Algebra Colloquium 7:3 (2000) 247{274 Algebra

Colloquium
c Springer-Verlag 2000

A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups

M. Edjvet
School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham
University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
E-mail: me@maths.nott.ac.uk
Received 15 August 1998
Revised 7 November 1999
Communicated by E. Zelmanov

Abstract. Let,1 be,1a group and an unknown.

G t In this paper, we prove that the
equation atbtct dt =1( 2 , 6= 1, 6= 1, 6= 1) has a solution
a; b; c; d
2
G a
2
c bd

over . This forms part of a program to investigate precisely when an equation,

G

whose associated star graph contains no admissible paths of length less than 3,
fails to have a solution over .
G

2000 Mathematics Subject Classication: 20E06

Keywords: group, equation, relative diagram

1 Introduction
Let G be a group and t an unknown. Then an equation (in t) over G is an
expression
g1 t1 g2 t2


gn tn = 1 (gi 2 G; i = 1); (1)
in which we assume i + i+1 = 0 implies gi+1 6= 1 in G (subscripts modulo
n). Equation (1) is said to have a solution over G if there is an embed-
ding of G into a group H together with an element h of H such that
g1 h1 g2 h2


gn hn = 1 in H . It is readily seen that if we let F denote
the free group on t and let r(t) denote g1 t1


gn tn , then (1) has a solu-
tion over G if and only if the natural map G ! hG  F j r(t)i is injective.
The integer n is called the length of Equation (1) and 1 +


+ n
the exponent sum . An equation is called singular if the exponent sum
is zero, and non-singular otherwise. It is conjectured (see, for example,
[13, Problem 2a]) that any non-singular equation over any group G has a
solution over G, and there has been much work done in this direction (see
[11] and the references cited). This conjecture is evidently false for singular
equations and we will study this problem in this paper. It seems to be the
248 M. Edjvet

case that singular equations are more dicult to study than non-singular
ones. One reason is that the Gerstenhaber{Rothaus Theorem [7, 14] no
longer applies. (Recall that this says that if G is a locally residually nite
group, then any non-singular equation over G has a solution over G.)
The (associated) star graph , for the equation r(t) = 1 is a directed
graph consisting of vertices t; t,1 and one edge (labeled g) from t,1 to
t2 whenever some cyclic permutation of r(t) begins with t1 gt2 (g 2 G,
1 ; 2 = 1). The label of a path in , is the product of labels of its edges.
A path is called admissible if it is closed, cyclically reduced and its label
equals 1 in the group G.
In [5], it was shown that if r(t) = 1 is a non-singular equation over G,
whose associated star graph contains no admissible paths of length less than
3, then r(t) = 1 has a solution over G. It is natural to ask what happens to
this result if we allow the exponent sum of t to be arbitrary?
The argument on page 154 of [5] suces for the following theorem.
Theorem 1.1. If , contains no admissible paths of length less than 3 and
the equation r(t) = 1 has length at least 6, then there is always a solution
over G.
Now if r(t) = 1 is an equation over G of length less than 6, then
r(t) can be put into one of the following forms using cyclic permutations
and inversions: r0 (t) = at; r1 (t) = atbt; r2 (t) = atbt,1; r3 (t) = atbtct;
r4 (t) = atbtct,1 ; r5 (t) = atbtctdt; r6 (t) = atbtctdt,1; r7 (t) = atbt,1ctdt,1 ;
r8 (t) = atbtct,1 dt,1 ; r9 (t) = atbtctdtet; r10 (t) = atbtctdtet,1; r11 (t) =
atbtct,1 dtet,1; r12 (t) = atbtctdt,1 et,1 , where a; b; c; d; e 2 G.
In [12], it was shown that if the length equals the exponent sum of t
in r(t), then a solution over G always exists and so equations rj (t) = 1
where j 2 f0; 1; 3; 5; 9g are done. Now r4 (t) = 1 always has a solution [9];
r6 (t) = 1 always has a solution [4]. It was shown in [5, 10] that if , contains
no admissible paths of length less than 3, then rj (t) = 1 has a solution over
G for 10  j  12. Furthermore, r2 (t) = 1 has a solution over G if and
only if jaj = jbj. (We use jgj to denote the order of g in G.) All of this
leaves r7 (t) = 1 which will be dealt with elsewhere, and r8 (t) = 1 which we
will study here and for which , is given by Fig. 1(i). This paper is devoted

 
entirely to proving the following theorem.

 
b-
a b
c 6  6a
d
d c
,
(i) (ii)
Fig. 1
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 249
Theorem 1.2. If , contains no admissible paths of length less than 3, then
the equation atbtct,1dt,1 = 1 (a; b; c; d 2 G, a =
6 1, c =
6 1) has a solution
over G.
We make the following assumption throughout:
(A1) r(t) = r8 (t) = atbtct,1dt,1 , where a; b; c; d 2 G and a 6= 1, c 6= 1.
We discuss here brie y what can happen if admissible paths of length 2
in , are allowed. It is readily seen from Fig. 1(i) that this is equivalent to
the assumption that at least one of a2 , bd, c2 is trivial in G.
First, let bd = 1 in G. If r(t) = 1, then a is conjugate to c and so
jaj = jcj. Conversely, if jaj = jcj, then
G ! hG; s1 j as1 b,1 cbs,1 1i
! hG; s1 ; s2 j as1 b,1 cbs,1 1 ; s1 s,2 2 i
= hG; s2 ; t j as22 b,1 cbs,2 2; t,1 s2 b,1 i
= hG; t j atbtct,1dt,1 i
= hG  F j r(t)i:
Therefore, we can conclude that if bd = 1 in G, then r(t) = 1 has a solution
over G if and only if jaj = jcj.
If bd 6= 1, then r(t) may still fail to have a solution as the following
example shows.
Example. [15] Let a = b = c2 , d = 1, and G = hc j c4 i. Then the equation
r(t) = c2 tc2 tct,2 has no solution over G. To see this, suppose otherwise and
consider the elements a = c2 and y = tct,1 of hG  F j r(t)i. By assumption,
a2 = y4 = 1 and (ay)2 = (c2 tct,1 )2 = (t,1 c,2 t)2 = 1. Therefore, (ay2 )2 =
(ay)(ya)y2 = (y,1 a)(ay,1 )y2 = 1. But ay2 = t2 c,1 t,2 , which contradicts
the fact that jcj = 4.
We make the following assumption throughout:
(A2) , contains no admissible paths of length less than 3.
Our method of proof is roughly as follows. Suppose, by way of con-
tradiction, that r(t) = 1 does not have a solution over G. Then there is
a relative diagram D (see [2] for details) for r(t) = 1 which represents a
counterexample. We assume D has a minimal number of regions so that
the vertex labels of D are cyclically reduced words in G. In fact, each vertex
label, apart from the label of the distinguished vertex v0 , corresponds to an
admissible path in ,, and therefore, for example, the assumption that ,
contains no such paths of length less than 3 means that the degree of each
vertex v 6= v0 is at least 3. The regions of D are (up to cyclic permuta-
tion and inversion) of the form shown in Fig. 1(ii). A region of D is called
interior if it does not contain the distinguished vertex v0 .
250 M. Edjvet

We use the same curvature arguments as those used in [2]. Brie y, the
corner of every region of D is given an angle. The curvature of a vertex
v is dened to be 2 less the sum of the angles at v. The curvature of a
k-gonal region is the sum of all angles of the corners of that region, less
(k , 2). The curvature of a subdiagram K of D is the sum of curvatures of
the vertices and regions of that subdiagram, denoted by c(K ). With these
denitions, it follows from Euler's formula that the total curvature of D is
precisely 4.
Our method of associating angles is to give each corner at a vertex of
degree l an angle 2=l. This way, the vertices have zero curvature and we
only need consider regions. Thus, if
is a k-gon of D and the degrees of
vertices of
are di (1  i  k), then
k
X 1;
c(
) = c(d1 ; : : : ; dk ) = (2 , k) + 2 (2)
i=1 di
and in our case with k = 4, this becomes
c(
) = c(d1 ; d2 ; d3 ; d4 ) = 2 d1 + d1 + d1 + d1 , 1 :
 
(3)
1 2 3 4
If v is a vertex of a relative diagram, then we use l(v) to denote the
label of v and deg(v) to denote the degree of v. Moreover, in our geometric
arguments, we work in the relative diagram modulo so-called bridge moves.
For reasons of space, we do not explain this term here but instead refer the
reader to [1].
In addition to (A1) and (A2), we make the following assumptions:
(A3) It can be assumed without loss of generality that G = ha; b; c; di.
(A4) By making the substitution s = tb if necessary, it can be assumed that
b = 1 in G.
In Sec. 2, we will prove Theorem 1.2 for some special cases before com-
pleting the proof in Sec. 3. Our principal arguments, as described above, are
geometric. However, there will be many instances when we are dealing with
a specic group G and a computational approach is adopted. The softwares
we use are QUOTPIC [8], a group theory graphics system created by Holt
and Rees, and SPAS [6], a group theory program created by Neubuser et al.
For reasons of space, we will omit some of the details of our proofs. The
interested reader is referred to [3] for a fuller version.

