Irreducibility of a free group endomorphism is a mapping torus invariant

Abstract

We prove that the property of a free group endomorphism being irreducible is a group invariant of the ascending HNN extension it defines. This answers a question posed by Dowdall–Kapovich–Leininger. We further prove that being irreducible and atoroidal is a commensurability invariant. The invariance follows from an algebraic characterization of ascending HNN extensions that determines exactly when their defining endomorphisms are irreducible and atoroidal; specifically, we show that the endomorphism is irreducible and atoroidal if and only if the ascending HNN extension has no infinite index subgroups that are ascending HNN extensions.