Intersections and joins of free groups

Richard P. Kent IV

Published 2008-01-31, updated 2008-08-20Version 2

Let H and K be subgroups of a free group of ranks h and k \geq h. We prove the following strong form of Burns' inequality: rank(H \cap K) - 1 \leq 2(h-1)(k-1) - (h-1)(rank(H \vee K) -1). A corollary of this, also obtained by L. Louder and D. B. McReynolds, has been used by M. Culler and P. Shalen to obtain information regarding the volumes of hyperbolic 3-manifolds. We also prove the following particular case of the Hanna Neumann Conjecture, which has also been obtained by Louder. If the join of H and K has rank at least (h + k + 1)/2, then the intersection of H and K has rank no more than (h-1)(k-1) + 1.