Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2026 / iii / Paper 133 / 2

WriteIts Bass-Serre tree has verticesand edges $G/C$, where $C=⟨u^2⟩=⟨v^3⟩$; the edge $gC$ joins $g⟨u⟩$ to $g⟨v⟩$. Sincethis is the infinite $(2,3)$-biregular tree: every $u$-type vertex has degree two and every $v$-type vertex has degree three.

The HNN extension is the Baumslag-Solitar groupIts Bass-Serre tree has vertices $G/⟨u⟩$ and oriented edges $G/⟨u⟩$, with the two endpoint maps induced by the identity embedding and the index-two embedding $n\mapsto 2n$. At each vertex there is one incident edge on the identity side and two on the index-two side. The underlying unoriented tree is therefore infinite and $3$-regular, with an orientation in which every vertex has one incoming and two outgoing edges, up to reversing the convention.

The relation isso $K$ is the Klein bottle group. Let it act on ${\mathbb{R}}^2$ byThese are Euclidean isometries and satisfy $ab{a}^{-1}=b^{-1}$. Every element has a normal form $b^m{a}^n$. The orbit of $(0,0)$ is discrete, and a rectangle of finite size meets every orbit, so the action is proper and cocompact.

The squareis a vertical translation, while $b$ is a horizontal translation. They commute, andas an isometry only when $m=n=0$. Hence $⟨a^2,b⟩\cong {\mathbb{Z}}^2$. The normal form shows that every element lies in either $⟨a^2,b⟩$ or $a⟨a^2,b⟩$, so this subgroup has index two in $K$.

Introduce $d=c^2$ and $e=a^2$. The two vertex groupsare Klein bottle groups. In $A$, the subgroup $⟨a^2,d⟩$ is ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$ of index two; in $B$, the subgroup $⟨e,c^2⟩$ is also ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$ of index two. IdentifyinggivesEliminating $d,e$ from this amalgamated free product recovers exactly the two given relators.

The Bass-Serre tree is bipartite with vertex sets $G/A$ and $G/B$ and edge set $G/⟨a^2,c^2⟩$. Both edge-group inclusions have index two, so every vertex has degree two. The tree is therefore a bi-infinite line, with $A$- and $B$-type vertices alternating.

Use the amalgam from part (c), with edge groupAn odd power of $a$ belongs to $A\setminus C$, because $C$ is the index-two translation subgroup of the Klein bottle group $A$. Similarly, an odd power of $c$ belongs to $B\setminus C$. Thusis a reduced alternating word whose syllables lie in $A\setminus C$ and $B\setminus C$. The normal form theorem for an amalgamated free product says that every nonempty reduced alternating word is nonidentity. The displayed element is therefore nontrivial for every $n\ge 1$.