How Groups Grow

by Avinoam Mann

Overview

Growth of groups is an innovative new branch of group theory. This is the first book to introduce the subject from scratch. It begins with basic definitions and culminates in the seminal results of Gromov and Grigorchuk and more. The proof of Gromov's theorem on groups of polynomial growth is given in full, with the theory of asymptotic cones developed on the way. Grigorchuk's first and general groups are described, as well as the proof that they have intermediate growth, with explicit bounds, and their relationship to automorphisms of regular trees and finite automata. Also discussed are generating functions, groups of polynomial growth of low degrees, infinitely generated groups of local polynomial growth, the relation of intermediate growth to amenability and residual finiteness, and conjugacy class growth. This book is valuable reading for researchers, from graduate students onward, working in contemporary group theory.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781107657502
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	12/15/2011
Series:	London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series , #395
Pages:	210
Product dimensions:	5.91(w) x 8.82(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Avinoam Mann is a Professor Emeritus at his Alma Mater, the Einstein Institute of Mathematics in the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has published over a hundred papers on group theory and co-authored the influential book Analytic Pro-p Groups.

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Some group theory; 3. Groups of linear growth; 4. The growth of nilpotent groups; 5. The growth of soluble groups; 6. Linear groups; 7. Asymptotic cones; 8. Groups of polynomial growth; 9. Infinitely generated groups; 10. Intermediate growth: Grigorchuk's first group; 11. More groups of intermediate growth; 12. Growth and amenability; 13. Intermediate growth and residual finiteness; 14. Explicit calculations; 15. The generating function; 16. The growth of free products; 17. Conjugacy class growth; Research problems; References.

Editorial Reviews

"The book gives an accessible account of group growth. It is very useful for different purposes such as in courses for advanced students, getting acquainted with the theory or learning about directions of research of the last decades."
Wolfgang Woes, Mathematical Review

"How Groups Grow is an excellent introduction to growth of groups for everybody interested in this subject. It also touches a variety of adjacent subjects (such as amenability, isoperimetric inequalities, groups generated by automata, etc.) It is written in a very accessible style, with very clear exposition of all main results."
V. Nekrashevych, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society

From the Publisher