Twisted conjugacy in $SL_n$ and $GL_n$ over subrings of $\bar{\mathbb F}_p(t)$

Abstract

Let $\phi:G\to G$ be an automorphism of an infinite group $G$. One has an equivalence relation $\sim_\phi$ on $G$ defined as $x\sim_\phi y$ if there exists a $z\in G$ such that $y=zx\phi(z^{-1})$. The equivalence classes are called $\phi$-twisted conjugacy classes and the set $G/\!\!\sim_\phi$ of equivalence classes is denoted $\mathcal R(\phi)$. The cardinality $R(\phi)$ of $\mathcal R(\phi)$ is called the Reidemeister number of $\phi$. We write $R(\phi)=\infty$ when $\mathcal R(\phi)$ is infinite. We say that $G$ has the $R_\infty$-{\it property} if $R(\phi)=\infty$ for every automorphism $\phi$ of $G$. We show that the groups $G=GL_n(R), SL_n(R)$ have the $R_\infty$-property for all $n\ge 3$ when $ F[t]\subset R\subsetneq F(t)$ where $F$ is a subfield of $\bar{\mathbb F}_p$. When $n\ge 4$, we show that any subgroup $H\subset GL_n(R)$ that contains $SL_n(R)$ also has the $R_\infty$-property.