Computation with Finitely Presented Groups

Research in computational group theory, an active subfield of computational algebra, has emphasized four areas: finite permutation groups, finite solvable groups, matrix representations of finite groups, and finitely presented groups. This book deals with the last of these areas. It is the first text to present the fundamental algorithmic ideas which have been developed to compute with finitely presented groups that are infinite, or at least not obviously finite.

The work of Baumslag, Cannonito, and Miller on computing nonabelian polycyclic quotients is described as a generalization of Buchberger's Grobner basis methods to right ideals in the integral group ring of a polycyclic group. Researchers in computational group theory, mathematicians interested in finitely presented groups, and theoretical computer scientists will find this book useful.