2 Some Special Cases

We will use the following notations:
G(m; n; k) = ha; c j am ; cn ; (ak c)2 i;
H (m; n; k; 1; 2 ) = ha; c; t j am ; cn ; (ak c)2 ; a1 t2 c2 t,1 ak ct,1 i;
G(m) = ha j am i;
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 251
H (m; k1 ; k2 ; k3 ) = ha; t j am ; ak1 t2 ak2 t,1 ak3 t,1 i;
G(m; n; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ) = ha; d j am ; dn ; ad1 a2 d3 i;
H (m; n; 1 ; 2 ; 3; 4 ) = ha; d; t j am ; dn ; ad1 a2 d3 ; at2 d4 t,1 dt,1 i;
where m; n > 0, ki 2 Z (1  i  3), and i = 1 (1  i  4).
Much of the proof of Lemmas 2.1{2.5 involves using QUOTPIC or
SPAS to count subgroups of nite index and then comparing. For exam-
ple, in Lemma 2.1(i), if the natural map G(4; 3; 1) ! H (4; 3; 1; 1; ,1) is
not injective, then H (4; 3; 1; 1; ,1) must be isomorphic to H (2; 3; 1; 1; ,1),
H (2; 1; 1; 1; ,1), or H (1; 1; 1; 1; ,1). But H (4; 3; 1; 1; ,1) has 21 proper sub-
groups of index at most 5, whereas the corresponding numbers for the other
three groups are 13, 8, 4, respectively.
We omit the details when such a counting argument is used and refer
the reader to [3].
Lemma 2.1. Each of the following twelve canonical maps are injective :
(i) G(4; 3; 1) ! H (4; 3; 1; 1; 2 ),
(ii) G(5; 3; 1) ! H (5; 3; 1; 1; 2 ),
(iii) G(5; 3; 2) ! H (5; 3; 2; 1; 2 ),
where i = 1 (1  i  2).
Proof. The counting argument described above suces. 2
Now Lemma 2.1 together with a remark made in the introduction implies
that if G is G(4; 3; 1) or G(5; 3; 1), then a1 t2 c2 t,1 act,1 = 1 has a solution
over G; and if G is G(5; 3; 2), then a1 t2 c2 t,1 a2 ct,1 = 1 has a solution over
G. Observe that G(4; 3; 1) has no proper quotient in which jaj = 4, and
G(5; 3; 1) and G(5; 3; 2) have no non-trivial proper quotients. It follows that
we have proved Theorem 1.2 when any of the following sets of conditions
holds in G:
fa4 = c3 = d2 = 1; d = a1 c2 g; (4)
fa5 = c3 = d2 = 1; d = a1 c2 g; (5)
fa5 = c3 = d2 = 1; d = a21 c2 g; (6)
where i = 1 (1  i  2).
Lemma 2.2. If  is any of the following forty-eight canonical maps, then
 is injective :
(i) G(m) ! H (m; 2; 1 ; 2),
(ii) G(m) ! H (m; 1; 21; 2 ),
(iii) G(m) ! H (m; 1; 1 ; 22),
(iv) G(m) ! H (m; 1; 21; 22),
(v) G(m) ! H (m; 2; 1 ; 22),
(vi) G(m) ! H (m; 2; 21; 2 ),
252 M. Edjvet

where i = 1 (1  i  2) and 5  m  6.
Proof. A counting argument will suce except to prove that a3 6= 1 in
H (6; 1; 21; 22 ). Now each of H (6; 1; 2; 22) and H (3; 1; 2; 22) has a unique
non-normal subgroup of index 9 whose core K has index 72 in the orig-
inal group. The group K has an elementary abelian 3-quotient, giving
a subgroup L of index 648 in each of the original groups. However, in
H (6; 1; 2; 22), the set of abelian invariants of L is f26 ; 0g, whereas it is f0g
in H (3; 1; 2; 22). The argument for H (6; 1; ,2; 22) is similar. 2
It follows from Lemma 2.2 that we have proved Theorem 1.2 when any
of the following sets of conditions holds in G:
fa = x2 ; c = x1 ; d = x1 ; jxj = mg; (7)
fa = x1 ; c = x2 ; d = x1 ; jxj = mg; (8)
fa = x1 ; c = x1 ; d = x2 ; jxj = mg; (9)
 1  2 2
fa = x ; c = x ; d = x ; jxj = mg; (10)
fa = x2 ; c = x1 ; d = x2 ; jxj = mg; (11)
 2  2 1
fa = x ; c = x ; d = x ; jxj = mg; (12)
where x 2 G and 4  m  6.
Lemma 2.3. Let G = ha j ani and n  3. Then the equation at2a1 t,1a2 t,1
= 1 (i = 1, 1  i  2) has a solution over G.
Proof. [15] If G is innite, the result follows from the Freiheitssatz, so let 3 
n < 1. Let Z act on the triangle group T (n; n; n) = ha; x j an ; xn ; (ax,1 )n i
by sending a to x and x to a,1 x. Then
T (n; n; n) o Z = ha; x; t j an ; xn ; (ax,1 )n ; tat,1 = x; txt,1 = a,1 xi
= ha; t j an ; xn ; [a; t]n ; at2 at,1 a,1 ti:
Since a has order n in T (n; n; n), it follows that a has order n in T (n; n; n)oZ
and the result follows for (1 ; 2) = (1; ,1). Similarly, if (1 ; 2 ) = (,1; ,1),
(1; 1), (,1; 1), then use the action (a; x) 7! (x,1 ; a,1 x), (a; x) 7! (x; a,1 x,1 ),
(a; x) 7! (x,1 ; a,1 x,1 ), respectively. 2
It follows that if the following set of conditions holds in G, then Theorem
1.2 is proved:
fa = x1 ; c = x1 ; d = x1 ; xn = 1g; (13)
where x 2 G and n  3.
Lemma 2.4. If  is one of the following thirty-four canonical maps, then
 is injective :
(i) G(m; n; 1; 1; 1) ! H (m; n; 1; 1; 1; ),
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 253
(ii) G(m; n; ,1; 1; ,1) ! H (m; n; ,1; 1; ,1; ),
(iii) G(4; 3; 1; ,1; 1) ! H (4; 3; 1; ,1; 1; ),
(iv) G(3; 4; 1; 1; ,1) ! H (3; 4; 1; 1; ,1; ),
(v) G(m; n; 1; ,1; ,1) ! H (m; n; 1; ,1; ,1; ),
where  = 1 and (m; n) 2 f(5; 3); (4; 3); (3; 3); (3; 4); (3; 5)g.
Proof. A counting argument suces for (i), (ii), and (iv).
(iii) If  fails to be injective, then a2 = 1 in H (4; 3; 1; ,1; 1; ). But
since ha; t2 d,1 ; tat,1 ; t,1 a2 ti is a subgroup of index 12 in H (4; 3; 1; ,1; 1; 1)
and ha; t2 d,1 ; tat,1; t,2 at,1 dt; t,2 d,1 ta,2 t; t,1 adt,1 dta,1 ti has index 32
in the same group, it follows that a2 6= 1 when  = 1.
Now let  = ,1. Since H (4; 3; 1; ,1; 1; ,1) has 22 proper subgroups of
index at most 10, we see that a 6= 1. Although L = ha; t2 d,1 ; tat,1 ; t,1 a2 ti
has index 12 in H (4; 3; 1; ,1; 1; ,1) and H (2; 3; 1; ,1; 1; ,1), in the former
group L=L0  = Z  C4 , whereas in the latter L=L0  = Z  C2 . Therefore,
2
a 6= 1.
(v) Throughout the following, let H denote H (m; n; 1; ,1; ,1; ). We
will assume  fails to be injective and obtain a contradiction in each case.
A counting argument suces when (m; n) 2 f(3; 3); (3; 4)g.
If (m; n)=(5; 3) and  = 1, H must be isomorphic to H (1; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; 1)
or Z. But ha; t2 ; tat,1 i is a subgroup of index 6 in H that maps onto A5 ,
whereas none of the three subgroups of index 6 in H (1; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; 1) does
so.
If (m; n) = (5; 3) and  = ,1, then H must be abelian. But ha; ti is a
subgroup of index 3 in H that maps onto S5 .
If (m; n)=(4; 3) and  = 1, H must be isomorphic to H (2; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; 1),
H (1; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; 1), or Z. But ha; t2 ; tat,1 i is a subgroup of index 6 in H
that maps onto PSL(2; 7), whereas none of the three subgroups of index 6 in
H (2; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; 1) or the three subgroups of index 6 in H (1; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; 1)
does so.
If (m; n)=(4; 3) and  = ,1, H must be isomorphic to H (2; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; ,1),
H (1; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; ,1), or Z. But ha; td,1 t; tat,1i is a subgroup of index 6 in
H that maps onto PSL(2; 7), whereas none of the four subgroups of index
6 in H (2; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; ,1) or H (1; 3; 1; ,1; ,1; ,1) does so.
If (m; n)=(3; 4) and  =1, H must be isomorphic to H (1; 4; 1; ,1; ,1; 1),
H (1; 2; 1; ,1; ,1; 1), H (3; 2; 1; ,1; ,1; 1), or Z. But ha; d2 ; tat,1 ; dtd,1 t,1 ;
dt,1 d,1 t; dtdt,1 ; dt,1 dt; t2 at,2 ; dt,2 d,1 t2 ; t,2 d,1 t2 d,1 ; t2 d,1 t4 i is a sub-
group of index 12 in H that maps onto S5 , whereas none of the ve sub-
groups of index 12 in H (1; 4; 1; ,1; ,1; 1) does so and each of H (1; 2; 1; ,1; ,1;
1) and H (3; 2; 1; ,1; ,1; 1) has only three subgroups of index 12.
If (m; n) = (3; 5) and  = 1, H must be isomorphic to H (1; 5; 1; ,1; ,1; 1)
or Z. But ha; t2 ; tat,1 i is a subgroup of index 10 in H that maps onto A5 ,
whereas none of the four subgroups of index 10 in H (1; 5; 1; ,1; ,1; 1) does
so.
254 M. Edjvet

