Computability of Følner sets

We define the notion of computability of Følner sets for finitely generated amenable groups. We prove, by an explicit description, that the Kharlampovich groups, finitely presented solvable groups with unsolvable Word Problem, have computable Følner sets. We also prove computability of Følner sets for extensions — with subrecursive distortion functions — of amenable groups with solvable Word Problem by finitely generated groups with computable Følner sets. Moreover, we obtain some known and some new upper bounds for the Følner function for these particular extensions.

ON THE WORD PROBLEM IN PERIODIC GROUP VARIETIES

It is shown that there is a finitely based periodic group variety with unsolvable word problem. This uses the solution by Novikov and Adian of the Burnside problem and solves a subsequent problem raised by Adian and Makanin.

On the Word Problem for Orthocomplemented Modular Lattices

In [16] Freese showed that the word problem for the free modular lattice on 5 generators is unsolvable. His proof makes essential use of Mclntyre's construction of a finitely presented field with unsolvable word problem [30]. (We follow Cohn [7] in calling what is commonly called a division ring a field, and what is commonly called a field a commutative field.) In this paper we will use similar ideas to obtain unsolvability results for varieties of modular ortholattices. The material in this paper is fairly wide ranging, the following are recommended as reference texts.

Embeddings into groups with only a few defining relations

It is a trivial consequence of Magnus' solution to the word problem for one-relator groups [9] and the existence of finitely presented groups with unsolvable word problem [4] that not every finitely presented group can be embedded in a one-relator group. We modify a construction of Aanderaa [1] to show that any finitely presented group can be embedded in a group with twenty-six defining relations. It then follows from the well-known theorem of Higman [7] that there is a fixed group with twenty-six defining relations in which every recursively presented group is embedded.