On the quotient of the braid group by commutators of transversal half-twists and its group actions

We define pseudo-Garside groups and prove a theorem about them parallel to Garside's result on the word problem for the usual braid groups. The main novelty is that the set of simple elements can be infinite. We introduce a group B=B(Z^n) which we call the braid group of Z^n, and which bears some vague resemblance to mapping class groups. It is to GL(n,Z) what the braid group is to the symmetric group S_n. We prove that B is a pseudo-Garside group. We give a small presentatio...

For any $n$, we describe all endomorphisms of the braid group $B_n$ and of its commutator subgroup $B'_n$, as well as all homomorphisms $B'_n\to B_n$. These results are new only for small $n$ because endomorphisms of $B_n$ are already described by Castel for $n\ge 6$, and homomorphisms $B'_n\to B_n$ and endomorphisms of $B'_n$ are already described by Kordek and Margalit for $n\ge 7$. We use very different approaches for $n=4$ and for $n\ge 5$.

The aim of the present note is to construct invariants of the Artin braid group valued in $G_{N}^{2}$, and further study of groups related to $G_{n}^{3}$. In the groups $G_{n}^{2}$, the word problem is solved; these groups are much simpler than $G_{n}^{3}$.

We study the representations of the commutator subgroup K_{n} of the braid group B_{n} into a finite group . This is done through a symbolic dynamical system. Some experimental results enable us to compute the number of subgroups of K_{n} of a given (finite) index, and, as a by-product, to recover the well known fact that every representation of K_{n} into S_{r}, with n > r, must be trivial.

Generalising previous results on classical braid groups by Artin and Lin, we determine the values of m, n $\in$ N for which there exists a surjection between the n-and m-string braid groups of an orientable surface without boundary. This result is essentially based on specific properties of their lower central series, and the proof is completely combinatorial. We provide similar but partial results in the case of orientable surfaces with boundary components and of non-orienta...

This paper upbuilds the theoretical framework of orbit braids in $M\times I$ by making use of the orbit configuration space $F_G(M,n)$, which enriches the theory of ordinary braids, where $M$ is a connected topological manifold of dimension at least 2 with an effective action of a finite group $G$ and the action of $G$ on $I$ is trivial. Main points of our work include as follows. We introduce the orbit braid group $\mathcal{B}_n^{orb}(M,G)$, and show that it is isomorphic to...

In the present paper we study structural aspects of certain quotients of braid groups and virtual braid groups. In particular, we construct and study linear representations $B_n\to {\rm GL}_{n(n-1)/2}\left(\mathbb{Z}[t^{\pm1}]\right)$, $VB_n\to {\rm GL}_{n(n-1)/2}\left(\mathbb{Z}[t^{\pm1}, t_1^{\pm1},t_2^{\pm1},\ldots, t_{n-1}^{\pm1}]\right)$ which are connected with the famous Lawrence-Bigelow-Krammer representation. It turns out that these representations are faithful repre...

Computation of the fundamental group of the complement in the complex plane of the branch curve S , of a generic projection of the Veronese surface to the plane is presented. This paper is a continuation of our previous papers: Braid Group Technique I - IV. In I and II we developed algorithms to compute braid monodromy of a brunch curve, provided there exist a degeneration of the surface to union of planes in a configuration where the associated branch curve is partial to a l...

In this paper we study some subgroups and their decompositions in semi-direct product of the twisted virtual braid group $TVB_n$. In particular, the twisted virtual pure braid group $TVP_n$ is the kernel of an epimorphism of $TVB_n$ onto the symmetric group $S_n$. We find the set of generators and defining relations for $TVP_n$ and show that $TVB_n = TVP_n \rtimes S_n$. Further we prove that $TVP_n$ is a semi-direct product of some subgroup and abelian group $\mathbb{Z}_2^n$....

A new presentation of the $n$-string braid group $B_n$ is studied. Using it, a new solution to the word problem in $B_n$ is obtained which retains most of the desirable features of the Garside-Thurston solution, and at the same time makes possible certain computational improvements. We also give a related solution to the conjugacy problem, but the improvements in its complexity are not clear at this writing.