If (m; n) = (3; 5) and  = ,1, H must be abelian. But ha; td,1 t; tat,1 i
is a subgroup of index 10 in H that maps onto A5 . This last contradiction
completes the proof. 2
Observe that if (m; n) 2 f(5; 3); (4; 3); (3; 3); (3; 4); (3; 5)g, then in any
proper homomorphic image of G(m; n; 1 ; 2 ; 3 ), either jaj  2, or jdj  2,
or a = d1 . In fact, a2 = 1 in G(m; n; 1; 1; ,1) except when (m; n) = (3; 4);
d2 = 1 in G(m; n; 1; ,1; 1) except when (m; n) = (4; 3); and G(m; n; 1; 1; ,1)
= G(m; n; ,1; 1; 1). It follows that Theorem 1.2 is proved if any of the
following sets of conditions holds in G:
fam = dn = dc1 = 1; ad1 a1 d1 = 1g; (14)
where (m; n) 2 f(5; 3); (4; 3); (3; 3); (3; 4); (3; 5)g.
Lemma 2.5. If  is one of the following twenty-four canonical maps, then
 is injective :
(i) G(9) ! H (9; 3; 1; 2 ),
(ii) G(9) ! H (9; 1; 31; 2 ),
(iii) G(9) ! H (9; 1; 1; 32),
(iv) G(9) ! H (9; 1; 31; 32 ),
(v) G(9) ! H (9; 31; 1; 32),
(vi) G(9) ! H (9; 31; 32; 1),
where i = 1 (1  i  2).
Proof. A counting argument suces except to show that the element a has
order 9 in H (9; 1; 3; 3) and H (9; 3; ,3; 1).
Showing that jaj = 9 in H (9; 1; 3; 3) is equivalent to showing that
the equation r(t) = at2 a3 t,1 a3 t,1 = 1 has a solution over G = ha j a9 i.
Suppose by way of contradiction that no such solution exists. As described
in the introduction, we let D be a relative diagram for r(t) = 1 representing
a counterexample with a minimal number of regions.
First, we deal with the case where r(t) = at2 a3 t,1 a3 t,1 .
The following facts concerning the label of a non-distinguished vertex v
of D are easily veried:
Fact 1. If deg(v) = 3, then l(v) 2 fbdc,1; c3 g.
Fact 2. If deg(v) < 6 and l(v) involves a, then l(v) = a3 b,1 d,1 .
(We remind the reader that vertex labels of non-distinguished vertices in D
correspond to admissible closed paths in , of Fig. 1(i).)
Let
be an interior region of D such that c(
) > 0. Since c(4; 4; 4; 4) =
0, it follows that
must have at least one vertex of degree 3. Thus,
is one
of the eight regions of Fig. 2 (we always work modulo cyclic permutations
and inversions).
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 255

v1 b c ,
,v2
a b d a b a a b d d a b





d c c d c b d c c c d c
v4 v3 a d@
@ b c@ ,b
@ , c
(i) (ii) (iii) (iv)
b c ,
, b c ,
, c ,
,
d a b d a b d a b a b d





c d c c d c c c d c c c d c c
,b
, c b c@ ,b
@ , c@ ,b
@ , c@
@
(v) (vi) (vii) (viii)
Fig. 2
It follows from Fact 2 that deg(v1 )  5 in Fig. 2. Since c(3; 4; 5; 5) =
,=30, it must be the case in Fig. 2(i) that deg(v3 ) = deg(v4 ) = 4. But
this forces l(v3 ) = c2 bd and then l(v4 ) involves a, which implies deg(v4 ) > 4.
In Fig. 2(ii), it follows from Fact 2 that c(
)  c(3; 5; 5; 5) < 0.
In Fig. 2(iv), it must be the case that deg(v2 ) = deg(v3 ) = 4, but this
forces l(v3 ) = c2 bd and then l(v2 ) must involve a.
In Fig. 2(v), we see that Fact 2 implies that deg(v1 ) > 6. If 4  deg(v3 )
 5, then l(v3 ) 2 fc4 ; c5 ; c3 bd; c3 d,1 b,1 g, a contradiction. Hence, c(
) 
c(3; 3; 6; 6) = 0.
A 3-wheel W is dened to be a subdiagram of D of the form shown in
Fig. 3, and c(W ) is dened to be c(
1 ) + c(
2 ) + c(
3 ).
If
is an interior region of D of positive curvature, it follows from the
above that
belongs to one and only one 3-wheel. It is these that we
study. There are seven cases based on the three values deg(ui ) (1  i  3)
of Fig. 3: (I) all three equal 3; (II) two equal 3 and the third is at least 6;
(III) two equal 3 and the third equals 5; (IV) two equal 3 and the third
equals 4; (V) one equals 3 and the remaining two are greater than 4; (VI)
one equals 3, one equals 4, and the third is greater than 4; (VII) one equals
3 and the remaining two equal 4.

u1
X
b dXXX
a a

1 c c
2
d cXXX b
u3 b dX u2
@@
3 , ,
@ a ,
@,
Fig. 3
256 M. Edjvet

(I) This case is illustrated in Fig. 4(i). A routine check shows that if
l(v)= d,1 ab,1w and deg(v)=6, then l(v) 2fd,1 ab,1c3 ; d,1 ab,1c1 d,1 b,1;
d,1 ab,1 d,1 a1 b,1 ; d,1 ab,1 d,1 b,1 c1 g, a contradiction. It follows from
this observation and Fact 2 that deg(wj )  7 for j = 1; 3; 5. Therefore,
c(W )  3c(3; 3P ; 3; 7) = 6=7 and c(
^ i )  c(3; 3; 7; 7) = ,38=105 for
1  i  3. Add 3i=1 c(
^ i ) to c(W ).
w2 w2
aS aS

^1 S 
^1 S
 c S  c S
  X X S  X S
w1  b d XXS w3 b dXXXS w3
w1 
a a a a
 S S
 d  c c c c
X X b S d X b S
 c XXX c S
 c b c XdX c S

^3 @ ,
^2 S u3 @b d,
^ 2 S
Xa XX
w6  a
S w4 a
S w4
X @ , @ ,
XXX @ a ,  @ a , 
@
X , @,
w5 w5
(i) (ii)
w2 w2
aS aS

^1 S 
^1 S
 c S  c S
XX w1  X S X X w1  X S
d XX  b dXXXS w3 d XX  b dXXXS w3
a a a a a a
^
c
3
S S
c c c S c c S
XX b d  XX b X X b d  XX b
 c XdXb c XdX c S  c XdXb c XdX c S
 b a ,c@ ,
^2 S  b a ,c@ ,
^2 S
XXX,b @ , a
S XXX,b @ , a
S
^ @ ,   w4 @ a , w4
@
3 @, a   @ 
d
@ a w5  @ a d@ w,
@  5
@
(iii) (iv)
w2 w2 w2
aS aS aS

^1 S 
^1 S 
^1 S
 c S  c S  c S

w1  X X S w3 w1
 XX SSw3 w1
 X X SSw3

 b d XX  b d XX  b d XX aX
d
a a aS a a a d XX a
S

^ 4 d  c c
X X b S d 
c
X
c
X b d 
c
X
c
X b c
^

2
c b cb c XdX c
^ S u3b c XdXu2 u3b c XdXcX b

b @
@ ,
, 2

S
aS @
@ ,
, @
@ , XdX
,
@ ^  ^ 3 ,,
@
3 @ a ,    w4 @ a , @ a ,

@ a((d(@
w5
, @,
w4
@h,bhha,

(v) (vi) (vii)

A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 257
w2 w2
aS aS

^1 S 
^1 S
 c S  c S
 X S w3  X S w3
 b dXXX
w1  S  b dXXX
w1  S X

  b a a 
  b a aX
d XX
a a a

^ 3 c c
d cXXX b
^ 5
d 
c c
X b c
^2


c  c  c XXXX
dc b
 @ dX
,
u2 dcb
 @ d,c XXX b
b @ , b @ , d
@ ^
@
2 @ a ,
@ ^
@
4 @ a , 3 ,

^ ,
d@, d b
@a((((hhhha,
@ ,
@a((((w4
@ @ ,
(viii) (ix)
Fig. 4
(II) It can be assumed without loss of generality that deg(uP1 ) = deg(u2 )
= 3 and deg(u3 )  6. This case is illustrated in Fig. 4(ii). Add 2i=1 c(
^ i ) 
c(3; 5; 5; 7) = ,26=105 to c(W )  c(3; 3; 3; 7) + 2c(3; 3; 5; 6) = 44=105.
(III) It can be assumed without loss of generality that deg(u1 ) = deg(u2 )
= 3 and deg(u3 ) = 5. Now deg(v) = 5, and l(v) = bdw implies that l(v) 2
fbdc3; bdc1 bd; bdba1dg, a contradiction except when l(v) = bdcbd. The
two subcases are illustrated in Fig. 4(iii), (iv). In both subcases, add c(
^ 1 )+
c(
^ 2 ) + c(
^ 3 )=2  c(3; 5; 5; 7) + c(3; 5; 6; 7) + c(5; 5; 6)=2 = ,169=210 to
c(W )  c(3; 3; 3; 7) + c(3; 3; 5; 6) + c(3; 3; 5; 5) = 17=35.
(IV) It can be assumed without loss of generality that deg(uP1 ) = deg(u2 )
= 3 and deg(u3 ) = 4. This case is illustrated in Fig. 4(v). Add 4i=1 c(
^ i ) 
2c(3; 5; 6; 7) + 2c(3; 4; 5; 6) = ,29=35 to c(W )  c(3; 3; 3; 7) + 2c(3; 3; 4; 6)
= 13=21.
(V) It can be assumed without loss of generality that deg(u1 ) = 3,
deg(u2 )  5, and deg(u3 )  5. This case is illustrated in Fig. 4(vi). Add
c(
^ 1 )  c(3; 5; 5; 5) = ,2=15 to c(
)  2c(3; 3; 5; 5)+ c(3; 5; 5; 5) = 2=15.
(VI) It can be assumed that either deg(u1 ) = 3, deg(u2 ) = 4 and
deg(u3 )  5, or deg(u1 ) = 3, deg(u2 )  5 and deg(u3 ) = 4. These subcases
are illustrated in Fig. 4(vii), (viii). For both subcases, add 3i=1 c(
^ i ) 
P

