{"title":"虚自由群中有理子集和共轭的测地线语言","authors":"André Carvalho , Pedro V. Silva","doi":"10.1016/j.jalgebra.2025.12.034","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We prove that a subset of a virtually free group is rational if and only if the language of geodesic words representing its elements (in any generating set) is rational and that the language of geodesics representing conjugates of elements in a rational subset of a virtually free group is context-free. As a corollary, the doubly generalized conjugacy problem is decidable for rational subsets of finitely generated virtually free groups: there is an algorithm taking as input two rational subsets <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> and <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> of a virtually free group that decides whether there is one element of <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> conjugate to an element of <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span>. For free groups, we prove that the same problem is decidable with rational constraints on the set of conjugators.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":14888,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Algebra","volume":"694 ","pages":"Pages 263-286"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2026-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Geodesic languages for rational subsets and conjugates in virtually free groups\",\"authors\":\"André Carvalho , Pedro V. Silva\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.jalgebra.2025.12.034\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><div>We prove that a subset of a virtually free group is rational if and only if the language of geodesic words representing its elements (in any generating set) is rational and that the language of geodesics representing conjugates of elements in a rational subset of a virtually free group is context-free. As a corollary, the doubly generalized conjugacy problem is decidable for rational subsets of finitely generated virtually free groups: there is an algorithm taking as input two rational subsets <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> and <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> of a virtually free group that decides whether there is one element of <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>1</mn></mrow></msub></math></span> conjugate to an element of <span><math><msub><mrow><mi>K</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>2</mn></mrow></msub></math></span>. For free groups, we prove that the same problem is decidable with rational constraints on the set of conjugators.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":14888,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Algebra\",\"volume\":\"694 \",\"pages\":\"Pages 263-286\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.8000,\"publicationDate\":\"2026-05-15\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Algebra\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"100\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021869326000463\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"数学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2026/1/29 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"Epub\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"MATHEMATICS\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Algebra","FirstCategoryId":"100","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021869326000463","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"数学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2026/1/29 0:00:00","PubModel":"Epub","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MATHEMATICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
Geodesic languages for rational subsets and conjugates in virtually free groups
We prove that a subset of a virtually free group is rational if and only if the language of geodesic words representing its elements (in any generating set) is rational and that the language of geodesics representing conjugates of elements in a rational subset of a virtually free group is context-free. As a corollary, the doubly generalized conjugacy problem is decidable for rational subsets of finitely generated virtually free groups: there is an algorithm taking as input two rational subsets and of a virtually free group that decides whether there is one element of conjugate to an element of . For free groups, we prove that the same problem is decidable with rational constraints on the set of conjugators.
期刊介绍:
The Journal of Algebra is a leading international journal and publishes papers that demonstrate high quality research results in algebra and related computational aspects. Only the very best and most interesting papers are to be considered for publication in the journal. With this in mind, it is important that the contribution offer a substantial result that will have a lasting effect upon the field. The journal also seeks work that presents innovative techniques that offer promising results for future research.