Dimension quotients, Fox subgroups and limits of functors

Abstract

This paper presents a description of the fourth dimension quotient, using the theory of limits of functors from the category of free presentations of a given group to the category of abelian groups. A functorial description of a quotient of the third Fox subgroup is given and, as a consequence, an identification (not involving an isolator) of the third Fox subgroup is obtained. It is shown that the limit over the category of free representations of the third Fox quotient represents the composite of two derived quadratic functors.