c(3; 4; 5; 5) + c(3; 4; 5; 6) + c(3; 5; 5; 6) = ,=3 to c(W )  c(3; 3; 4; 6) +

c(3; 3; 5; 5) + c(3; 4; 5; 5) = 4=15.
(VII) It can be assumed that deg(u1 ) = 3,Pdeg(u2 ) = 4, and deg(u3 ) =
4. This case is shown in Fig. 4(ix). Add 5i=1 c(
^ i )  c(3; 5; 6; 6) +
4c(3; 4; 5; 6) = ,2=3 to c(W )  2c(3; 3; 4; 6) + c(3; 4; 4; 6) = =6.
Observe that, in Fig. 4, if i 2 f1; 2; 3; 4g, then
^ i shares an edge with
precisely one 3-wheel except possibly
^ 3 in Fig. 4(iii), (iv). But these two
exceptions have been accounted for by adding c(
^ 3 )=2 to c(W ) each time. It
follows that if c (W ) denotes the sum c(W ) plus all possible additions c(
) ^
from neighboring regions (according to the distribution scheme described
258 M. Edjvet

above), then c (W )  0 for W interior.

Observe that, in the above analysis, if one of the vertices was in fact the
distinguished vertex v0 , since l(v0 ) = al where 1  l < 9, there would be
a change from a vertex of degree 5 to deg(v0 ) = k, say. Therefore, if W is
not interior, then c (W )  (2=k , 2=5). Also, if
is not interior and not
a member of a 3-wheel, then c(
)  c(k; 3; 3; 4) = 2=k , =6.
It follows from the above two paragraphs that c(D)  k1 (2=k , 2=5) +
k2 (2=k , 1=6), where k1 + k2 = k. But this forces c(D) < 4, a contradic-
tion.
When r(t) = at2 a3 t,1 a,3 t,1 , the proof is similar and we omit it.
It remains to be shown that jaj = 9 in H (9; 3; ,3; 1)  = H (9; 3; ,3; ,1).
Clearly, it is enough to show that H (9; 3; ,3; 1) is not isomorphic to Z.
Let A be the subgroup of T = hb; c; d j b3 = c9 = bcd = 1i generated by
fb; c3g, and B the subgroup generated by fc3 ; dg. Then each of A; B is a
free product of two groups of order 3. In fact, by the Reidemeister{Schreier
rewriting, the normal closure of hb; c3 i in T has a presentation on generators
b, x = c3 , y = cbc,1 , z = c2 bc,2 and relators b3 ; x3 ; y3 ; z 3; xbyz . This is a
free product with innite cyclic amalgamation of two copies of C3  C3 , one
generated by b; x and the other by y; z . Hence, the subgroup generated by b
and x = c3 is isomorphic to C3  C3 . It follows that there is an isomorphism
 : A ! B given by (b) = c3 and (c3 ) = d,1 . Let H be the corresponding
HNN extension H = hT; t j tgt,1 = (g); g 2 Ai. Dene homomorphisms
 : H (9; 3; ,3; 1) ! H and : H ! H (9; 3; ,3; 1) by (a) = c,1 , (t) = t,
and (b) = t,1 a,3 t, (c) = a,1 , (d) = ta3 t,1 , (t) = t. A routine check
shows that  and are mutually inverse isomorphisms. This proves that
H (9; 3; ,3; 1) is not isomorphic to Z, as required. 2
It follows from Lemma 2.5 that Theorem 1.2 is proved if any of the
following conditions holds in G:
fa = x3 ; c = x1 ; d = x1 ; jxj = 9g; (15)
fa = x1 ; c = x3 ; d = x1 ; jxj = 9g; (16)
1 1  3
fa = x ; c = x ; d = x ; jxj = 9g; (17)
3 3  1
fa = x ; c = x ; d = x ; jxj = 9g; (18)
3 1  3
fa = x ; c = x ; d = x ; jxj = 9g; (19)
fa = x1 ; c = x3 ; d = x3 ; jxj = 9g; (20)
where x 2 G.
Lemma 2.6. If either of the following set of conditions holds, then r(t) = 1
has a solution over G :
3  jaj < 6; jcj = 3; and jdj = 2 in G; (21)
jaj = 3; 3  jcj < 6; and jdj = 2 in G: (22)
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 259

a a
a@
@d c b b
b@b c c d b
d@
@ a d b a a
@
a a b d a

c cc b d c c
c@
d b
@
d b a a db d
@
d d a b@
@c
c@ c

(i) @
c@
 @
c d b c c d  b
db c c d
  d@ 
c
@ @ a
b a a d b a @ a a d b a
d a a b d a @b @ a a b d a

2 d
3
c b d c c c b d c c
c d b c@ c d b c@
@ @
@b @b
b a a d@ b a a d@
(ii) (iii)
Fig. 5
Proof. Observe that atbtct,1 dt,1 = 1 if and only if ct,1 dt,1 atbt = 1. So
replacing t by t,1 means that we only need to solve r(t) = 1 modulo the
transformation
a 7! c; b 7! d; c 7! a; d 7! b: (23)
Since (21) is equivalent to (22) modulo (23), it suces to deal with (21)
only.
As stated in the introduction, we assume by way of contradiction that
r(t) = 1 does not have a solution over G. Let D be a relative diagram for
r(t) = 1 representing a counterexample with a minimal number of regions.
Our rst observation is that there are in fact spherical diagrams Di
(1  i  3) corresponding to jaj = 3, 4, 5. When jaj = 3, there is the
diagram D1 shown in Fig. 5(i) which can be regarded as a spherical diagram
with twelve identical regions; when jaj = 4, there is D2 , partly illustrated in
Fig. 5(ii), consisting of twenty-four regions, each of which is a copy of
2 ;
and when jaj = 5, there is D3 , partly illustrated in Fig. 5(iii), consisting of
sixty regions, each of which is a copy of
3 . Note that none of these three
260 M. Edjvet

diagrams represents a counterexample to the lemma since the label of each

vertex equals 1 in G.
In order to prove the lemma, we will show that, according to the value
of jaj, either c(D) < 4 or D must contain a (connected, simply connected)
subdiagram Si of Di which contains more than half the number of regions
of Di (1  i  3). This way, we obtain the desired contradiction either to
the fact that c(D) = 4 or to the minimality of D. For if D contains such
an Si , then simply replace Si in D by the complement of Si in Di and so
reduce the number of regions in D.
In what follows, v0 denotes the distinguished vertex of D (and so l(v0 ) 6=
1 in G). We assume that deg(v0 ) = k, that none of the conditions (4){(6)
holds in G, and that contradiction will mean contradiction either to this
assumption, or to (A2), or to the fact that c(D) = 4.
Case jaj = 3. Let
be an interior region of D of positive curvature. If

contains no vertices of degree 3, then c(
)  c(4; 4; 4; 4) = 0, so

must contain at least one such vertex. It is clear from our assumptions and
Fig. 6(i) that the admissible paths of length 3 in , are a3 and c3 .
Suppose
contains precisely one vertex of degree 3. Then
is given
(up to cyclic permutation, inversion, and transformation (23)) by Fig. 6(i).
Since c(3; 4; 5; 5) < 0 and c(3; 4; 4; 6) = 0, it must be the case that two of
the vertices v1 ; v2 ; v4 of Fig. 6(i) have degree 4 and the third has degree 4 or
5. If deg(v1 ) = deg(v2 ) = 4, then l(v2 ) = bdbd and l(v1 ) 2 fa4; a2 (db)1 g,
which implies a = 1, a contradiction. If deg(v1 ) = deg(v4 ) = 4, then again
a = 1, a contradiction. If deg(v2 ) = deg(v4 ) = 4 and 4  deg(v1 )  5, then
l(v2 ) = l(v4 ) = bdbd and l(v1 ) 2 fa4 ; a5 ; a3 (db)1 g, which implies a = 1 or
d = 1, a contradiction.
Thus,
must contain more than one vertex of degree 3, in which case

is given (up to cyclic permutation and inversion) by Fig. 6(ii). In Fig. 6(ii),
if deg(v2 ) < 6, then l(v2 ) 2 fdbdb; dbdba1; bdbdc1g, which implies a = 1
or c = 1, unless l(v2 ) = dbdb; a similar statement holds for v4 . Thus, if
deg(v2 ) < 6 and deg(v4 ) < 6, then D contains Fig. 7(i) as a subdiagram,
and since this is a subdiagram of D1 containing seven regions, this con-
tradicts the minimality of D. If deg(v2 )  6 and deg(v4 )  6, then
c(
)  c(3; 3; 6; 6) = 0, so it can be assumed that
is given by Fig. 7(ii),
in which 6  deg(v4 )  11 and so c(
)  c(3; 3; 4; 6) = =6.
v1 v2 @
@ a @v2
d@
a b@ a a b d
@
d



b
d c c @
@ d c c
v4 c@ v4 b c@
@b
@ @ @
(i) (ii)
Fig. 6
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 261
u1
@b c c d @b c c d
d@ d@
@
@ a d b a @ a
@ d b a
a a b d a
1 a a b d a



