10
$\begingroup$

Let $X_w$ be the presentation complex of a one-relator group $\langle x_1,\dotsc,x_n\mid w\rangle$, with $w$ cyclically reduced, i.e., $X_w=R\cup_w D$, with $R$ the rose with $n$ petals labeled $x_1,\dotsc,x_n$, $D$ the unit disk, and $w\colon\partial D=S^1\to R$ is an immersion representing the word $w$.

Let $f\colon E\to X_w$ be a reduced disk diagram in $X_w$; $E$ is a compact (connected) simply-connected planar 2-complex whose (oriented) edges are labeled with the $x_i$ so that the (cyclic) word $w$ (or $w^{-1}$) is read off when traversing the boundary of each two-cell of $E$ in such a way that for any pair of two-cells meeting in an edge labeled $x$, those occurrences of $x$ are in different places in $w$, and don't differ by a rotation when $w$ is a proper power. For each such $E$, let $\hat E$ be the planar two-complex obtained by forgetting the labels and removing all valence two vertices (except perhaps one in the case where $E$ has only one two-cell and is already essentially the disk).

A theorem of Weinbaum's says that no proper subword of $w$ is in the normal closure of $w$, which has the consequence that the closure of every two-cell in $E$ (and therefore $\hat E$) is the closed two-cell. (Equivalently the dual graph has no monogons.)

Now consider a compact (connected) simply-connected planar two-complex $E'$ with no valence-two vertices (and no internal valence one-vertices, to avoid trivial counterexamples which would require the word $w$ to be non-reduced), such that the closure of every two-cell is the closed two-cell. Is there a word $w$ and a reduced disk diagram $f\colon E\to X_w$ such that $E'$ and $\hat E$ are isomorphic as two-complexes? Is Weinbaum's theorem the only restriction on the shape of a reduced disk diagram in a one-relator group?

Obviously the answer is no but I cannot prove anything.

$\endgroup$
1
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ If you are willing to assume that the word $w$ is a proper power, so there exists some word $v$ and some integer $n>1$ s.t. $w\equiv v^n$, then there are some pretty strong restrictions on the shape of possible diagrams. The starting point is B.B.Newman's Spelling Theorem, which says (roughly) that any disc diagram must contain a cyclic shift of $W^{n-1}$ on the boundary (or its inverse). Hruska and Wise went much further in their paper "Towers, ladders and the B. B. Newman Spelling Theorem", J. Aust. Math. Soc. (2001). "Towers" is the method of proof, "ladder" is the shape of the diagrams. $\endgroup$
    – user1729
    Commented Sep 2, 2019 at 18:14

0

You must log in to answer this question.