The isomorphism problem for profinite completions of residually finite groups

Martin R. Bridson, Henry Wilton

Published 2014-01-13Version 1

We consider pairs of finitely presented, residually finite groups $u:P\hookrightarrow \Gamma$. We prove that there is no algorithm that, given an arbitrary such pair, can determine whether or not the associated map of profinite completions $\hat{u}: \widehat{P} \to \widehat{\Gamma}$ is an isomorphism. Nor do there exist algorithms that can decide whether $\hat{u}$ is surjective, or whether $\widehat{P}$ is isomorphic to $\widehat{\Gamma}$.