Solvable groups defined by redundant cyclic presentations

Abstract

We study the two-generator one-relator groups defined by $⟨x_0,x_1\mid U(x_0,x_1)U(x_1,x_0{)}^{-1}⟩$, and determine exactly which of them fail to contain a free subgroup of rank $2$. We show that every such group is a solvable Baumslag--Solitar group $BS(1,m)$, and that every integer value $m$ can occur. This disproves a conjecture predicting that only $m\in \{-1,0,1\}$ can occur.