What is the degree of an n-fold branched cover over a trefoil?

Solution 1:

The group $$ G_n = \langle x,y \mid xyx=yxy,\, x^n=1,\, y^n=1\rangle $$ is infinite for all $n\geq 6$.

To see this, observe first that the third relation $y^n=1$ follows from the first two, since by the first relation $y=(xy)x(xy)^{-1}$ and hence $y^n=(xy)x^n(xy)^{-1}=1$. Thus $$ G_n = \langle x,y\mid xyx=yxy,\, x^n=1\rangle. $$

Now, it is well-known that the braid group $B_3=\langle x,y\mid xyx=yxy\rangle$ can also be presented as $\langle a,b\mid a^2=b^3\rangle$, where $a=xyx$ and $b=xy$. Since $x=b^{-1}a$, it follows that $$ G_n = \big\langle a,b \;\bigl|\; a^2=b^3,\,(b^{-1}a)^n = 1\big\rangle $$ Now consider the following quotient of $G_n$: $$ Q_n = \big\langle a,b \;\bigl|\; a^2=b^3=1,\,(b^{-1}a)^n = 1\big\rangle $$ (It doesn't affect the argument, but $\langle a,b \mid a^2=b^3=1\rangle$ is a presentation for the modular group $\mathrm{PSL}(2,\mathbb{Z})$, which is a quotient of $B_3$.)

What does the Cayley graph of $Q_n$ look like? If we treat $a$ edges as undirected, then the Cayley graph is the 1‑skeleton of a regular tiling of a simply connected surface by $2n$-gons corresponding to $(b^{-1}a)^n$ and triangles corresponding to $b^3$, with two $2n$-gons and one triangle meeting at every vertex.

If we try to make the polygons regular and Euclidean, then each $2n$-gon has angles of $\pi\bigl(1-\frac{1}{n}\bigr)$ and each triangle has angles of $\pi/3$, so the total angle at each vertex is $$ 2\pi\biggl(1-\frac{1}{n}\biggr) + \frac{\pi}{3} = 2\pi\biggl(\frac{7}{6}-\frac{1}{n}\biggr). $$ For $n<6$ this sum is less than $2\pi$, so the Cayley graph of $Q_n$ is the 1‑skeleton of a tiling of the sphere, and hence $Q_n$ is finite. Indeed, the Cayley of $Q_n$ for $n=2$, $n=3$, $n=4$, and $n=5$, are respectively the 1‑skeleta of a triangular prism, a truncated tetrahedron, a truncated cube, and a truncated dodechedron. Zeno Rogue's computer code shows that $G_n$ is finite in these cases as well.

For $n=6$, the sum is equal to $2\pi$, so the Cayley graph of $Q_n$ is the 1‑skeleton of the truncated hexagonal tiling of the Euclidean plane by equilateral triangles and regular dodecagons. For $n>6$, the sum is greater than $2\pi$, which means that the Cayley graph of $Q_n$ is the 1‑skeleton of a tiling of the hyperbolic plane. For example, when $n=7$ this is the truncated heptagonal tiling of the hyperbolic plane. In particular, $Q_n$ is infinite for all $n\geq 6$, and hence $G_n$ is as well.