroup Problem for Automorphism Groups Ben-Ezra, David El-Chai
Description
In its classical setting, the Congruence Subgroup Problem (CSP) asks whether every finite index subgroup of $GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z})$ contains a principal congruence subgroup of the form
\[
\ker(GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z})\to GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}))
\]
for some $m\in\mathbb{Z}$. It was known already in the 19th century
that for $n=2$ the answer is negative, and actually $GL_{2}(\mathbb{Z})$
has many finite index subgroups which do not come from congruence
considerations. On the other hand, quite surprisingly, it was proved
in the sixties by Mennicke and by Bass-Lazard-Serre that for $n\geq 3$
the answer to the CSP is affirmative. This breakthrough led to a rich
theory of the CSP for general arithmetic groups.
$$ $$
Viewing $GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z})\cong Aut(\mathbb{Z}^{n})$ as the automorphism
group of $\Gamma=\mathbb{Z}^{n}$, one can generalize the CSP to automorphism
groups as follows: Let $\Gamma$ be a finitely generated group; does
every finite index subgroup of $Aut(\Gamma)$ contain a principal
congruence subgroup of the form
\[
\ker(Aut(\Gamma)\rightarrow Aut(\Gamma/M))
\]
for some finite index characteristic subgroup $M\leq\Gamma$ Considering
this generalization, there are very few results when $\Gamma$ is
non-abelian. For example, only in 2001 Asada proved, using concepts
from Algebraic Geometry, that $Aut(F_{2})$ has an affirmative answer
to the CSP, when $F_{2}$ is the free group on two generators. For
$Aut(F_{n})$ when $n\geq 3$ the problem is still unsettled.
$$ $$
In the talk I will give a survey of some recent results regarding
the case where $\Gamma$ is non-abelian. We will see that when $\Gamma$
is a nilpotent group the CSP for $Aut(\Gamma)$ is completely determined
by the CSP for arithmetic groups. We will also see that when $\Gamma$
is a finitely generated free metabelian group the picture changes
and we have a dichotomy between $n=2,3$ and $n\geq 4$.
Item Metadata
| Title |
The Congruence Subgroup Problem for Automorphism Groups
|
| Creator | |
| Publisher |
Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery
|
| Date Issued |
2020-09-09T13:04
|
| Description |
In its classical setting, the Congruence Subgroup Problem (CSP) asks whether every finite index subgroup of $GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z})$ contains a principal congruence subgroup of the form
\[
\ker(GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z})\to GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z}/m\mathbb{Z}))
\]
for some $m\in\mathbb{Z}$. It was known already in the 19th century
that for $n=2$ the answer is negative, and actually $GL_{2}(\mathbb{Z})$
has many finite index subgroups which do not come from congruence
considerations. On the other hand, quite surprisingly, it was proved
in the sixties by Mennicke and by Bass-Lazard-Serre that for $n\geq 3$
the answer to the CSP is affirmative. This breakthrough led to a rich
theory of the CSP for general arithmetic groups.
$$ $$
Viewing $GL_{n}(\mathbb{Z})\cong Aut(\mathbb{Z}^{n})$ as the automorphism
group of $\Gamma=\mathbb{Z}^{n}$, one can generalize the CSP to automorphism
groups as follows: Let $\Gamma$ be a finitely generated group; does
every finite index subgroup of $Aut(\Gamma)$ contain a principal
congruence subgroup of the form
\[
\ker(Aut(\Gamma)\rightarrow Aut(\Gamma/M))
\]
for some finite index characteristic subgroup $M\leq\Gamma$ Considering
this generalization, there are very few results when $\Gamma$ is
non-abelian. For example, only in 2001 Asada proved, using concepts
from Algebraic Geometry, that $Aut(F_{2})$ has an affirmative answer
to the CSP, when $F_{2}$ is the free group on two generators. For
$Aut(F_{n})$ when $n\geq 3$ the problem is still unsettled.
$$ $$
In the talk I will give a survey of some recent results regarding
the case where $\Gamma$ is non-abelian. We will see that when $\Gamma$
is a nilpotent group the CSP for $Aut(\Gamma)$ is completely determined
by the CSP for arithmetic groups. We will also see that when $\Gamma$
is a finitely generated free metabelian group the picture changes
and we have a dichotomy between $n=2,3$ and $n\geq 4$.
|
| Extent |
29.0 minutes
|
| Subject | |
| Type | |
| File Format |
video/mp4
|
| Language |
eng
|
| Notes |
Author affiliation: The Hebrew University
|
| Series | |
| Date Available |
2021-03-09
|
| Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
| Rights |
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
|
| DOI |
10.14288/1.0396073
|
| URI | |
| Affiliation | |
| Peer Review Status |
Unreviewed
|
| Scholarly Level |
Postdoctoral
|
| Rights URI | |
| Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
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Item Citations and Data
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International