Filtrations of free groups as intersections

For several natural filtrations of a free group S we express the n-th term of the filtration as the intersection of all kernels of homomorphisms from S to certain groups of upper-triangular unipotent matrices. This generalizes a classical result of Grun for the lower central filtration. In particular, we do this for the n-th term in the lower p-central filtration of S

The lower pp-central series of a free profinite group and the shuffle algebra

For a prime number $p$ and a free profinite group $S$ on the basis $X$, let $S^{(n,p)}$, $n=1,2,\ldots$ be the lower $p$-central filtration of $S$. For $p>n$, we give a combinatorial description of $H^2(S/S^{(n,p)},\mathbb{Z}/p)$ in terms of the Shuffle algebra on $X$

The Zassenhaus filtration, Massey Products, and Representations of Profinite Groups

We consider the p-Zassenhaus filtration (G_n) of a profinite group G. Suppose that G=S/N for a free profinite group S and a normal subgroup N of S contained in S_n. Under a cohomological assumption on the n-fold Massey products (which holds e.g., if the p-cohomological dimension of G is at most 1), we prove that G_{n+1} is the intersection of all kernels of upper-triangular unipotent (n+1)-dimensional representations of G over \mathbb F_p. This extends earlier results by Minac, Spira, and the author on the structure of absolute Galois groups of fields.Comment: Added more references, strengthened Lemma 2.3, added Remark 12.

The Cohomology of canonical quotients of free groups and Lyndon words

For a prime number $p$ and a free profinite group $S$, let $S^{(n,p)}$ be the $n$th term of its lower $p$-central filtration, and $S^{[n,p]}$ the corresponding quotient. Using tools from the combinatorics of words, we construct a canonical basis of the cohomology group $H^2(S^{[n,p]},\mathbb{Z}/p)$, which we call the Lyndon basis, and use it to obtain structural results on this group. We show a duality between the Lyndon basis and canonical generators of $S^{(n,p)}/S^{(n+1,p)}$. We prove that the cohomology group satisfies shuffle relations, which for small values of $n$ fully describe it.Comment: Several minor issues fixed and a few references added. To appear in Documenta Mathematic

Small Galois groups that encode valuations

Let $p$ be a prime number and let $F$ be a field containing a root of unity of order $p$. We prove that a certain very small canonical Galois group $(G_F)_{[3]}$ over $F$ encodes the valuations on $F$ whose value group is not $p$-divisible and which satisfy a variant of Hensel's lemma.Comment: Final version. To appear in Acta Arithmetic

Triple Massey products and absolute Galois groups

Let $p$ be a prime number, $F$ a field containing a root of unity of order $p$, and $G_F$ the absolute Galois group. Extending results of Hopkins, Wickelgren, Minac and Tan, we prove that the triple Massey product $H^1(G_F)^3\to H^2(G_F)$ contains $0$ whenever it is nonempty. This gives a new restriction on the possible profinite group structure of $G_F$.Comment: A first version of this paper, by the second-named author, was earlier posted as arXiv:1411.4146. The current version gives a purely group-cohomological proof of the main result. To appear in the Journal of the European Mathematical Societ

Galois groups and cohomological functors

Let $q=p^s$ be a prime power, $F$ a field containing a root of unity of order $q$, and $G_F$ its absolute Galois group. We determine a new canonical quotient $\mathrm{Gal}(F_{(3)}/F)$ of $G_F$ which encodes the full mod-$q$ cohomology ring $H^*(G_F,\mathbb{Z}/q)$ and is minimal with respect to this property. We prove some fundamental structure theorems related to these quotients. In particular, it is shown that when $q=p$ is an odd prime, $F_{(3)}$ is the compositum of all Galois extensions $E$ of $F$ such that $\mathrm{Gal}(E/F)$ is isomorphic to $\{1\}$, $\mathbb{Z}/p$ or to the nonabelian group $H_{p^3}$ of order $p^3$ and exponent $p$.Comment: AMS-LaTeX, 29 pages. To appear in the Transactions of the American Mathematical Societ

On the descending central sequence of absolute Galois groups

Let $p$ be an odd prime number and $F$ a field containing a primitive $p$th root of unity. We prove a new restriction on the group-theoretic structure of the absolute Galois group $G_F$ of $F$. Namely, the third subgroup $G_F^{(3)}$ in the descending $p$-central sequence of $G_F$ is the intersection of all open normal subgroups $N$ such that $G_F/N$ is 1, $\mathbb{Z}/p^2$, or the modular group $M_{p^3}$ of order $p^3$.Comment: We implemented the referee's comments. The paper will appear in The American Journal of Mathematic

Filtrations of free groups arising from the lower central series

We make a systematic study of filtrations of a free group F defined as products of powers of the lower central series of F. Under some assumptions on the exponents, we characterize these filtrations in terms of the group algebra, the Magnus algebra of non-commutative power series, and linear representations by upper-triangular unipotent matrices. These characterizations generalize classical results of Grun, Magnus, Witt, and Zassenhaus from the 1930's, as well as later results on the lower p-central filtration and the p-Zassenhaus filtrations. We derive alternative recursive definitions of such filtrations, extending results of Lazard. Finally, we relate these filtrations to Massey products in group cohomology

Invitation to higher local fields, Part II, section 7: Recovering higher global and local fields from Galois groups - an algebraic approach

A main problem in Galois theory is to characterize the fields with a given absolute Galois group. We apply a K-theoretic method for constructing valuations to study this problem in various situations. As a first application we obtain an algebraic proof of the 0-dimensional case of Grothendieck's anabelian conjecture (proven by Pop), which says that finitely generated infinite fields are determined up to purely inseparable extensions by their absolute Galois groups. As a second application (which is a joint work with Fesenko) we analyze the arithmetic structure of fields with the same absolute Galois group as a higher-dimensional local field.Comment: For introduction and notation, see math.NT/0012131 . Published by Geometry and Topology Monographs at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTMon3/m3-II-7.abs.htm