Decision problems and profinite completions of groups

Martin R. Bridson

Published 2008-10-02Version 1

We consider pairs of finitely presented, residually finite groups $P\hookrightarrow\G$ for which the induced map of profinite completions $\hat P\to \hat\G$ is an isomorphism. We prove that there is no algorithm that, given an arbitrary such pair, can determine whether or not $P$ is isomorphic to $\G$. We construct pairs for which the conjugacy problem in $\G$ can be solved in quadratic time but the conjugacy problem in $P$ is unsolvable. Let $\mathcal J$ be the class of super-perfect groups that have a compact classifying space and no proper subgroups of finite index. We prove that there does not exist an algorithm that, given a finite presentation of a group $\G$ and a guarantee that $\G\in\mathcal J$, can determine whether or not $\G\cong\{1\}$. We construct a finitely presented acyclic group $\H$ and an integer $k$ such that there is no algorithm that can determine which $k$-generator subgroups of $\H$ are perfect.