Twisted conjugacy in braid groups

Abstract

In this note we solve the twisted conjugacy problem for braid groups, i.e., we propose an algorithm which, given two braids u,v is an element of B-n and an automorphism phi is an element of Aut(B-n), decides whether v = (phi(x))(-1)-ux for some x is an element of B-n. As a corollary, we deduce that each group of the form B-n x H, a semidirect product of the braid group B-n by a torsion-free hyperbolic group H, has solvable conjugacy problem.