c b d c c c b d c c
c d b c@ u2 v4 b c@
@ b @ b
b a a d@@ a d@@
(i) (ii)
Fig. 7
In Fig. 7(ii) and throughout the rest of D where such a
occurs, add
c(
) to c(
1 ).
Assume for the moment that
1 in Fig. 7(ii) is an interior region of D.
If deg(u1 ) < 6, then l(u1 ) 2 fdba1 ; dba2; dba3 ; dbdb; dbdba1; bdbdc1 g,
which implies a = 1, c = 1 or d = 1, unless l(u1) = dbdb; and if deg(u2 ) = 3,
then l(u2) = c3 . Therefore, if deg(u1 ) < 6 or deg(u2 ) = 3, then D will
contain more than half of D1 and we are done. So assume deg(u1 )  6 and
deg(u2 )  4. Then c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 6; 6) = ,=6.
Let
^ denote an interior region of D that receives positive curvature
from a positively curved region of D. If c (
) ^ denotes the sum c(
) ^ plus
all possible additions of positive curvature, it follows from the above that
^  c(3; 4; 6; 6) + =6 = 0.
c (
)
Let
^ now denote a non-interior region of D. If
^ receives no positive
curvature, then c(
)^  c(3; 3; 4; k); and if
^ does receive positive curvature,
 ^
then c (
)  c(3; 4; 6; k) + =6. It follows that

c(
)  k1 2 23 + 41 + k1 , 1  + k2 2 13 + 14 + 16 + k1 , 1 + 16 ;
h  i h   i

where k1 + k2 = k. But this implies that c(D) < 4, a contradiction.

u1 u2 u3 u4
c d b c c d

1
u10 b a a d b a u
d a a b d a 5

4

u9 c b d c c
2
c d b c@

3 @
@b
b a a d@
u8 u7 u6
Fig. 8
262 M. Edjvet

Case jaj = 4. Again, let
be an interior region of D of positive curvature.

Then
is given (up to cyclic permutation and inversion) by Fig. 6(i), in
which two of v1 ; v2 ; v4 have degree 4 and the third has degree 4 or 5.
In Fig. 6(i), an exhaustive check of possible labeling shows that
is
given by Fig. 8, in which case c(
) = c(3; 4; 4; 4) = =6.
If any one of
i (1  i  4) in Fig. 8,
j say, is non-interior, then add
c(
) to c(
j ); and in the case when both
2 and
3 are non-interior, i.e.,
u6 = v0 , add c(
)=2 to each of c(
2 ) and c(
3 ). Then assume each
i
(1  i  4) in Fig. 8 is an interior region of D.
First, suppose l(u6) = bdbd in Fig. 8. Now if deg(u5 ) < 8, then l(u5 ) =
a3 w, where w has length at most 4, and this forces one of a; a2 ; c; d; a1 dc1
to be trivial, a contradiction; a similar statement holds for l(u7). In this
case, add c(
)=2 = =12 to c(
j ) (2  j  3), noting that c(
j ) 
c(3; 4; 4; 8) = ,=12 (2  j  3) and
j (2  j  3) has no other interior
neighbor of positive curvature.
Now assume l(u6) 6= bdbd. If deg(u6 ) < 6, then l(u6 ) 2 fbdc1 ; bdc2,
bdc 3 ; bdc1 bd; bdba1dg, which implies a = 1, c = 1, or d = 1. So it can

be assumed that deg(u6 )  6. If deg(u5 )  6, then add c(
) = =6 to
c(
2 )  c(3; 4; 6; 6) = ,=6; and if deg(u7 )  6, then add c(
) = =6
to c(
3 )  ,=6. Observe that, in both cases, neither
2 nor
3 will
have another interior neighbor of positive curvature. So it can be as-
sumed that deg(u5 ) < 6 and deg(u7 ) < 6. In this case, fl(u5); l(u7 )g 
fa3 ; a4 ; a5 ; a2 (db)1 ; a3 (db)1 ; a2 (dc1 b)1 ; a2 dc1 d,1 ; a2 b,1c1 bg, which
implies a =1 or a2 =1, unless fl(u5); l(u7 )g  fa4 ; a2 (db)1 ; a2 (dc1 b)1 g.
There remains the following four subcases to be considered:
(i) l(u5) = l(u7) = a4 ,
(ii) l(u5) = a4 , l(u7) 2 fa2 (db)1 ; a2 (dc1 b)1 g,
(iii) l(u5) 2 fa2(db)1 ; a2 (dc1 b)1 g, l(u7) = a4 ,
(iv) fl(u5); l(u7)g  fa2(db)1 ; a2 (dc1 b)1 g.
Before considering each subcase in turn, we note the following. If deg(u3 )
 6 and deg(u9 )  6 in Fig. 8, then add c(
)=2 = =12 to each of c(
1 )
 c(4; 4; 4; 6) = ,=6 and c(
4 )  ,=6, noting that in this case,
1
and
4 will each have at most two interior neighbors of positive curvature.
If deg(u3 ) < 6, then l(u3 ) 2 fc3; c4 ; c5 ; c2 (bd)1 ; c3 (bd)1 ; c2 (ba1 d)1 ,
c2 ba1 b,1 ; c2 d,1 a1 dg, which implies a = 1, d = 1, c = 1 or d = a1 c1 ,
a contradiction, unless l(u3) = c3 . So it can be assumed that at least one
of l(u3 ); l(u9) is c3 and D contains a subdiagram of D2 with at least nine
regions.
For subcase (i), observe that if l(u5 ) = l(u7) = a4 in Fig. 8, then D will
contain a subdiagram of D2 with at least 9 + 4 = 13 regions and we are
done.
For subcase (ii), since l(u5 ) = a4 , it follows that D will contain a sub-
diagram of D2 with eleven regions. So it can be assumed that if l(u3) 6= c3
and l(u9) = c3 , then l(u2) 6= dbdb (otherwise, D would contain a subdiagram
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 263
of D2 with thirteen regions); and if l(u3 ) = c3 and l(u9) 6= c3 , then it can
be assumed that l(u10) 6= dbdb. Now if l(u3) 6= c3 , then add c(
) = =6
to c(
1 )  c(4; 4; 4; 6) = ,=6, noting that
1 will have no other interior
neighbor of positive curvature; and if l(u9) 6= c3 , then add c(
) = =6 to
c(
4 )  ,=6, again noting that
4 will have no other interior neighbor of
positive curvature. Hence, it can be assumed that l(u3 ) = l(u9 ) = c3 and
so D has a subdiagram of D2 containing twelve regions. This situation is
illustrated in Fig. 9(i). In Fig. 9(i), if deg(uj ) < 7 where j 2 f2; 4; 6; 10g and
u4 6= v0 , then l(uj ) 2fdbdc1 b; dbdba1; dbdc2 b; dbdc1ba1 ; dbdc1 d,1 a1 ,
dbdba2 ; dbdbdb; bdba1dc1 ; bdba1b,1 c1 g, which implies a = 1, c = 1,
d = 1, a2 = 1 or d = a1 c1 , a contradiction. It follows that, in Fig. 9(i),
c(
i )  c(3; 4; 4; 7) = ,=21 and
i has no other interior neighbor of
positive curvature (1  i  4). So add c(
)=4 = =24 to each of c(
i )
(1  i  4).
It follows from the symmetry that the argument for subcase (iii) is sim-
ilar to that for (ii).
,a@
, @
u2,d c b@u4
c db c c db c c db c c d

1
u10 b a a db aa d b aa db a u5
,d a a bd aa b d aa bd a
, b
4


a c cc db
, d c c
2 c bd c c
1
3
5
@ b c@ c db c@
@d
3 @b
2 @b
@b aa d@ d c b aa d@ x
u7 u6 u7
4 y u6

6
(i) (ii)
Fig. 9

XXXv0
,d a a a b@
v2 P
,c ,@ @ v1
dccA
, , @

c PP b, ^ @
d d
b


1
b@ @ ,dAb
4 A
,
v3
Xb a

@,
A a c d v4
X
a 2 c c 3 aA Ab
d X aHa a a B
  HH d b  B B
 H Bd
 c b P
dP bd b B c BB
PP c c 
P
Fig. 10
264 M. Edjvet

For subcase (iv), we refer the reader to Fig. 9(ii) in which x = c1
and y = c1 . In Fig. 9(ii), if deg(u6 )  8, then add c(
)=2 to each of
c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 4; 8) = ,=12 and c(
2 )  ,=12, noting that neither

1 nor
2 will have another interior neighbor of positive curvature. So it
can be assumed that 6  deg(u6 )  7. If
5 in Fig. 9(ii) is interior and
c(
5 ) > 0, then any attempt at labeling shows that l(u6) = c2 bdc1 w,
in which case, either we would obtain a contradiction or deg(u6 ) = 7; if

