Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
In this paper we generalize a theorem of Lyndon's [7], which states that a one-relator group G = F/(r) (F is free and r Ç F) has cohomological dimension cd (F/(r)) ≧ 2 if and only if the relator r is not a proper power in F. His proof relies on the Identity Theorem and recently he has shown [8] how a generalized version of this theorem and a generalized version of the Freiheitsatz can be simultaneously obtained by the methods of combinatorial geometry. These generalizations refer to a situation where the free group F is replaced by a free product of subgroups of the additive group of real numbers.