Higher dimensional generalizations of the Thompson groups

Abstract

We show how to construct a family of groups with simple commutator subgroups from aperiodic 1-vertex, finitely aligned higher rank graphs (which are, in fact, a class of cancellative monoids). Inverse semigroups form the intermediary between these cancellative monoids and the family of groups we are interested in. These groups can naturally be viewed as higher-dimensional generalizations of the classical Thompson groups since the finite direct products of free monoids are examples of the appropriate 1-vertex higher rank graphs.