6 is interior and of positive curvature, then again it can be assumed that
deg(u6 )  7; and if both
5 and
6 are interior and of positive curvature,
then l(u6) = c2 bdc2 w, in which case, deg(u6 ) < 8 forces a contradiction.
Since we assume deg(u6 ) < 8, not both
5 and
6 are interior and of
positive curvature. First, suppose deg(u6 ) = 6 in Fig. 9(ii). Then c(
5 ) < 0
or
5 is non-interior, and likewise for
6 . So add c(
)=2 = =12 to each of
c(
3 )  c(4; 4; 4; 6) = ,=6 (if interior) and to c(
4 )  ,=6 (if interior),
noting that neither
3 nor
4 will have any interior neighbor of positive
curvature. Now suppose deg(u6 ) = 7 in Fig. 9(ii). As noted above, it can be
assumed without loss of generality that
5 is either non-interior or interior
of non-positive curvature, in which case, add 2c(
)=7 = =21 to each of
c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 4; 7) = ,=21 and c(
2 )  ,=21, and add the remaining
3c(
)=7 = =14 to c(
3 )  c(4; 4; 4; 6) (if interior), noting that
1 and
2
will have no other interior neighbor of positive curvature and
3 will have
no interior neighbor of positive curvature. This completes our method of
distribution of the positive curvature from a given interior region
.
It follows from the above that if
^ is any region of D, then
^ can receive
positive curvature from at most two other interior regions of D, and if
^
does receive positive curvature from two regions, then either both these
regions are neighbors of
^ or, as described in subcase (iv) and Fig. 9(ii),
both regions are separated from
^ by precisely one region in D. Thus, if
^ is
^  ,=6+ =6 = 0, or c (
)
interior, then either c (
) ^  ,=12+ =12 = 0,
 ^  ^
or c (
)  ,=21 + =21 = 0, or c (
)  ,=6 + 2(=12) = 0, and so
^  0.
c (
)
If
^ is non-interior, there remains the possibility that c(
) ^ = c(3; 4; 4; k)
^
and
receives =6 from two of its neighbors. This situation is illustrated
in Fig. 10. Observe, however, that in Fig. 10, if l(v1 ) = l(v2 ) = c3 , or
l(v3 ) = dbdb, or l(v4 ) = dbdb, then D would contain a subdiagram of D2 with
11 + 2 = 13 regions and we are done. So it can be assumed without loss of
generality that l(v1 ) 6= c3 , l(v3 ) 6= dbdb, and l(v4 ) 6= dbdb. In this case, add
c(
2 ) = =6 to c(
1 )  c(4; 4; 4; 6) = ,=6, noting that, since
1 will have
no other interior neighbors of positive curvature, c (
1 )  ,=6+ =6 = 0.
Therefore, it can be deduced that

c(D)  k1 2 13 + 24 + k1 , 1 + 61 + 121 i + k h2 3 + 1 , 1 + 2 1 i;

h  
2 4 k 6
where k1 + k2 = k. But this implies that c(D) < 4, a contradiction.
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 265
Case jaj = 5. The argument for this case is similar to those above. We omit
the proof and refer the reader to [3]. 2
3 Proof of Theorem 1.2
It follows from Sec. 2 that the following assumption can be made:
(A5) None of the conditions (4){(22) holds in G.
Suppose, by way of contradiction to the statement of the theorem, that
r(t) = 1 has no solution over G. Let D be a relative diagram for r(t) = 1,
which represents a counterexample, and assume D has a minimum number
of regions among all such diagrams.
Let v0 denote the distinguished vertex of D and, for the remainder of
the proof, assume deg(v0 ) = k. Throughout the proof, contradiction will
mean contradiction to (A2), (A5), or to the fact that c(D) = 4.
Let
be an interior region of D. If
contains no vertices of degree
3, then c(
)  c(4; 4; 4; 4) = 0; so if c(
) > 0, then
must contain at
least one vertex of degree 3. It is clear from Fig. 1(i) that if w is a label
of an admissible path in , of length 3, then (up to cyclic permutation and
inversion) w 2 fa3; c3 ; a1 db; c1 bdg. Observe that if a1 db = c1 bd = 1,
then we obtain a contradiction, so assume otherwise. Further reduction
using cyclic permutations, inversions, and the transformation (23) shows
that there are eight cases to consider, and these are shown in Fig. 11.
The proof can be partitioned into three subcases, namely, (I) c1 bd 6= 1
and a1 db 6= 1 in G, (II) either cbd = 1 or c,1 bd = 1 (but not both since
jcj > 2), and a1 db 6= 1 in G, (III) c1 bd 6= 1, and either adb = 1 or
a,1 db = 1 (but not both since jaj > 2) in G.
Since (III) follows from (II) when the transformation (23) is applied, it
suces to consider only (I) and (II).
v1 v2 @
@ a @ v2 v1
d@ v2 v1 v2
a b@ a a b a b@ , a b
@
d a ,
@ b





d c c @b c c d c d c
@d d
v4 @
@b @ v4
c@ v3 v4 @ a
@ (iii) b @ ,
@ , b c, v3
(i) (ii) (iv) ,
v1 ,
,d c, ,b
, v1 , c ,
, v1 v2 v1 v2
a b d a b d , a b a b@
d
, a
@





c,c c,c c c b
d , d , c d d
v4 v3 v4 v3 ,
,b c,
, v 3 v4
@a
@ d@
@
(v) (vi) (vii) (viii)

Fig. 11
266 M. Edjvet

(I) c1 bd 6= 1 and a1 db 6= 1. If jaj > 3 and jcj > 3, then there are
no interior vertices of D of degree less than 4, and so, if
is an interior
region of D, then c(
)  c(4; 4; 4; 4) = 0. It follows that c(D) is at most
k[(2 , 4) + 2(3=4 + 1=k)] < 2, a contradiction.
If jaj > 3 and jcj = 3, or jaj = 3 and jcj > 3, then we see from Fig. 11
that any interior region
of D contains at most one vertex of degree 3, and
in fact, if c(
) > 0, then D is given by Fig. 11(i) or (ii).
Since c(3; 4; 5; 5) = ,=30 and c(3; 4; 4; 6) = 0, it is clear that if c(
) > 0
and D contains precisely one vertex of degree 3, then at least two of the
remaining three vertices of
must have degree 4 and the third must have
degree 4 or 5.
In Fig. 11(i), an exhaustive check shows that, in each case, we obtain a
contradiction except when l(v2 ) = l(v4 ) = bdbd and l(v1 ) = a3 (db)1 and
these are illustrated in Fig. 12(i), (ii).
The argument for Fig. 11(ii) follows from that of Fig. 11(i) in replacing
t by t,1 and making the transformation (23).
First, assume the regions
1 and
2 in Fig. 12(i), (ii) are interior. An
exhaustive check shows that, in Fig. 12(i), (ii), c(
1 )  ,=10 and c(
2 ) 
,=10.

@
@ u1 u2,
, @
@ u1 u2,
,
c b c c c b c c

1
1
@
@d @ b
@
@ c b@ a d b @ c d @ a d b
u@4 d a a b d
@
u4 d a a b d

2

2

u3 c b d c c u3 c b d c c
,c
, d b c@
@ ,c
, d b c@
@
(i) (ii)
u1 u2
@ b c
d@
1 @@
@ a d@ v2

a a b @d
c 4
@
u6 @
u3
@ b @
a
@ d c c 2

v4 @ b c@
@
3 @ b
@a d@
u5 u4
(iii)
Fig. 12
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 267
Now let
1 and
2 in Fig. 12(i), (ii) be interior or non-interior. In
Fig. 12(i), (ii), distribute c(
)=2 = c(3; 4; 4; 5)=2 = =30 to each of c(
1 )
and c(
2 ). It follows from the above that if
^ is a region of D that receives
positive curvature, then c (
) ^  ,=10 + 2(=30) < 0. Hence, c(D) 
k[(2 , 4) + 2(1=3 + 2=4 + 1=k) + 2(=30)] < 2, a contradiction.
The nal subcase for part (I) is when jaj = jcj = 3. Observe that if

is an interior region of D of positive curvature, then
cannot be given
by Fig. 12(i) or (ii) (otherwise, d = 1, a contradiction). It follows that
if c(
) > 0, then D is given (up to cyclic permutation and inversion) by
Fig. 12(iii).
Assume, until otherwise stated, that the regions
i (1  i  4) in
Fig. 12(iii) are interior. In Fig. 12(iii), an exhaustive check shows that either
we obtain a contradiction or deg(u1 )  5 and deg(u4 )  5.
First, suppose G is cyclic. Since jaj = jcj = 3, it must be the case that
a = c1 . It follows that if either deg(v2 ) < 6 or deg(v4 ) < 6 in Fig. 12(iii),
then we obtain a contradiction. So it can be assumed for the remainder of
this subcase that G is not cyclic.
Suppose l(v2 ) = dbdba and so ad2 = 1 in G. Then l(u2) = cbw, and
if deg(u2 ) < 6, then l(u2 ) 2 fcba1b,1 ; cba1d; cbdc; cba2b,1 ; cba2d,
cba1 b,1c; cba1 dc; cbdc2 ; cbdbdg, which implies that G is cyclic, a contra-
diction. Therefore, c(
1 )  c(3; 5; 5; 6) = ,3=15.
With this added assumption, an exhaustive check shows that c(
i ) 
,3=15 for 1  i  4.
Now allow
i (1  i  4) in Fig. 12(iii) to be interior or non-interior.
Suppose the region
in Fig. 12(iii) has positive curvature. If l(v2 ) =
dbdba1 and deg(v4 )  6, then add c(
)  c(3; 3; 5; 6) = =15 to c(
1 );
if l(v4 ) = bdba1d and deg(v2 )  6, then add c(
)  =15 to c(
4 ); if
l(v2 ) = l(v4 ) = dbdba1 , then distribute c(
)=2  c(3; 3; 5; 5)=2 = =15
to each of c(
1 ) and c(
4 ); if l(v2 ) = dbdc1 b and deg(v4 )  6, then
add c(
)  =15 to c(
2 ); if l(v4 ) = bdbdc1 and deg(v2 )  6, then add
c(
)  =15 to c(
3 ); and if l(v2 ) = l(v4 ) = bdbdc1, then distribute
c(
)=2  =15 to each of c(
2 ) and c(
3 ).
Clearly, if deg(v2 ) = deg(v4 ) = 5 in Fig. 12(iii), then l(v2 ) = l(v4 ) (up to
cyclic permutation). Otherwise, a = 1, d = 1, or G is cyclic, a contradiction.
This means that, throughout D, either only
1 and
4 can receive positive
curvature or only
2 and
3 can receive positive curvature. Therefore, if
^
is an interior region of D that receives positive curvature and c (
) ^ denotes
the sum c(
) ^ plus all possible additions of curvature from other regions
according to our distribution scheme, then c (
) ^  ,3=15 + 2(=15) < 0.
It follows that c(D)  k[(2 , 4) + 2(2=3 + 1=5 + 1=k) + 2(=15)] < 2, a
contradiction.
(II) Either cbd = 1 or c,1 bd = 1, and a1 db 6= 1. Let
be an interior
region of D that contains precisely one vertex of degree 3 and suppose
c(
) > 0. Then it can be assumed without loss of generality that D is
268 M. Edjvet

given by one of the eight cases in Fig. 11.

