0
$\begingroup$

Let $K=\langle b,c,d\mid b^{2}=c^{2}=d^{2}=bcd=1\rangle $. Now we consider $$D=K*\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z=\left\{a,b,c,d\mid a^{2}=b^{2}=c^{2}=d^{2}=bcd=1\right\}$$ where $*$ is the free product. Then we can construct a group algebra $$\mathbb C(D)=\left\{h_{0}g_{0}+\Sigma_{i=1}^{n}h_{k}g_{k}\mid h_{i}\in \mathbb C,g_{i}\in D,g_{0}=1,g_{i}\neq 1 \ when\ i\neq 0\right\}$$ where ${\rm tr}(h_{0}g_{0}+\Sigma_{i=1}^{n}h_{k}g_{k})=h_{0}$ and $(h_{0}g_{0}+\Sigma_{i=1}^{n}h_{k}g_{k})^{*}=\overline{h_{0}}g_{0}^{-1}+\Sigma_{i=1}^{n}\overline{h_{k}}g_{k}^{-1}$. We can define an inner product on $C(D)$ by $\langle f,g\rangle ={\rm tr}(g^{*}f)$. By taking completion, we get a Hilbert space $H_{D}$.

Now we consider $u=\frac{b+c+d-1}{2}$, it's easy to check that $u^{2}=1$. We have a subspace $H$ of $H_{D}$ spanned by $\left\{(au)^{k}, u(au)^{l}|k,l\in \mathbb Z\right\}$. This $H$ is very similar to the Hilbert space $H_{D_{\infty}}$ where $D_{\infty}$ is infinite dihedral group. But their inner products are different. $(au)^{k}$'s are not orthogonal. It's natural to consider the ${\rm tr}(au)^{k}$ in order to dig deeper for this $H$. $(au)^{k}=a(\frac{b+c+d-1}{2})a(\frac{b+c+d-1}{2})...$, the trace is the coefficient of 1.When $k$ is odd , it's obvious that ${\rm tr}(au)^{k}=0$ since we don't have $1$ term after expand $(au)^{k}$.

Things become complicated when $k$ is even because we have plenty of "$1$" terms. For instance, after expanding $(au)^{k}$, a prototype for "$1$" terms is $$aa...\text{even numbers}... aabaa...\text{even numbers}...aabaaa...$$ Since there are tons of such kind terms, I don't know how to estimate the ${\rm tr}(au)^{k}$. Since I am not so familiar with group theorem, I don't know if there is some tools in group theory to deal with such kind problem.

$\endgroup$
5
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ In the definition of group algebra, do you mean to say $g_0=1$, $g_i\ne 1$ when $i\ne 0$? Also, more importantly, your $K$ is just $(Z/2Z)^2$, as rather elementary exercise in rewriting theory shows, so all this should be a simple exercise. What exactly did you try? $\endgroup$ Feb 13, 2018 at 17:59
  • $\begingroup$ @VladimirDotsenko Yes, you are correct about the definition of group algebra. Since my major is functional analysis, I'm not so familiar with rewriting theory. Can you provide some reference for rewriting theory? $\endgroup$
    – Jack
    Feb 14, 2018 at 2:16
  • $\begingroup$ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knuth%E2%80%93Bendix_completion_algorithm is the key word for what I had in mind. $\endgroup$ Feb 14, 2018 at 7:34
  • $\begingroup$ If you ask the online calculator for Magma to get it done for you, you'd want to type: K := RationalField(); F<x,y,z> := FreeAlgebra(K, 3); B := [x^2-1, y^2-1, z^2-1, xyz-1]; GroebnerBasis(B); (see next comment) $\endgroup$ Feb 14, 2018 at 7:35
  • $\begingroup$ That would output [ x^2 - 1, xy - z, xz - y, yx - z, y^2 - 1, yz - x, zx - y, zy - x, z^2 - 1 ] which shows that every word in your group is equal to one of $1,x,y,z$, that the group is Abelian, and that $x^2=1,y^2=1,z=xy$, which is $(Z/2Z)^2$. $\endgroup$ Feb 14, 2018 at 7:37

1 Answer 1

0
$\begingroup$

You essentially want to count the number of 'words' of length 2k in the 'alphabet' $a$, $(ab)$, $(ac)$ and $(ad)$ that evaluate to 1. A quick computational check for $k=0,1, ..., 6$ suggests that this number corresponds to sequence A194724 on the OEIS. The reason for this eludes me at the moment though...

$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ I got the same result as you did. It's a very interesting fact. Do you know more references for this A194724 sequence? $\endgroup$
    – Jack
    Feb 14, 2018 at 14:48
  • $\begingroup$ Unfortunately I don't know any references (apart from the ones on OEIS). $\endgroup$
    – TobeDeprez
    Feb 15, 2018 at 19:46

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.