## Surjective maps given by words, redux

Let w(X,Y) be a word in X and Y (i.e., an element in the free group on x and y). Let the variables x and y now range among elements of SL_n(K), K an algebraically closed field.

For which w is it the case that, for x generic, the image of the map given by

y -> w(x,y)

is not Zariski-dense?

It seems that the map has Zariski-dense image for most w one can try. At the same time, as I said back when I first asked the question, the image of the map y -> w(x,y) is not Zariski-dense for w(x,y) = y x y^{-1}: the image of the map is contained in the conjugacy class of x.

By the same reasoning, the image of the map y -> w(x,y) is not Zariski-dense for x generic when w is of the form

w(x,y) = v(x, u(x,y)^{-1} x u(x,y)), (*)

where v and u are some words. The question can then be made precise: are all examples of this form? That is: is it the case that, for all words w(x,y) not of the special form (*), the image of the map y->w(x,y) is Zariski-dense for x generic?

I would be extremely interested in the correct answer, even in the case n=3. I suspect that the answer is "yes", at least for n=2. At the same time, it would be rather nice if it were "no".

[The most obvious approach may be to take derivatives at the origin. However, while this often proves that a map is surjective, it does not prove that a map is not surjective - and in this problem it leaves too many candidates of possible words w for which the map y->w(x,y) might not be surjective but probably really is.

For those who have asked about the characteristic: if the characteristic is finite, you can assume it's much greater than the sum of the absolute values of the exponents of the word we are considering. In other words, let us not consider things like y->y^p, p = char(K).]

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Sorry, Harald, I'm confused here -- is y -> [x,y] not surjective for a generic x? – JSE Oct 23 2009 at 16:16
No, it is not. The map y -> y x^{-1} y^{-1} is not surjective, since its image is simply the conjugacy class Cl_x of x. Thus, the map y -> [x,y] = x y x^{-1} y^{-1} is not surjective either - its image is x Cl_x. – H A Helfgott Oct 24 2009 at 13:53
One possible way to show that a word w gives non-surjective map is to show that the derivative of the map y -> w(x,yz) at the origin is singular for x and z generic. In fact, I think this is an if-and-only if condition. Now, as to how to show that... – H A Helfgott Oct 25 2009 at 16:03
I'm going to vote this -1 for lack of clarity, and suggest two ways in which it could be improved. Greg Kuperberg mentioned a third. 1: "Word" is used in different ways by different people. Group theorists mean one thing, semigroup theorists another, and universal algebraists another still (generalizing the first two). It's not until later in your question that we see evidence of which meaning you intend. 2: You ask when a map is "not surjective for x generic". That's ambiguous: does it mean "for generic x, it's non-surjective" or "it's false that for generic x, it's surjective"? – Tom Leinster Nov 3 2009 at 23:10
Amendments made. – H A Helfgott Nov 4 2009 at 10:15
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You need some conditions on K to make sense of the question. For instance, y ⟼ y2 is not surjective when K = ℝ and n = 2, because you cannot reach [[-1,0],[0,-2]]. Of course, you might have meant surjectivity in the sense of algebraic groups rather than in the sense of set-theoretic groups. But I think that that just amounts to asking for K to be algebraically closed. There is another problem when K has characteristic p. In this case y ⟼ yp is not surjective; its image is only the diagonalizable matrices.

The conjecture as stated seems plausible when K = ℂ. Or if K has positive characteristic and is algebraically closed, you could perhaps ask for a Zariski-dense image.