In Fig. 11(i), since c3 = 1 = c1 bd, no interior vertex can have label
bdbd and so the analysis of Fig. 11(i) in (I) shows that c(
)  0. Applying
(23) yields the same conclusion for Fig. 11(ii).
Furthermore, an exhaustive check shows that if
is an interior region
of D and c(
) > 0, then
must contain at least two vertices of degree 3
(see [3] for details).
Suppose jaj > 3 and jcj > 3. If
is an interior region of D and c(
) > 0,
then
is (up to cyclic permutation and inversion) the region shown in
Fig. 13(i) or (ii) according to whether cbd = 1 or c,1 bd = 1 in G.
In Fig. 13(i), if deg(v1 ) < 6, then l(v1 ) 2 fbadc1; badc2 ; bcdbdg, a con-
tradiction, unless l(v1 ) 2 fbadc,1; badc,2 ; badbdg; and if deg(v3 ) < 6, then
l(v3 ) 2 fc4 ; c5 ; c3 (bd)1 g, a contradiction, unless l(v3 ) 2 fc4 ; c5 ; c3 d,1 b,1 g.
Observe then that if deg(v1 ) < 6 and deg(v3 ) < 6, then we obtain a contra-
diction, so assume otherwise.
First, suppose l(v1 ) = badc,1 in Fig. 13(i) so that deg(v3 )  6. This
situation is illustrated in Fig. 13(iii). Add c(
)  c(3; 3; 4; 6) = =6 to
c(
3 ). If
3 is an interior region, then deg(w3 ) > 3; if deg(w2 ) = 4,
then l(w2 ) 2 fab,1c1 b; ab,1c1 d,1 ; ab,1d,1 ag, a contradiction; and if
deg(w1 ) = 4, then l(w1 ) 2 fd,1 a2 b,1 ; d,1 ab,1 c1 ; d,1 adc1 g, a contra-
diction; and so c(
3 )  c(4; 4; 5; 5) = ,=5. If
3 is non-interior, then
c(
3 )  c(4; 4; 5; k).
w1 u1,
, w1 u1,,
a b a a d a

1
1
w2 v1 d c w2 b c
a b a b d a d a b d

2

2

u2 d c d c c u2 b c d c c
,a
, b c v3 ,a
, b c v3
(i) (ii)
w3 w1 u1,
, w5
a d a b a ,a@
, @

3
1 ,
^ @
, @
w2 b c d c w4,d c b@w6
a b a b d b a b d a d

2

u2 d c d c c c d c c b c
,a
, b c v3 ,b
, d@
@
(iii) (iv)
Fig. 13
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 269
Suppose l(v1 ) = badbd in Fig. 13(i). Add c(
)=2  c(3; 3; 5; 6)=2 = =30
to each of c(
1 ) and c(
2 ). If
1 is interior and deg(u1 ) > 4, then c(
1 ) 
c(3; 4; 5; 5) = ,=30; if deg(u1 ) = 4, then we obtain a contradiction except
when l(u1 ) = badc,1 , in which case, if deg(w1 ) = 4, then l(w1 ) = a2 b,1 d,1 ,
a contradiction; so again c(
1 )  ,=30. Similarly, if
2 is interior, then
c(
2 )  ,=30. If
i is non-interior, then c(
i )  c(3; 4; 5; k) (1  i  2).
Now suppose l(v1 ) = badc,2 in Fig. 13(i). Again add c(
)=2  =30 to
each of c(
1 ) and c(
2 ). If
1 is interior and deg(u1 ) = 4, then l(u1 ) 2
fba2d; bab,1 c1 ; badc1g, a contradiction. Hence, c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 5; 5) =
,=30. Similarly, c(
2 )  ,=30 if
2 is interior. If
i is non-interior,
then c(
i )  c(3; 4; 5; k) (1  i  2).
This deals with the subcase deg(v1 ) < 6. Now assume deg(v1 )  6
in Fig. 13(i) so that deg(v3 ) < 6 and then either c4 = 1 or c5 = 1. If
deg(v1 )  8, then add c(
)=2  c(3; 3; 4; 8)=2 = =24 to each of c(
i )
(1  i  2) and observe that if
i is interior, then c(
i )  c(3; 4; 4; 8) =
,=12 (1  i  2). If deg(v1 ) = 7, then c(
)  5=42. If
1 , say, is
non-interior, then add 3c(
)=5 = =14 to c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 4; k) and add the
remaining 2c(
)=5 = =21 to c(
2 )  c(3; 4; 4; 7) = ,=21. If both
1
and
2 are interior, then we claim that at least one of deg(u1 ), deg(u2 ),
deg(w1 ), deg(w2 ) is greater than 4. Otherwise, l(u1 ) = ba2 d, and this
forces l(w1 ) = ba2 d, and similarly, l(u2) = l(w2 ) = ba2d. But then l(v1 ) 2
fcbadc3; cbadc(bd)1 g, a contradiction. So it can be assumed without loss
of generality that c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 5; 7) = ,31=210, in which case, add
3c(
)=5  =14 to c(
1 ) and 2c(
)=5  =21 to c(
2 )  ,=21. Finally,
if deg(v1 ) = 6, then add c(
)=2  =12 to each of c(
i ) (1  i  2).
If
i is non-interior, then c(
i )  c(3; 4; 4; k) (1  i  2). Let
1 be
interior. If deg(u1 ) = deg(w1 ) = 4, this forces l(u1) = l(w1 ) = ba2 d and
then l(v1 ) 2 fbadc3; badcbdg, a contradiction. Hence, c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 5; 6) =
,=10. Similarly, if
2 is interior, then c(
2 )  ,=10.
It follows from the above that if
^ is a region of D that receives positive
curvature from precisely one neighbor and
^ is interior, then c (
) ^  0. If
^
receives positive curvature from more than one neighbor, then
^ receives
positive curvature from two adjacent neighbors and this situation is shown
(up to cyclic permutation and inversion) in Fig. 13(iv). It follows from
our method of distribution that neither l(w4 ) nor l(w6 ) in Fig. 13(iv) is
badc,1 . If
^ is non-interior in Fig. 13(iv), then it follows that either c (
) ^ 
 ^ ^
c(3; 5; 5; k) + 2(=30) or c (
)  c(3; 6; 6; k) + 2(=12); and if
is interior,
then either deg(w7 ) < 6 in which case c (
) ^  c(3; 4; 6; 6) + 2(=12) = 0
2
or l(w4 ) = l(w6 ) 2 fbadbd; badc g which forces deg(w5 ) > 4 and c (
)
, ^ 
c(3; 5; 5; 5) + 2(=30) < 0.
It now follows that
c(D)  k1 [2( 32 + 14 + k1 , 1)] + k2 [2( 42 + 15 + k1 , 1) + 61 ]
+k3 [2( 13 + 14 + 15 + k1 , 1) + 2( 301 )] + k4 [2( 31 + 42 + k1 , 1) + 121 ]
+k5 [2( 31 + 25 + k1 , 1) + 2( 301 )] + k6 [2( 13 + 62 + k1 , 1) + 2( 121 )];
270 M. Edjvet

where 6i=1 ki = k. But this forces c(D) < 4, a contradiction. The
P

argument for Fig. 13(ii) is similar to that for Fig. 13(i) and so we omit it.
We now consider the subcase jcj = 3 and cbd = 1 in G. Let
be
an interior region of D of positive curvature. If
is given by Fig. 13(i)
and deg(v3 ) > 3, then either 4  deg(v3 ) < 6 or deg(v1 ) < 6 yields a
contradiction and so c(
)  c(3; 3; 6; 6) = 0. Therefore, it can be assumed
that
is given by Fig. 14.
If v is a vertex of D such that l(v) = aw, v 6= v0 , and deg(v) < 6, then
either l(v) involves a only once, a contradiction, or l(v) 2fa3 ; a4 ; a5 ; a2 (db)1 ,
a3 (db)1 ; a2 (dc1 b)1 g, a contradiction, unless l(v) 2 fa3; a4 ; a5 ; a3 (db)1 g.
We will use this fact in what follows.
Suppose jaj  6. It follows that, if interior, c(
j )  c(3; 6; 6; 6) = ,=3
for 1  j  4 in Fig. 14. In Fig. 14(i), add c(
)  c(3; 3; 6; 6) = =6 to
c(
1 ); in Fig. 14(ii), add c(
)  =6 to c(
2 ); and in Fig. 14(iii), add
c(
)=2  c(3; 3; 3; 6)=2 = =6 to each of c(
3 ) and c(
4 ). Clearly, if
^
is an interior region of D that receives positive curvature, then c (
) ^ 
,=3 + 2(=6) = 0. It follows that
c(
)  k1 2 33 + k1 , 1  + k2 2 13 + 26 + k1 , 1 + 2 16 ;
h  i h    i

where k1 + k2 = k and k1 < k. But then c(
) < 2, a contradiction.

