Metabelian groups: Full-rank presentations, randomness and Diophantine problems

Abstract

We study metabelian groups 𝐺 given by full rank finite presentations \langle A\mid R\rangle_{\mathcal{M}} in the variety ℳ of metabelian groups. We prove that 𝐺 is a product of a free metabelian subgroup of rank \max\{0,\lvert A\rvert-\lvert R\rvert\} and a virtually abelian normal subgroup, and that if \lvert R\rvert\leq\lvert A\rvert-2, then the Diophantine problem of 𝐺 is undecidable, while it is decidable if \lvert R\rvert\geq\lvert A\rvert. We further prove that if \lvert R\rvert\leq\lvert A\rvert-1, then, in any direct decomposition of 𝐺, all factors, except one, are virtually abelian. Since finite presentations have full rank asymptotically almost surely, metabelian groups finitely presented in the variety of metabelian groups satisfy all the aforementioned properties asymptotically almost surely.

On the Diophantine problem in some one-relator groups

“…Recently, the Diophantine problem has seen a good deal of study in various classes of groups (see e.g. [16,25,41,29,28]). Most notably, we can trace the following line of development.…”