Proving G=1: Exercise from Serre's Book Trees

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Homework Help Overview

The problem involves proving that a group defined by specific relations is trivial, specifically the group G = < a, b, c | bab−1 = a2, cbc−1 = b2, aca−1 = c2 >. The context is rooted in group theory, particularly in the study of group presentations and properties of generators.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Assumption checking, Problem interpretation

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants discuss various approaches, including the potential use of coset enumeration and the importance of the number of generators. There are attempts to simplify products of the generators to derive relations that may lead to the conclusion about their orders.

Discussion Status

The discussion is ongoing, with participants exploring different lines of reasoning and expressing uncertainty about the next steps. Some participants suggest that proving the finite order of the generators could be a key to progressing, while others are considering alternative methods.

Contextual Notes

There is a mention of a related exercise in another book that assumes the group is finite, which raises questions about the assumptions that can be made in this context. Participants are also grappling with the implications of the group's structure as defined by the given relations.

Ultraworld
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This is an exercise from a book from Serre called Trees. Given the group

G = < a, b, c | bab−1 = a2, cbc−1 = b2, aca−1 = c2 >

I have to prove G = 1.

I don't have a clue. Of course G' = G (commutator subgroup equals the group itself) but I don't know what to deduce from that. Another first step could be to prove that the orders of a, b and c are finite. But I do not even know how to that.

If anyone could put me in the right direction i would be very grateful.

edit: I am going to try to use Todd Coxeter coset enumeration.
 
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I doubt wetter ToddCoxeter CE will help me :frown:
 
Since the question uses a,b,c and it's Serre, let's assume that the fact there are 3 generators is important.

The only thing I can think of doing is considering products like abc or bac etc and simplifying in two ways until ended up with something that points towards the statement a=a^2, or similar.

(No, I\ve not solved this - I'll get a pen and paper and think about it some more later)
 
well, if you can prove all the 3 generators are of finite order than I can finish this question. Because Suzuki has this exercise in his book where he assumes G is finite and he also gives lots of hints.

Here however I can not a priori assume G is finite.
 

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