u1 u2,
,
a b a

1
v1 d c u4 v1 v2,
,
a b d a b a b d


2

v4 d c c u3 d c d c c
,b
, c@
@ ,a
, b c@
@
(i) (ii)
u5 u6,
,
a b a

3
u8 v1 d c @
@ a d v2
a b a b d a a b d

4


u7 d c d c c b d c c
,a
, b c@
@ v3 b c@
@
(iii) (iv)
Fig. 14
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 271
If jaj < 6 and G is cyclic, then we obtain a contradiction, so it can be
assumed otherwise.
Now let jaj = 5. In Fig. 14(i){(iii), distribute c(
) to c(
i ) (1  i  4)
in the same way as in the previous subcase. If
1 is interior in Fig. 14(i)
and deg(u1 )  6, then c (
1 )  0 as before. So it can be assumed without
loss of generality that l(u1) = a5 and so l(v1 ) = adbw1 and l(u2 ) = dbaw2 .
It follows that if either deg(v1 )  6 or u2 6= v0 and deg(u2 )  6, then we
obtain a contradiction. Therefore, c(
1 )  c(3; 5; 7; 7) = ,38=105. In
the same way, c(
j )  ,38=105 (2  j  4) in Fig. 14(ii), (iii). It also
follows that if c(
) > 0, then c(
)  c(3; 3; 4; 7) = 5=42, or in Fig. 14(iii),
c(
)  c(3; 3; 3; 7) = 2=7, and it follows that if
^ is an interior region of
D that receives positive curvature, then c (
) ^  ,38=105 + 2(=7) < 0.
We conclude that
h  i h    i
c(D)  k1 2 33 + k1 , 1  + k2 2 13 + 62 + k1 , 1 + 2 16 
h    i
+k3 2 31 + 51 + 17 + k1 , 1 + 2 17 ;
where k1 + k2 + k3 = k and k1 < k. But then c(D) < 4, a contradiction.
Let jaj = 4. If u1 6= v0 in Fig. 14(i), it can be assumed that l(u1) = a4 ,
in which case, l(v1 ) = adbw1 and l(u2) = dbaw2 . It follows that if either
deg(v1 )  7 or u2 6= v0 and deg(u2 )  7, then we obtain a contradiction.
Therefore, if
1 in Fig. 14(i) is interior, then c(
1 )  c(3; 4; 8; 8) = ,=3,
and similarly, if
j is interior, then c(
j )  ,=3 for
j in Fig. 14(ii), (iii),
where 2  j  4. Now if c(
) > 0, then c(
)  c(3; 3; 4; 8) = =12 or
c(
)  c(3; 3; 3; 8) = =4 (Fig. 14(iii)). So if
^ is an interior region of D
^  ,=3+2(=8) < 0. It follows
that receives positive curvature, then c (
)
that
h  i h    i
c(D)  k1 2 33 + k1 , 1  + k2 2 13 + 62 + k1 , 1 + 2 16 
h    i
+k3 2 31 + 41 + 18 + k1 , 1 + 2 18 ;
where k1 + k2 + k3 = k and k1 < k, a contradiction.
Let jaj = 3. It can be assumed without loss of generality that if
u1 6= v0 in Fig. 14(i), then l(u1) = a3 , in which case, l(v1 ) = adbw1 and
l(u2) = dbaw2 . If deg(v1 )  8 or u2 6= v0 and deg(u2 )  8, then we ob-
tain a contradiction. Therefore, if
1 in Fig. 14(i) is interior, then c(
1 ) 
c(3; 3; 9; 9) = ,2=9. In the same way, we obtain that in Fig. 14(ii), (iii),
c(
j )  ,2=9 (2  j  9), if interior. Furthermore, in Fig. 14(i), (ii),
c(
)  c(3; 3; 4; 9) = =18; and in Fig. 14(iii), c(
)  c(3; 3; 3; 9) = 2=9.
Since jaj = 3, we must consider the region
in Fig. 14(iv). If, in
Fig. 14(iv), either deg(v2 ) < 6 or deg(v4 ) < 6, then (up to cyclic permuta-
tion) either l(v2 ) or l(v4 ) 2 fbdbd; bdbdc1; dbdba1g, a contradiction, unless
l(v2 ) = dbdc,1 b and deg(v4 )  6, in which case, add c(
)  c(3; 3; 5; 6) =
=15 to c(
1 ), where
1 is given by Fig. 15(i); or l(v4 ) = bdbdc,1 and
272 M. Edjvet

deg(v2 )  6, in which case, add c(
)  =15 to c(
2 ), where
2 is given

by Fig. 15(ii); or l(v4 ) = l(v2 ) = bdbdc,1 , in which case, add c(
)=2  =15
to each of c(
1 ) and c(
2 ) of Fig. 15(i){(iii).
In Fig. 15(i), if u1 6= v0 and deg(u1 )  7, we obtain a contradiction.
Similarly, if uj 6= v0 , then deg(uj )  8 (2  j  4) in Fig. 15. Therefore, in
Fig. 15, if interior, c(
j )  c(3; 5; 8; 8) = ,13=30 (1  j  2).
Let
^ be an interior region of D which receives positive curvature from
at least one neighbor. Then it can be assumed without loss of generality that

^ is one of
i (1  i  3) in Fig. 14 or
j (1  j  2) in Fig. 15. It follows
^  ,2=9 + 2(=9) = 0 or c (
)
that either c (
) ^  ,13=30 + =15 < 0.

,a@
@a u1 ,

@
, b
1 a, , @
@ a
a a
d@b,c d,
u2 @a
a a
d v2 , b c d@
b d a@ b d a b d a



b
b d c c u@ a d@ d c c d c c b
v4 b ,d
2 c, b
4
c@ c@ ,b c d@
,a b,
u3@a
(i) (ii) (iii)
Fig. 15

@
@ a d v2 @
@ a d v2
a a b a a a b a



b d c d b d c b
v4 a b@
@ v4 a d@
@
(i) (ii)
u1 u2,
, u1 u2,,
a b a a d a

1
3
u4 v1 d c u4 v1 b c
a b a b d a d a b d

2

4

u3 d c d c c u3 b c d c c
,a
, b c v3 ,a
, b c v3
(iii) (iv)
Fig. 16
A Singular Equation of Length Four Over Groups 273
It follows that
 ,
  , 1 1

c(D)  k1 2 33, + k1 , 1  +
k2 2 ,23 +
 4 + k , ,1 
,

+k3 2, 23 + 19 + k1 , 1 + 2
19 + k4 2 31 + 24 + k1 , 1 + 2 19 
+k5 2 31 + 15 + 18 + k1 , 1 + 151 ;
where k1 + k2 + k3 + k4 + k5 = k and k1 < k, a contradiction.
For the subcase jcj = 3 and c,1 bd = 1, the argument is similar to that
for cbd = 1 and we omit the details.
Finally, suppose jaj = 3, jcj > 3, and either cbd = 1 or c,1 bd = 1 in G.
If
is an interior region of D and
has more than one vertex of degree 3,
then
is (up to cyclic permutation and inversion) shown in Fig. 16.
In Fig. 16(i), (ii), if deg(v2 ) < 6 or deg(v4 ) < 6, then the resulting
label belongs to fa2db; a3 db; a1 dbdbg, a contradiction, so in both cases
c(
)  c(3; 3; 6; 6) = 0.
In Fig. 16(iii), (iv), if deg(v1 ) < 6, then l(v1 ) 2 fbadc1; badc2 ; badbd,
d ab,1 c1 ; d,1 ab,1 c2 ; d,1 ab,1 d,1 b,1 g, a contradiction, and if deg(v3 ) <
, 1
6, then l(v3 ) 2 fc4; c5 ; c3 (bd)1 g, so if jcj  6, then c(
)  c(3; 3; 6; 6) = 0.
If jcj < 6 and G is cyclic, we obtain a contradiction, so assume for the
remainder of the proof that G is not cyclic. If jcj = 5 and deg(v1 ) < 7, or
uj 6= v0 and deg(uj ) (1  j  4) is less than 6, then we obtain a contradic-
tion. Therefore, c(
)  c(3; 3; 5; 7) = 2=105. If jcj = 4 and deg(v1 ) < 8,
or uj 6= v0 and deg(uj ) (1  j  4) is less than 6, then again there is a
contradiction. Therefore, c(
)  c(3; 3; 4; 8) = =12.
In Fig. 16(iii), (iv), if jcj = 5 and
is interior, then c(
i )  c(3; 3; 6; 7) =
,=21 (1  i  4); and if jcj = 4 and
is interior, then c(
i ) 
c(3; 3; 6; 8) = ,=12. Add c(
)=2 to each of c(
1 ) and c(
2 ) in Fig. 16(iii),
and c(
)=2 to each of c(
3 ) and c(
4 ) in Fig. 16(iv). It is clear that if
^
is an interior region of D that receives positive curvature, then c (
) ^  0.
It follows that either
c(D)  k1 2 32 + 15 + k1 , 1  + k2 2 23 + 17 + k1 , 1 + 2 105
h  i h    1 i

or
c(D)  k1 2 23 + 14 + k1 , 1  + k2 2 23 + 18 + k1 , 1 + 2 24
h  i h    1 i
;
where k1 + k2 = k, a nal contradiction, which completes the proof of the
theorem. 2
Acknowledgements. The author wishes to thank D.F. Holt, J. Howie, A. Juhasz,
R.M. Thomas, and S. Wreth for their kind help in connection with this work.
274 M. Edjvet

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